AUSTRALIA: Star of film and TV was thought by many to take unnecessary risks, writes Pádraig Collins, in Sydney
Australian television environmentalist Steve Irwin, who died yesterday following a freak accident, was "doing what he loved best" in his last moments, said his manager, John Stainton.
Better known to millions of TV viewers around the world as "the Crocodile Hunter" - and for his catchphrase, "Crikey!", which he used when encountering snakes, crocodiles and other dangerous animals - Irwin (44) died of suspected cardiac arrest after being stung through the chest by a stingray off the coast in the far north of Queensland.
He had been filming a new documentary called Ocean's Deadliest, but bad weather had stopped the shoot. Instead, when he died Irwin was getting footage for his eight-year-old daughter Bindi's upcoming series.
"He said 'I might just go off and shoot some segments for Bindi's show, just stuff on the reef and little animals'," Mr Stainton said.
Wildlife experts say Irwin's death was only the third known fatality caused by stingrays in Australian waters. The creatures, which can be up to 2.5 metres long, are said to be passive, stinging only in defence and when they do, attacking with a bayonet-like barb.
"He came over the top of a stingray and the stingray's barb went up and went into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Mr Stainton. "It's likely that he possibly died instantly when the barb hit him, and I don't think that he . . . felt any pain."
Irwin's American-born wife, Terri, was told of her husband's death while on a walking tour in Tasmania. She immediately returned to the family home on Queensland's Sunshine Coast with her two children, Bindi and three-year-old son Bob.
Australia's prime minister John Howard said Irwin's death was a "huge loss" for the country.
"He was the genuine article, what you saw was what you got. He took risks, he enjoyed life, but he brought immense joy to millions of people, particularly to children, and it's just such a terrible loss and I feel very distressed and I'm quite upset," he said. Irwin had become a global phenomenon since making the first series of Crocodile Hunter in 1992. Since then he made almost 50 documentaries for Animal Planet, the Discovery-owned cable channel. These programmes in turn led to books, games and toy action figures.
He also starred in movies such as The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course and Dr Doolittle 2 and developed the Australia Zoo wildlife park, which was started by his parents Bob and Lyn Irwin, into a huge enterprise employing more than 500 people.
While many praised his work as a conservationist others thought he took unnecessary risks.
In a controversial incident in January 2004, Irwin held his then infant son Bob in one arm as he fed a dead chicken to a crocodile at Australia Zoo. The incident was filmed and shown around the world within hours. Child welfare groups condemned the stunt as irresponsible and tantamount to child abuse, but Irwin said any danger to his son was only a perceived danger and he was in control of the situation at all times.
He was quite aware that some Australians recoiled at the macho Aussie stereotype which was his public persona. "When I see what's happened all over the world, they're looking at me as this very popular, wildlife warrior Australian bloke," he told ABC television in 2003.
"And yet back here in my own country, some people find me a little bit embarrassing. You know, there's this . . . they kind of cringe, you know, cause I'm coming out with 'Crikey' and 'Look at this beauty' . . .
"You know, is it a cultural cringe? Is it they actually see a little bit of themselves when they see me and they find that a little embarrassing?"