Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin - Dead

Aussie_Woman

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin deadBy 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.

www.news.com.au/story/...-2,00.html

MegaByte3m

how sad , that guy was one carzy aussie , i really like his shows, RIP STEVE.... :'}

SMEF · Super Spammer Joined: Jan 09, 2005 Posts: 1556

Yus, I admit I was one of those who emailed the zoo after the baby Bob thing, but the world is a sadder place for the loss of such a character. He just seemed like a good bloke, it's like we knew him as a mate even tho we hadn't met him. While he went doing something he loved, that probably will not be much comfort to his lurvly family. Vale Steve.

neo_wraith

true smef he was a great nature lover sadly missed across all places

baby_blue-

Thats a really tragedy

tributes and criticism flow for TV's Crocodile Hunter

ailza · Last edited by ailza on Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:01 am; edited 1 time in total

Aussie_Woman

That is not humour. That is just sick. The man only died 2 days ago and already this kind of rubbish is going around. Have some respect not only for the man he was but for his grieving family.
Please remove it as it isn't appropriate and is in really bad taste.

drOnMp_

*pic removed*

LOL!

SMEF · Super Spammer Joined: Jan 09, 2005 Posts: 1556

Quite a few of us did the mocking thing when he made errors of judgement a few years ago... but this is a lil different. His kids are going to have to grow up without him, yet he will be on the TV for many years to come... that would be hard for any of the rest of us to deal with, I think.

Apart from his crazy TV persona, he has done more for conservation in Aus than just about anyone else, including pouring vast amounts of his profits into buying habitat land here and overseas, to stop Global Corporations bulldozing everything including all the wildlife so they have more space to grow hamburgers in.

Whatever your feelings about the passing of someone you don't know, Steve earned MY respect. It's a cliche, I know, but the world is a poorer place now he has gone. He was one of the few who did make a difference, so much more good than bad.

Aussie_Woman

I did see what drOnMp posted and I was angry. I could have replied about how childish this was after replying to the last post about how distasteful it was but instead I logged off thinking wtf am I doing in here and wtf am I getting angry about over not only immature behaviour but also lack of respect for peoples feelings but than again that's me. I care about people and their feelings. I have respect for others (who deserve my respect) and I shouldn't have to justify something like this by getting angry.
It's not about explaining how you felt about the man and justifying your feelings for a great lose. It's about thinking how others feel (who care) when a tragedy like this happens. If you didn't know of Steve Irwin or for that matter, didn't like him than so be it.
Thank you to who ever took the pic off.