"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin dead

**Ducky** · 09-04-06, 01:41 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060904/ap_en_tv/obit_irwin

BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the 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 near the resort town of Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane.

A helicopter carrying paramedics flew to the island, but he died from a stingray barb to the heart, ABC reported on its Web site.

Telephone calls to Australia Zoo, Irwin's zoo in southern Queensland, were not immediately answered.

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 his 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 against him.

I guess it was a matter of time, but damn..

**Just KC** · 09-04-06, 01:44 AM

Wow! Wow! All them croc's he wrestled, and a stingray got em! How awful.......wishing his wife and daughter some peace and strength.

**Virginian** · 09-04-06, 02:08 AM

Man, that really made me sad when I just saw that

**TheOldRhino** · 09-04-06, 02:28 AM

Me too.. I loved Steve Irwin. He'll be missed.

**Autumn2009** · 09-04-06, 03:08 AM

I never really got into the whole Steve Irwin craze, but thats pretty sad.

**JLK** · 09-04-06, 03:11 AM

crikey that stinks. my son and i use to watch his show.

**Andrewtx** · 09-04-06, 03:18 AM

Oh my God...This is horrible...

**121Traffic** · 09-04-06, 06:43 AM

I agree, that is too bad. I didn't really follow him, nor was I a regular watcher, but he seemed like a genuinely likable guy, if not a bit eccentric with nature.

He'd become a pop culture icon. That's too bad.

**TXCOP** · 09-04-06, 08:26 AM

Never had any problems with the guy. I knew he did alot for animals, but they're called "dangerous" for a reason. With some of the crap he did, you had to know he was living on borrowed time.

**twoxland** · 09-04-06, 09:01 AM

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of mr. irwin. I just cant beleve that a sting ray killed him , I thought a croc or a snake would have killed him, but may he RIP and like i just herd on tv..."irwin died doing what he loved"

Cheech · 09-04-06, 09:24 AM

R.I.P. that is freaky how he died. Kinda bummed. I liked his show.

**Growler** · 09-04-06, 09:26 AM

That does indeed suck. A damn stingray. My nephew loved watching him.

Cheech · 09-04-06, 09:26 AM

The news pisses me off. A man dies and they publish the negative stuff about him.... who cares about the meat feeding and the kid, and he got close to penguins....who cares. RIP again

**snuffy2202** · 09-04-06, 09:31 AM

May he rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers for his wife and children.
I guess it was only a matter of time before one of the dangerous animals got him. However, I, too thought it would be a croc or a snake.

**ghost98** · 09-04-06, 10:12 AM

WOW!!! i was swimming with the sting rays in grand cayman on a cruise i was on. I must have missed that news article. didnt know he died until i read this.... very sad..............and never swimming in the ocean again.

**TXCharlie** · 09-04-06, 10:21 AM

The tragedy seems to be compounded because my wife heard that the underwater documentary he was filming was for his daughter's upcoming TV show. His daughter must be devastated even more because it was for her show.

**BEK** · 09-04-06, 10:33 AM

This is an update on the story:
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called “Ocean's Deadliest” when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.“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 at the time.Stainton said Irwin's American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

**timatoe127** · 09-04-06, 10:51 AM

That's too bad.....

**TXCharlie** · 09-04-06, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by BEK320

This is an update on the story:
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called “Ocean's Deadliest”

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/..._Statement.php

Australia Zoo, the wildlife park Irwin ran in northeastern Queensland state, issued a statement confirming he was killed Monday "by a stingray barb to his heart" while filming a sequence for his daughter's new television series on the Great Barrier Reef.

First news reports are always all screwed up... But no matter which is correct, it's still a tragedy to his family and millions of viewers.

But he died with his boots on, even if they were dive boots.