Crocodile Hunter dead at 44 - Stung by Stingray

Meeper · Post by **Meeper** » 2006-09-04 12:36am

Breaking News

AAP wrote:THE Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is dead.

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

It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.

He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occured.

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

Sweet mother of god...

Xisiqomelir · Post by **Xisiqomelir** » 2006-09-04 12:41am

Doesn't he have a baby boy?

Jason von Evil · Post by **Jason von Evil** » 2006-09-04 12:45am

I guess he stuck his thumb up one too many butts...

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2006-09-04 12:48am

but, but... he's the freakin crocodile hunter...

Shadow WarChief · Post by **Shadow WarChief** » 2006-09-04 12:53am

missed it by 1 minute

Akhlut · Post by **Akhlut** » 2006-09-04 01:23am

Man, that's shitty. If for no other reason than he has a little girl and little boy.

I also happened to like him for his enthusiasm and obvious love of animals.

Godspeed, good sir. Should there be something beyond, you definitely deserve the best.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2006-09-04 01:25am

It's no surprise, I knew he would get done in sooner or later.

He has done alot to further the intrest in reptiles, but at the expense of making it look like a circus.

Meeper · Post by **Meeper** » 2006-09-04 01:28am

Sky News in Australia has confirmation from the Queensland Police Service that it was a stingray barb through the heart.

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2006-09-04 01:48am

For all the jokes about him, I liked the guy, and he seemed to do a lot for animal conservation in Australia. I feel bad for his wife and kids, its a hell of a thing at their age.

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2006-09-04 01:57am

Oh, damm. RIP, mate...

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-09-04 02:12am

I always thought a crocodile would eat him. Stingray barb though- there are worse ways to go (like getting eaten by a crocodile). A bit of an idiot, if anyone remembers how he endangered his kid, what was it, two years ago? A likeable fellow all the same.

LeftWingExtremist · Post by **LeftWingExtremist** » 2006-09-04 02:13am

Damn, he anoyed the bag out of me, but... this. its a bit surreal I must say, it must be hard on his kids.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-09-04 02:22am

CRIKEY!What's really horrible is this is probably on tape, like when Roy got mauled by the tiger.

RIP, Mate.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-09-04 02:25am

A good man, by all accounts; I loved his shows, I admired his work for wildlife, and he never got mad at a critter even when it was chewing the hell out of his arm.

Godspeed, sir.

Marko Dash · Post by **Marko Dash** » 2006-09-04 02:32am

Does anyone else feel this day should forever be known as Steve Irwin day in Australia?

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2006-09-04 02:58am

Marko Dash wrote:

Does anyone else feel this day should forever be known as Steve Irwin day in Australia?

NO.

We honor people like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. by commemerating their birthday, not the day they die. You celebrate the person's life, not their death.

Rogue 11 · Post by **Rogue 11** » 2006-09-04 03:04am

....

Well given how much guts he had they should re-open Valhalla for him.

So long and thanks for all the crocs.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2006-09-04 03:07am

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2006-09-04 03:16am

The fuller story from AP via my favorite The Washington Post

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin Killed wrote: The Associated Press
Monday, September 4, 2006; 2:55 AM

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. He was 44.

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

He collapsed at Batt Reef, near Low Isle and the resort town of Port Douglas, Queensland state police said in a statement. Port Douglas is about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane, the state capital.

A rescue helicopter rushed to the scene but Irwin had died, the statement said.

Queensland ambulance service spokesman Bob Hamil confirmed that a diver had been killed by a stingray off Lowe Isles Reef and said cause of death appeared to be a "stingray strike to the chest."

Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "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 month-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 Eugene, Ore., and their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who used a photograph of his family at Australia Zoo for his official Christmas card last year, hailed Irwin for his work in promoting Australia through projects such as "G'Day LA," an Australian tourism and trade promotion week in Los Angeles in January.

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

Stingrays have flat bodies and tails with serrated spines, which contain venom and can cause cuts and puncture wounds. The creatures are not aggressive and injury usually occurs when a swimmer or diver accidentally steps on one.

Butterbean569 · Post by **Butterbean569** » 2006-09-04 03:35am

To be honest, I was having a good night partying with my friends tonight on a nice labor day weekend, but as soon as I heard about this my good mood went sour. As people have said, he might have been a little too crazy for his own good, but it was obvious he was enthusiastic about what he did. Ah well, I guess not everyone is lucky enough to go out while doing something they love.....

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-09-04 03:44am

As I said when I spotted this at work:

"All we need to do now is burn every copy of Crocadile Dundee and maybe we can be taken seriously as a nation again."

All the same, it sadly disproves my theory that Steve Irwin was merely Australia's cloning testbed, constantly replacing the dead/eaten ones with a new model.

thejester · Post by **thejester** » 2006-09-04 04:03am

Marko Dash wrote:

Does anyone else feel this day should forever be known as Steve Irwin day in Australia?

I wouldn't mind him getting a state funeral, but other than that anything is over the top.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-09-04 04:05am

Marko Dash wrote:

Does anyone else feel this day should forever be known as Steve Irwin day in Australia?

Why? So Australians can celebrate irresponsible daredevils?

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-04 04:21am

Thankfully, most people in AU don't share the adoration for Steve Irwin that forgeiners and tourists experience. Frankly, most people I know are of Ando's opinion.

Archaic` · Post by **Archaic`** » 2006-09-04 04:27am

Most people, yes. Though there were more than a few people at work who lashed out at me when I replied "Steve Irwin dead? Crikey!" as they told me the news.

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Crocodile Hunter dead at 44 - Stung by Stingray

Crocodile Hunter dead at 44 - Stung by Stingray

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