Reports: 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin killed
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Steve Irwin - AP photo |
Irwin, 44, was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queesland state when the accident occurred, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.
The paper and other Australian media reporting the death cited police or state government sources.
Telephone calls to Australia Zoo, Irwin's zoo in southern Queensland, were not immediately answered. - AP
Crocodile Hunter killed by stingray
CAIRNS (Australia): Steve Irwin, the ebullient Australian whose catch cry of “Crikey!” helped him rise to global fame as television's Crocodile Hunter, was killed yesterday by a stingray while filming on the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
when he swam too close to one of the rays, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, said John Stainton, a friend and colleague.
“He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart,” said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat, Croc One, at the time.
Crewmembers called emergency services and administered CPR as they rushed to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.
Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife, and for regularly getting up close and personal with dangerous animals in his television programme Crocodile Hunter, which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 before it was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting him to international celebrity status.
“The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet,” Stainton told reporters. “He died doing what he loved best.”
Prime Minister John Howard, who handpicked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honour US President George W. Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was “shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death.”
“It's a huge loss to Australia,” Howard told reporters. “He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist.”
Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles, often leaping on their backs, talked a mile-a-minute in a thick Australian drawl and was almost never seen in anything but khaki shorts and shirt, and heavy boots.
His ebullience was infectious, and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.
He rode the lovable knockabout image in 2002 into a feature film, The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course, and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.
Irwin was born on Feb 22, 1962, in the southern city of Melbourne. He moved when he was eight with his parents to tropical Queensland.
He worked as a crocodile trapper in his 20s, removing problematic animals from populated areas. In 1991, he took over the Australia Zoo, set up by his parents.
News of Irwin's death spread quickly, and tributes flowed in.
At Australia Zoo in Queensland, flowers were dropped at the entrance; drivers honked their horns as they passed.
“Steve, from all God's creatures, thank you. Rest in peace,” was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.
Stainton said Irwin's American wife Terri had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, eight, and son Bob, who will turn three in December.
The couple met when she was on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin's Australia Zoo. They were married six months later. – AP
Tribute to Steve
FANS of Steve Irwin should tune in to Animal Planet (Astro Channel 51) to catch the tribute programme in honour of the the man who captivated millions worldwide with his passion for animals.
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Steve Irwin died when a stingray barb pierced his heart while filming a documentary in north Queensland, Australia. |
In The Crocodile Hunter: Confessions of the Crocodile Hunter, the Croc Hunter reveals it all.
Through probing and candid interviews, viewers hear Irwin’s most private and innermost thoughts.
Next, The Crocodile Hunter: Big Croc Diaries: Special Edition (from 1am to 1pm) is packed with special features and never before seen footage.
Steve introduces his favourite crocodiles at Australia Zoo in an in-depth and action-packed episode that has more close calls and snapping jaws than any other.
The Crocodile Hunter: Outback to Hollywood takes a very special journey from how the Irwin family began their rise to fame in the Australian outback to how they landed in the middle of Hollywood in the United States.
Not to be missed is The Crocodile Hunter Diaries: Final Entry.
Source : The Star - http://www.thestar.com.my
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