BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition, Australian media said. He was 44.

Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when the accident occurred, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Irwin was diving near Low Isles Reef near the resort town of Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of the state capital of Brisbane.

Queensland ambulance service spokesman Bob Hamil confirmed that a diver had been killed by a stingray off Lowe Isles Reef but refused to say who the victim was until relatives had been notified.

A rescue helicopter was sent from the nearby city of Cairns, and paramedics from it confirmed the diver's death.

"The probable cause of death is stingray strike to the chest," Hamil said.

Staff at Australia Zoo, Irwin's zoo in southern Queensland, said they had heard the reports but could not comment.

Irwin is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel.

He rode his image into a feature film, and developed the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction.

Irwin had received some negative publicity in recent years. In January 2004, he stunned onlookers at the Australia Zoo reptile park by carrying his 1-year-old son into a crocodile pen during a wildlife show. He tucked the infant under one arm while tossing the 13-foot reptile a piece of meat with the other.

Authorities declined to charge Irwin for violating safety regulations.

Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken.

Irwin was also seen as a vocal critic of wildlife hunts in Australia. The federal government recently dropped plans to allow crocodile safaris for wealthy tourists in the Northern Territory following his vehement objections.

Irwin told the Australian television program "A Current Affair" that "killing one of our beautiful animals in the name of trophy hunting will have a very negative impact on tourism, which scares the living daylights out of me."

He is survived by his American wife Terri, from Oregon, and their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

Irwin seemed almost `immortal` the way he handled wildlife, having a real `way` with them. Here`s another report on this tragic event.

Quote:'Crocodile Hunter' killed by fish
9.51, Mon Sep 4 2006

Crocodile expert Steve Irwin has been killed by a stingray while diving off the northeast coast of Australia.

The fish pierced the chest of TV's famous khaki-clad 'Crocodile Hunter', while the 44-year-old was filming an underwater documentary off Port Douglas in northern Queensland.

A helicopter rushed paramedics to nearby Low Isles, about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane, where Irwin was taken for treatment, but he was dead before they arrived, police said.

Local diving operator Steve Edmonson, whose boats were out on the Great Barrier Reef when the accident happened, said: "Steve was hit by a stingray in the chest - he probably died from a cardiac arrest from the injury."

In 2004, Irwin caused outrage by holding his then one-month-old baby in front of a hungry crocodile. His TV series ended after he was criticised over the incident and also for allegedly disturbing whales, seals and penguins while filming in Antarctica.

Stingrays have sometimes been called the "pussycats" of the sea because of their generally non-aggressive nature. However, when threatened, they can whip up their toxic tails in an instance, causing excruciating pain to humans.

Their barbed stinger grows from the tail like a fingernail and is covered with a toxic venom but deaths from contact with the barb are rare.

The largest species of stingray can grow to about 13ft (4m) in length or width and their tails are often twice as long as their bodies.

ITV News

Irwin death film handed to police

Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin pulled the barb of a bull stingray out of his chest with his hands moments before succumbing to the deadly blow, video footage of the accident showed yesterday.

His producer and close friend, John Stainton, who viewed the film before handing it over to police, said the images were shocking. "It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die and it's terrible," he said.

Article continues
"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up and spiked him here [in the chest] and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone. That was it - the cameraman had to shut down."

The police, who will pass the footage on to the coroner, insisted Irwin had not provoked the stingray.

Superintendent Mike Keating, of Queensland police, said: "There is no evidence that Mr Irwin was intimidating or threatening the stingray. My advice is that he was observing the stingray."

Another underwater film-maker, Ben Cropp, who was in the area when Irwin was killed on Monday, suggested that the giant fish may have been spooked by Irwin's proximity and the position of the cameraman. The veteran producer said he had been in a similar situation when a stingray had gone into defensive mode and attacked with its barbed tail.

"It missed me and then up went its tail and it went whack again," he recalled. "Steve was just very unlucky and that's what it boils down to."

The film of the tragedy, given its nature, is unlikely to be screened publicly. Bill Campbell, head of Discovery Networks, which owns the Animal Planet channel on which the Crocodile Hunter programmes are shown, said the matter would be discussed with Irwin's widow, Terri, at an appropriate time.

At the crocodile and reptile park which Irwin, 44, founded with his father, Bob, hundreds of visitors, many of them schoolchildren, placed floral tributes and posted notes offering their sympathy at the entrance.

The zoo opened as usual yesterday, with its management insisting that it would have been Irwin's wish to carry on as normal.

Source: - Guardian.co.uk

I don't think there is any need to see the actual attack, though I am sure there are some that will want to see it. There has been an out pouring of sentiment world-wide over his death. All need to remember what his life was about, not his death.


grateful