Stingray Kills TV's 'Crocodile Hunter'
Steve Irwin Dies From Stab To The Heart By Stingray's Barb
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Play CBS Video Video Remembering the 'Croc Hunter' Mark Phillips reports on the life and career of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, who was killed in by a stingray at the Great Barrier Reef.
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Video Expert On Stingray Safety Only On The Web: Ray Davis, a marine biologist with the Georgia Aquarium and an expert on stingrays, discusses the death of Steve Irwin and how to protect oneself when swimming near stingrays.
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Video Filmmaker On Irwin's Death Only On The Web: Mark Phillips interviews Nigel Marven, wildlife filmmaker, about Steve Irwin's death in Queensland, Australia.
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Australian Steve Irwin, famous for his TV show "The Crocodile Hunter," holds his month-old son, Robert, in front of a 13-foot crocodile in an image from television during a croc feeding, Friday Jan. 2, 2004, at his Australian Zoo reptile park in Brisbane, Australia. (AP)
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Visitors lay flowers outside Australia Zoo at Beerwah, home of Steve Irwin who died on the Great Barrier Reef in far north Queensland, Australia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2006. (AP)
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A doctor on board Croc One, Steve Irwin's research vessel, was unable to resuscitate Irwin after a stingray pierced his heart Monday. When a rescue helicopter reached the boat, Irwin had already died. (AP)
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"Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.
"It's just absolutely unbelievable," Nigel Marven, a well-known wildlife specialist who was a longtime friend of Irwin's, said on The Early Show. "To be killed by a big crocodile or bitten by a snake, you'd have believed it. But a stingray? There's only been three cases in Australia of deaths by stingrays in the last 100 years. Seventeen worldwide. So it's a tremendous freak accident."
Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.
He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course" and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.
"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, 'Crocs Rule!"'
Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death."
"It's a huge loss to Australia," Howard told reporters. "He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people."
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





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See all 158 Commentssincerely,
makenzie love
age 11
Crocks are cool and will always be cared for.
Posted by Rggou At 12:47 Sept.06,2006
Third, If you don't have nothing nice to say then don't say it all.
Melissa
Nebraska
Steve will be missed by alot of people throughout the world unlike BIG MOUTH BUNIONBABE.
ZRATFACE has spoken!!!!
He was such a wonderful man. He was always so loving to animals whether he was in danger or not. His gentle nature made him who he was. I am so sorry for your loss. You are in my prayers. When Steve and his wife was together in a show the world could see the love he had for her. This showed no matter who was looking.
You will be missed. There will never be anyone as great as STEVE.
Many thanks for posting such lovely comments here :o)
Are you both also in heaven? lol.... dont mind.
have a nice time.
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