Freak Clash With Stingray Kills 'wildlife Warrior Bloke'

Set against the dangers he courted as Australia's most celebrated animal conservationist, the sequence Steve Irwin hoped to film off the north Queensland coast seemed relatively benign.

A man who famously fought crocodiles in front of a worldwide TV audience had less reason to fear the stingrays in the blue waters of Batt Reef, near Port Douglas. He broke off from shooting his film, Ocean's Deadliest, to capture "stuff on the reef and little animals" for a programme featuring Bindi, his eight-year-old daughter.

Yesterday Australians were struggling to understand how the self-proclaimed "wildlife warrior Australian bloke" was killed on the innocuous venture by the whip of a stingray's barbed tail. The creature, which would only normally thrash out if threatened, struck with a reflex powerful enough to puncture a hole in the 44-year-old conservationist's chest.

John Stainton, his manager, said he had been swimming in shallow water and snorkelling as a cameraman filmed. "He came over the top of a stingray and a barb, the stingray's barb, went up and put a hole into his heart. We got him back within a couple of minutes to Croc 1, Steve's research vessel. By 12 o'clock, when the emergency crew arrived they pronounced him dead. It's likely that he died as soon as the barb hit him and I don't think he felt any pain. He died doing what he loved best."

Yesterday toxicology experts said the death was more likely to have been the result of the physical injury to his chest than the stingray's venom.

The prime minister, John Howard, described the controversial activist as an Australian "larrikin", a wild-spirited person, who brought joy to millions. "I am quite shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death," he said. "It's a huge loss to Australia."

As news of the tragedy spread, fans jammed radio station lines to air their grief and crowds laid flowers outside the zoo he ran with his family north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. But the repercussions were felt far outside Australia. Irwin's signature programme, The Crocodile Hunter, was bought by the Discovery Channel in 1996 and became a broadcasting phenomenon. A mix of natural history and controversial stunts, the programmes were a hit in 130 countries, spawning books, games and other merchandise.

Feted in the US

He was particularly feted in the US on programmes such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Larry King Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show. When President George Bush visited Canberra, Irwin arrived at the reception in his customary khaki shorts and shirt. He also achieved the status reserved for the best-loved figures across the US when he appeared as a cartoon character in The Simpsons.

David Bellamy, the writer and naturalist, told the BBC, he was "one of the greats. He did take enormous risks but he knew what he was doing".

He was killed in what is said to be the third recorded fatal stingray attack in Australia. Normally the fish, which can weigh up to two tonnes, swim away, but they can strike if provoked.

The attack ends a career that began when he started rescuing and rehabilitating animals with his father Bob. Mr Irwin Sr, a plumber, created Australia Zoo and taught his son how to "second-guess" crocodiles in their natural habitat. He put that knowledge to use relocating rogue crocodiles under a project run by the Queensland government.

He came to worldwide attention after Mr Stainton visited the zoo to shoot a commercial and recognised a star in the making as he displayed nerve and showmanship while handling crocodiles, snakes and spiders. The partnership, which spanned almost 50 documentaries, made both men rich and famous.

Few doubted the genuineness of Irwin's desire to save endangered species, particularly crocodiles. "Every chance I get, I will put my life on the line to save crocs," he told one interviewer.

Endangering life

But his populist stunts also prompted disapproval from more conservative conservationists and his determination to secure exciting pictures drew wider criticism. In 2004, when he was shown on television carrying his two-month-old son Robert while feeding a chicken carcass to a crocodile, child welfare groups accused him of endangering the child's life. He placed the infant on the ground beside a pond containing a crocodile and the move prompted local people to complain to the Queensland department of family services. The Australian Family Association branded his conduct "child abuse".

But he said the boy had never been in danger because he had "control of the situation". He was let off with a reprimand.

Several months later he was accused of breaking international and Australian laws while making a documentary in the Antarctic by moving too close to a pod of whales and compounding the offence by sliding down snowy slopes with a group of penguins. Once again he denied wrongdoing and, after reviewing the footage, officials agreed to drop the matter. Irwin and his American wife Terri hit back at their accusers with a documentary called Crocodiles & Controversy.

With his catchphrases "Crikey" and "Look at that beaut!" Irwin acknowledged that some Australians saw him as an anachronism. "They actually see a little bit of themselves when they see me and they find that a little embarrassing. I'm fair dinkum, like kangaroos, winged keels and bloody flies. I think I've got animals so genetically inside me that there's no way I could actually be anything else."