Crocodile Hunter Irwin 'did not provoke fatal stingray'

13 April 2012

'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin was videotaped pulling the fatal stingray barb from his chest seconds before dying, officials said today, as tributes poured in for a man even strangers called a mate.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances in the death of Irwin, who was stabbed through the heart on Monday while snorkeling with a stingray during filming of a television program on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and no evidence he provoked the animal.

Video...

See the many tributes to Steve Irwin

See also...

• Bizarre death of the Crocodile Hunter

John Stainton, Irwin's manager who was among the television crew on the reef, said the fatal blow that struck the presenter and conservationist was caught on videotape, and described viewing the footage as having the "terrible" experience of watching a friend die.

"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," Stainton told reporters in Cairns, where Irwin's body was taken for an autopsy.

"That was it. The cameraman had to shut down," Stainton said.

The tape of the death of the man known by TV audiences worldwide for his infectious enthusiasm in the series "The Crocodile Hunter" was secured by Queensland state police as evidence for a coroner's inquiry - a standard procedure in high-profile deaths or those caused by other than natural causes.

Irwin, 44, was shooting footage for a new wildlife project he was making with daughter Bindi, 8, for airing next year in the United States when he was fatally stung off the north Queensland coast.

Irwin's American wife Terri, Bindi and their son Bob, almost 3, returned late Monday from a trekking vacation in Tasmania to Australia Zoo, the wildlife park where the family lived at Beerwah in Queensland's southeast. Irwin's body was being flown home today from Cairns. No funeral plans were announced.

Queensland Police Superintendent Michael Keating said there was no evidence Irwin threatened or intimidated the stingray, a normally placid species that only deploys its poisonous tail spines as a defense, and the case involved no suspicious circumstances.

Stingray experts have speculated that the animal that killed Irwin - who rose to fame by getting dangerously close to crocodiles, snakes and other beasts - probably felt trapped between the cameraman and the television star.

Stainton said Irwin was in his element in bushland, but that he and Irwin had talked about the sea posing threats the star wasn't used to.

"If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be the ocean," Stainton said. "On land he was agile, quick-thinking, quick-moving and the ocean puts another element there that you have no control over."

State funeral

State Premier Peter Beattie said Irwin, who he described as possibly the best known Australian in the world, would be afforded a state funeral if his family approved.

At the park, hundreds of people filed past the entrance laying floral bouquets and handwritten condolence messages. Khaki shirts - a trademark of Irwin - were laid out for people to sign.

"Mate, you made the world a better place," read one poster left at the gate. "Steve, our hero, our legend, our wildlife warrior," read another; "I thought you were immortal. How I wish that was true," said a third.

The park opened today because it was what Irwin would have wanted, said Gail Gipp, an animal health worker at the park.

"We are determined to carry on what he would have wanted," Gipp said.

Irwin was propelled to global fame after his TV shows, in which he regularly wrestled with crocodiles and went face to face with poisonous snakes and other wild animals, were shown around world on the Discovery Channel.

The network announced plans for a marathon screening of Irwin's work and a wildlife fund in his name.

"Rarely has the world embraced an animal enthusiast and conservationist as they did Steve Irwin," Discovery Networks International President Dawn McCall said in a statement.

Experts differed on the number of human deaths caused by stingrays - from up to 17 to just 3 - though they agreed that they were extremely rare.

Australian news Web sites reported being choked by heavy traffic seeking new on Irwin, newspapers devoted their front and several inside pages to the story and some of Irwin's high-profile friends expressed their sadness.

"He was and remains the ultimate wildlife warrior," said Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, who appeared with Irwin recently on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

"He touched my heart, I believed in him, I'll miss him. I loved him and I'll be there for his family," Crowe said in New York, Australian media reported.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in