ImmortallyUsed

It has just come out that Steve Irwin - Crocodile hunter has died from a sting ray barb while filming for his new tv series

reports are the barb has gone through his chest resulting in him having heart problems - irwin 43.

this was taken from ninemsn.com.au


so so sad

-Kelly-

I was about to post this

Steve Irwin killed in stingray attack
By 7News Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has been killed in a stingray attack near Cairns on Australia's far north coast.

It was believed Irwin had been swimming off the coast of Cairns when he was stung.

"It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest," Brisbane's Courier Mail reported this afternoon.

Irwin was best known for his documentary series "The Crocodile Hunter".

He was born in Victoria and found his love of animals after following in his father's footsteps, volunteering his services to the Queensland Government's East Coast Crocodile Management program.

He spent years living on his own in the mosquito infested creeks, rivers and mangroves of North Queensland, catching huge crocodiles single-handed.

In June 1992, he married American Terri Raines after they met when she visited Irwin's Australia Zoo.

The 44-year-old is survived by his wife and two children, Bindi and Robert.

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It's so awful

Just Peachy.

I'm very sad to hear this news.

I've been to Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast and its an amazing place. The love that Steve has for animals is truely touching.

My thoughts and prayers are with Terri, Bindi and Bob.

A person who I never met, but his kindness and love for animals will always be remembered.

ImmortallyUsed

i know i feel so upset he was such an aussie icon!!!! a little bit crazy but so awesome!!!

i still cant belive it apparently he was filming at the time

Phee

It's just impossible to imagine someone so loud and hyper and full of life could be dead, just like that.

He did such great work, and I know his legacy will live on.

I just feel so bad for his wife and two young kids.

RIP, Steve.

Here are a couple articles from news.com.au



Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead

By staff writers
September 04, 2006 02:14pm

THE Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is dead.

He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said today.

It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest.

He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary when the tragedy occured.

Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality this morning at Batt Reef off Port Douglas.

Irwin's body is being flown to Cairns.

It is believed his American-born wife Terri is trekking on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and is yet to be told of her husband's death.

Irwin - known worldwide as the Crocodile Hunter - is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!".

The father of two's Crocodile Hunter program was first broadcast in 1992 and has been shown around the world on cable network Discovery.

He has also starred in movies and has developed the Australia Zoo wildlife park, north of Brisbane, which was started by his parents Bob and Lyn Irwin.

Tributes have already started pouring in for the larger-than-life character.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who used a photograph of his family at Australia Zoo for his official Christmas card last year, hailed Mr Irwin for his work in promoting Australia.

Irwin was heavily involved in last year's "G'Day LA" campaign.

"The minister knew him, was fond of him and was very, very appreciative of all the work he'd done to promote Australia overseas," a spokesman said.

A Tourism Queensland spokeswoman said the death was shocking and paid tribute to Irwin's "enormous contribution" to his adopted state.

Louise Yates said it was impossible to quantify how much Mr Irwin had meant to the Queensland tourism industry.

"I don't think we could even estimate how much he brought us through his personality and his profile and his enthusiasm about Queensland," she said.

"It would be difficult to estimate how much he was worth. And it would be difficult to underestimate."

She said Irwin had been a larger-than-life ambassador.

"It's not just what he brought but what he took with him when he travelled, his passion."

Australia Zoo, on southeast Queensland's Sunshine Coast, employs more than 500 people and attracts thousands of visitors every day.

But Ms Yates said it would be "unfair and unjust" to put a dollar value on Irwin's worth to the state, because of how much he had given.





Irwin shaped by his early life

By staff reporters
September 04, 2006 02:43pm

STEVE Irwin, one of Australia's most well-known figures, has died at the age of 44.

It is understood Irwin, a passionate conservationist and wildlife advocate, was killed when a stingray barb went through his chest.

Irwin spent every day working with all manner of dangerous creatures - giant crocodiles, poisonous snakes, komodo dragons - but it was a less obvious hazard that claimed his life.

Irwin had taken calculated risks with all sorts of wildlife for decades, relying on his knowledge of animal behaviour and personal experience to beat the odds.

For someone who spent so much time around killer animals, Irwin seemed to leave a charmed life.

So his demise was all the more shocking because it apparently involved a stingray, an animal regarded as dangerous but not as a killer.

It is understood that Irwin was swimming off the Low Isles off Port Douglas filming a documentary, something he had done on countless occasions.

Irwin, so careful around danger, was taken unawares when the stingray he was filming apparently struck out with its tail, the venomous barbs fatally embedding in his chest.

The death brought to an end a career that began with his father's Sunshine Coast theme park and developed into an international empire in which Irwin was a globally recognised brand.

Born at Essendon in Melbourne, it was a move to Queensland with his parents while a child that shaped Irwin's life, culminating in his fame as Australia's 'Crocodile Hunter'.

Although his father Bob was officially a plumber, and his mother Lynn a maternity nurse, the family's consuming passion was rescuing and rehabilitating local wildlife.

In 1970 the hobby became a full time operation when the Irwins opened the Beerwah Reptile Park.

Irwin recalled how, even with the advent of a formal facility, the family home was itself a mini zoo and wildlife hospital, with makeshift marsupial "pouches" slung over the backs of chairs and snakes stashed everywhere.

The young Irwin came to share his parents' obsession with wild creatures, and he soon displayed an uncanny rapport with them, able to sense their moods and preferences intuitively.

This ability to second-guess animal behavior, coupled with his enthusiastic admiration of Bob Irwin's real life "action hero" escapades with crocs and venomous snakes, led the younger Irwin to try his own hand capturing the risky reptiles.

Though initially alarmed, his father began tutoring him in crocodile capture.

As a young man Steve put these skills to work in the rogue crocodile relocation project run by the Queensland government.

Although he eventually claimed the title The Crocodile Hunter, Irwin's methods differed drastically to those of earlier hunters.

Rather than ending up as table fare and handbags, the crocs bagged by Irwin were later released, unharmed, in a new home deeper in the wild - or at the Irwins' reptile park.

In 1991, Irwin took over the running of the park, now renamed the Australia Zoo, and in 1992 met met his future wife there.

American Terri Raines was on a tour of Australia and met Irwin while visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities.

A whirlwind romance followed, and they were married on June 4, 1992.

The footage, shot by John Stainton, of their crocodile-trapping honeymoon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which became wildly successful, especially in the US.

In an interview before the birth of their second child, Terri Irwin had this to say about her marriage to Steve Irwin and working together:

"We don't drink, we don't smoke, and we are actually in love and happily married. We love our little girl, we go home to each other at night, and we believe in what we are doing,"

"Say my husband had a dangerous job and I wasn't with him, I don't know how you go, 'Oh honey, how was it with the police department today? You got all your fingers and toes today?' It would scare me. I'd have to become a police officer and work with him; I couldn't do it."

The couple believed their love for wildlife and their dedication to spreading the conservation message was an around the clock duty.

In 2001, Irwin appeared in a cameo role in the Eddie Murphy film Dr Dolittle 2. In 2002, his first feature film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, was released.

Irwin went on to star in other Animal Planet documentaries, including The Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and New Breed Vets.

Under Irwin's leadership, his operations grew to include the zoo, the television series, The Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, and International Crocodile Rescue.

The Irwins had two children: Bindi Sue Irwin, born on July 24, 1998, and Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin, born on December 1, 2003.

Irwin caused controversy during a public show on 2 January 2004, when he carried his then infant son in one arm while feeding a chicken carcass to a crocodile with the other hand.

Bob was close to the crocodile, and comparisons were made in the press with singer Michael Jackson's dangling of his son outside a German apartment window.

As well, child welfare groups, animal rights groups and many of Irwin's television viewers criticised his actions as being irresponsible and tantamount to child abuse.

Irwin said any danger to his son was only a perceived danger and that he was in complete control of the situation.

He never backed down over his actions despite considerable public outcry both in Australia and abroad.

His defenders pointed to his several decades of hands-on experience and direct interaction with crocodiles.

Terri Irwin said their child was in no more real danger than a child being taught to swim would be.

In June 2004, Irwin again was the subject of controversy when allegations were made that he came too close to and disturbed some wildlife while filming a documentary in Antarctica.

Animal Planet then released a Crocodile Hunter special called Crocodiles & Controversy, which attempted to explain both the "Baby Bob Incident" and the Antarctica incident.

The special argued that Irwin's son was never in danger of being eaten by the crocodile and that Irwin could not have endangered animals in Antarctica.

Eventually Animal Planet ended The Crocodile Hunter with a series finale entitled Steve's Last Adventure.

The last Crocodile Hunter documentary went for three emotional hours with footage of Steve's across-the-world adventure, visiting locations like the Himalayas, the Yangtze River, Borneo, and the Kruger National Park.

One of Irwin's last projects was for Discovery Kids, in which he developed a show for Bindi Sue.

The show, Jungle Girl, was tipped to be similar to The Wiggles movies.

A feature-length episode of The Wiggles entitled Wiggly Safari appeared dedicated to Irwin, and he featured in it heavily with his wife and daughter.

Irwin will be remembered for his enthusiastic defence of all animals, his open mind and heart and his kindness.

Phee

ladyle

i cant believe he died. he was such a happy person.

Deb D

As someone who practically lives at the zoo every weekend (it's 10 minutes away) I am so, so shocked and saddened by this news.
My thoughts and prayers are with Terri, Bindi and Bob.

Phee

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead

By staff writers
September 04, 2006 02:14pm



THE Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is dead.

He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said today.

It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest and reportedly into his heart .

He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary when the tragedy occured.

The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) was called about 11am (AEST) and an emergency services helicopter was flown to the crew's boat on Batt Reef, off the coast near Cairns, with a doctor and emergency services paramedic on board.

Irwin had a puncture wound to the left side of his chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Irwin's body is being flown to Cairns.

One report today said his American-born wife Terri was trekking on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania at the time of the tragedy.

Police in Tasmania said they had made contact with her and have passed on the news of her husband's death.

The Irwins have two children - a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin, eight, and a three-year-old son, Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin.

Steve Irwin - known worldwide as the Crocodile Hunter - was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!".

In an sad twist, it has been reported that his new documentary was aimed at demystifying the stingray.

Enigma

I just heard the news. So sad!

sethcohen

This is seriously depressing.

Phee

I just heard someone on the news saying that if the stingray had have got him in the arm or the leg, he'd be fine and laughing about it right now. He was just really unlucky that it got him right in the chest.

ImmortallyUsed

i know apparently it peirced his heart

-Kelly-

He loved his animals

ImmortallyUsed

i know