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Crocodile Hunter Dead
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin Killed
Famed adventurer, environmentalist and TV personality Steve Irwin, known around the world as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition off the coast of Queensland, Australia; he was 44. According to initial reports, Irwin had been filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef, and was diving near Low Isles Reef, about 1,260 miles north of Queensland capital Brisbane. Irwin was felled by a stingray barb through his chest, and his crew immediately called authorities for medical treatment, but Irwin was dead before an emergency helicopter arrived on the scene. The son of naturalists, Irwin spent his whole life around animals, and was raised at the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. He quickly grew into an animal expert, with a specialty in reptiles, and was catching crocodiles by the age of 9; later, he spearheaded Australia's crocodile relocation program, capturing the animals from populated areas and either returning them to their natural environment or raising them in the Queensland Park. In 1991, Irwin took over the running of the park, which was renamed the Australian Zoo (and would become a major tourist destination), and a year later he married his wife Terri, with whom he would have two children. The footage from their crocodile-trapping honeymoon was later fashioned into the first episode of his TV series Crocodile Hunter, and Irwin was catapulted to instant worldwide fame, with his enthusiastic nature, fearless animal acumen, and his trademark phrase, "Crikey!" Irwin turned his television success into a feature film, 2002's The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, and in addition to his reptile passions, was an avid promoter of Australian tourism, including the recent Australia-Los Angeles campaign "G'Day LA!" In 2004, Irwin suffered one of his few bouts of negative publicity, when he fed a crocodile with one hand while holding his infant son with the other. Coming soon after the Michael Jackson "baby dangling" incident, Irwin was roundly drubbed by press reports, though he firmly insisted he was in control of the entire situation and his son was never in danger. In recent years, Irwin campaigned against wildlife hunts in Australia, specifically crocodile safaris. --Mark Englehart,
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