Here's a good pic of that feature:
| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Down Under | |
| Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead | |
| 2006-09-04 | |
| 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 stingray barb that went through his chest.
It is believed Mr Irwin's American-born wife Terri is trekking on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and is yet to be told of her husband's death. Mr 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. A Tourism Queensland spokeswoman today 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 Mr 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. | |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #38 Irwin death footage 'shocking' Friend John Stainton said the footage of the stingray attack which took the life of the Crocodile Hunter on the Great Barrier Reef yesterday was "shocking". Mr Irwin, 44, died after the stingray barb punctured his chest while snorkelling off Port Douglas, in far north Queensland, yesterday. A cameraman captured the incident during filming for Irwin's new project with daughter Bindi, eight, that was to debut in the United States next year. "I did see the footage and it's shocking," Mr Stainton said today in Cairns. "It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die ... and it's terrible." Mr Stainton, also a producer and director of Irwin's popular television shows, said the footage showed Mr Irwin pulling the barb out of his chest before losing consciousness. "It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone. "That was it. The cameraman had to shut down." Mr Stainton, who was aboard Mr Irwin's vessel Croc One when the tragedy occurred, said it was likely the television star and naturalist died almost immediately as a result of the stingray's blow. "(He was) probably a metre coming over the top of it," he said. "He was underwater. I think, and the coroner's report will say what happened, but I think he died fairly instantly." Mr Stainton said he was still in disbelief that a stingray could claim his close friend's life. "He was always on the precipice," he said. "He always pushed himself to the very limits but I thought he was invulnerable and I think he did too. "I think we all had that belief that we'd pull through whatever situation we were in and he has been in some very close shaves with snakes and crocodiles. "I would never imagine it to come from something like a stingray." |
| Posted by: RD 2006-09-04 22:45 |
| #37 Others said they were upset at the unfitting manner of his passing: to survive crocs, sharks, komodo dragons and deadly snakes only to be speared in a freak accident by a fish said to be responsible for only 17 deaths ever worldwide seems particularly cruel. "That's like Superman dying while crossing the road," wrote one blogger. |
| Posted by: john 2006-09-04 21:34 |
| #36 I just read that this was taped and that it may be that he went and pulled the stinger out of his chest. If true, I wonder if he could've been saved had he not done that. |
| Posted by: Thoth 2006-09-04 21:09 |
| #35 :( |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2006-09-04 21:04 |
| #34 radio reports this morning said tv footage of Steve's death has been recorded on film and handed over to the police. Is now believed that Steve actually pulled the barb out from his chest after realizing that he had been stung. OUCH ! |
| Posted by: Thomoling Angomoger9554 2006-09-04 19:18 |
| #33 Pythons, vipers, diamondbacks, whatever, doesn't matter at all, they all taste like chicken anyway, I'm told. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-09-04 17:36 |
| #32 3550 good recovery. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-09-04 17:00 |
| #31 SS3550, that joke is so demented that I might actually tell it sometime. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-04 15:37 |
| #30 Python/Taipan: so shoot me. A Jewish guy walks into a bar and on seeing an Oriental, he punches him in the face. Oriental asks, "What was that for?" Jew says, "That was for Pearl Harbor." Oriental replies, "I am Chinese." Jew says, "Chinese, Japanese, what's the difference?" Chinese guy then slugs the Jew in the face. Jew asks, "What was that for?" Chinese guy says, "That was for the Titanic?" Jew says, "The Titanic was sunk by an iceberg." Chinese guy answers, "Iceberg, Goldberg, what's the difference?" |
| Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 2006-09-04 15:26 |
| #29 Re: Pythons. Probably best to get a Tetanus shot if this bit you, (or just bite it back). http://www.bushveld.co.za/pictures-python.htm Non-venemous asphyxiators. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2006-09-04 15:07 |
| #28 SS-3550 Irwin once let an Inland Python lick his face. That is the only snake that kills three ways: causing blood clotting, nerve failure and poisoning body organs. A baby python has enough venom to kill 6 adult men. is that your final answer SS-3550? I'm sorry then you lose SS-3550, Pythons are constrictors and squeeze-lock their prey until the prey suffocates/heart stops, they NEVER envenomate prey because not even one of them owns a pair of fangs or a drop of neurotoxic and/or hemotoxic venom. |
| Posted by: Marlin Perkins 2006-09-04 14:00 |
| #27 Speaking of grizzlys, as I recall they were one of the few animals that he openly avoided making contact with when he was around them on his shows. (those and elephants) |
| Posted by: Ernest Brown 2006-09-04 13:45 |
#26 Comment from a reader at National Reviewwas just a casual watcher of Steve Irwin, but IMO the big difference was that with the Croc Hunter there was never any doubt that he knew that what he was doing was incredibly dangerous; if I recall, with Grizzly Man he didn’t think the bears were all that dangerous, that you could some how “commune” with them, that if you were nice to bears, they would be nice to you. Steve always let us know that he was dealing with very dangerous animals and that it had taken him years to gain the knowledge to do that with any degree of safety, I don’t get that impression from “Grizzly Man”. Just my thoughts. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-09-04 12:47 |
| #25 "Irwin once let an Inland Python lick his face. That is the only snake that kills three ways: causing blood clotting, nerve failure and poisoning body organs. A baby python has enough venom to kill 6 adult men." You are an idiot! Pythons by genus are NOT venomous! If you're referring to the Inland Taipan, it is venomous, but it is NOT a member of the Python Family. |
| Posted by: Texas Redneck 2006-09-04 12:15 |
| #24 Irwin once let an Inland Python lick his face. That is the only snake that kills three ways: causing blood clotting, nerve failure and poisoning body organs. A baby python has enough venom to kill 6 adult men. |
| Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 2006-09-04 11:50 |
| #23 They are also angled with barbs so you have to push it through rather than pulling it back out. Here's a good pic of that feature: |
| Posted by: Spaigum Ebbiling9221 2006-09-04 11:40 |
| #22 RIP mate |
| Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 2006-09-04 08:48 |
| #21 yep - really hot water and meat tenderizer kills the pain. I do the shuffle, just was body surfing and stepped down on one.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-04 08:46 |
| #20 through your ankle in between the bone and achilles tendon ! Damn! You too? Open wound for about half the damn school year in '70. I've mastered the saltwater shuffle. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-09-04 08:13 |
| #19 On a cruise last year, we took a side trip to visit the stingrays - Grand Cayman? There were very friendly, but I couldn't quite kiss one. Many did, as the guide supported them partway out of the water. Still, we were nice to them..... |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-09-04 07:58 |
| #18 What SPoD said. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-09-04 07:51 |
| #17 I can personally verify that the barbs hurt, and are fully capable of going through your ankle in between the bone and achilles tendon. They are also angled with barbs so you have to push it through rather than pulling it back out. Through the chest? Jeebus |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-04 07:07 |
| #16 Yes. Unlike the vast majority of teevee "stars", he is someone I will miss, as he he brang both fun and substance in his shows, and was a very likable figure, quirks included (remember the South Park parody, with the "thumb up the *rse"?). Hope the family is coping as well as possible in those circumstances. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-09-04 06:18 |
| #15 So sad. He was a a buffoon at times but you could see he really cared about animals and conservation of habitat. Thanks Steve, for entertaining and educating us for all these years. |
| Posted by: john 2006-09-04 06:12 |
| #14 I once asked an Aussie friend if there was anything in that country that wasn't venomous. He said, "Yes. The sharks." This is really a stunner - I expected him to get tagged by some weird snake or one of his gators, not something like this. His family has my deepest sympathies - and it is a loss to the zoological community as well. He was largely self-taught and for all his seeming silliness, he was a smart, knowledgeable, and intelligent advocate for the wild. He'll be missed. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-09-04 06:02 |
| #13 Bummer. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-09-04 05:50 |
| #12 Died doing the thing he loved and had a passion for. Best epitaph one could wish for. My sympathy for his wife and children. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-09-04 05:17 |
| #11 The guy handles the deadliest creatures all his life but is eventually killed by a ray??!!! I loved the show when it first came out, though. |
| Posted by: Monsieur Moonbat 2006-09-04 04:20 |
| #10 Z-man, thats gotta be hair-pin from a King Kong Amazon! |
| Posted by: FU7637 2006-09-04 03:44 |
| #9 FU7637, that's an Ethiopian pygmy's toothpick. Be sure to click the link I provided. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-04 03:20 |
| #8 My favourite is still the Perth man who stuffed a large conch shell into his shorts. He didn't notice the blue-ringed octopus inside the shell. He nearly died from the octopus's venom and the swelling was apparently something to behold. Or so says his Sheila. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-04 03:17 |
| #7 Lots of nasty things in the ocean here in Oz. My favourite is still the Perth man who stuffed a large conch shell into his shorts. He didn't notice the blue-ringed octopus inside the shell. He nearly died from the octopus's venom and the swelling was apparently something to behold. Steve Irwin died doing something he loved. Not many of us can say that. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-09-04 03:11 |
| #6 shame he died but it was on the cards wasnt it, i thought a croc woulda had him but oddly not - they say ont.v hes one of only three people ever to die from ray atatcks there, i feel sorry for the family but it was to be expected. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2006-09-04 02:26 |
| #5 I've caught big ones [no surprise, they fight to get away] and dove amongst them but I've never obsereved aggressive behavior unless you f*ck them in some way. Barb removed from turtle In addition to the puncture wounds, many scutes [A horny, chitinous, or bony external plate on the shell of a turtle Also called scutum.] have been shed from the carapace.  ..and larger in comemoration then, i think I'll put another shrimp on the barbie... oh wait.. |
| Posted by: Flereper Uneng7637 2006-09-04 02:23 |
| #4 My guess would be he trod on or disturbed a stingaree- they reach a massive size, several hundred pounds. Two surfers were killed by them on Sydney beaches in the 1930's, and this is the first fatality I have heard of since, if this is indeed the case. The spine penetrates the chest cavity and toxin goes in or near the heart. This is very sad and a great shock- Irwin was a good man. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2006-09-04 02:16 |
| #3 Anybody have a picture of a stingray barb? I wasn't aware they could go THROUGH someones chest. One like this could probably do the fatal job. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-04 02:06 |
| #2 It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest. Anybody have a picture of a stingray barb? I wasn't aware they could go THROUGH someones chest. |
| Posted by: Charles 2006-09-04 02:01 |
| #1 His obvious love of wildlife can only be a real credit to the man. His incessant courting of disaster explains the rest. His last words: "Crik ... oooooohhhhh!" |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-04 01:35 |
