All posts containing the tag: "Crocodile Hunter"
Posted Sep 14th 2006 4:26PM by TMZ Staff
Below is the last photo taken of Steve Irwin before his tragic death last week. He is posing marine biologist Chris Jones on his boat, Croc 1, just two days before his death.
Irwin died last week after his heart was pierced by a stingray's poisonous barb while filming on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Family and pals held a private funeral at the zoo on Saturday and there will be a public memorial service at his 60-acre Australia Zoo wildlife park next Wednesday.
Filed under: TV
Tags: crikey, crocodile hunter, CrocodileHunter, steve irwin, SteveIrwin
Posted Sep 12th 2006 12:48PM by TMZ Staff
A spate of attacks on stingrays on Australia's eastern coast are believed to be work of aggrieved fans of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, who was killed last week by the poisonous barb of a ray. But a colleague and friend of Irwin's is begging fans -- if they are in fact responsible for the killings -- to stop doing so.
At least ten stingrays -- which are typically shy, unobtrusive fish -- have been found dead and mutilated on two beaches in Queensland state, where Irwin lived and ran the wildlife park Australia Zoo. A few of the rays have even been found with their tails chopped off. And Michael Hornby, executive director of Irwin's conservation group and a family friend, is pleading with the stingray killers to stop, saying that it would completely go against what Irwin stood for. "We are disgusted and disappointed that people would take this sort of action to hurt wildlife," says Hornby. "I hope everyone understands we have to protect wildlife now more than ever."
Meanwhile, fans are also expressing their anger via an online game called "Terri Irwin's Revenge," in which Irwin's widow is seen firing at stingrays underwater; players try to kill as many rays as possible. Terri Irwin hasn't commented on the game, but the creators have issued the rather bizarre disclaimer: "We should make it clear, this game is intended to be a memorial and NOT a funny parody."
Filed under: Wacky & Weird
Tags: Crocodile Hunter, CrocodileHunter, Steve Irwin, SteveIrwin
Posted Sep 11th 2006 8:07AM by TMZ Staff
Fans the world over have been mourning the tragic death of Steve Irwin, but not, evidently, the animal lovers at PETA.
This morning, the animal lovers group's Dan Mathews says that it's "no shock at all" that Irwin died the way he did, and he's also branded Irwin a "cheap reality TV star."
Irwin died last week after being impaled by a stingray while filming a TV documentary, and was buried Saturday in a private ceremony on Saturday at the Australia Zoo, the animal park where he and his family tended lovingly to hundreds of creatures. But despite his reputation as a naturalist and conservationist, the Crocodile Hunter's on-screen antics clearly irked the animal lovers at PETA, according to MSNBC's Jeannette Walls.
"He made a career out of antagonizing frightened wild animals," says PETA's Mathews, "which is a very dangerous message to send to kids." And Mathews sniffs that Irwin's career wasn't particularly impressive – at least not to him: "If you compare him with a responsible conservationist like Jacques Cousteau, he looks like a cheap reality TV star."
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Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
Tags: Crocodile Hunter, CrocodileHunter, Let's Get This Party Started, Let'sGetThisPartyStarted, Steve Irwin, SteveIrwin
Posted Sep 8th 2006 11:54AM by TMZ Staff
The outpour of emotion in Australia over the death of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin continues as Australians were urged by media and political figures to participate in "Khaki Friday." Irwin, who was killed when a stingray's barb stabbed him through the heart as he was filming a wildlife documentary off the coast of Australia, had a huge international following as a conservationist.
What began as a chain email has erupted into a national obsession as fans were urged to wear the trademark khakis Irwin always wore in public. An icon in his native Australia, Steve Irwin's family is planning a private funeral and a large public memorial service so fans can pay their last respects.
Crocs rule!
Filed under: TV, Wacky & Weird
Tags: australia, crocodile hunter, CrocodileHunter, death, khaki friday, KhakiFriday, steve irwin, SteveIrwin
Posted Sep 6th 2006 11:45AM by TMZ Staff
In the first public comments by Steve Irwin's family since his death on Monday, his father thanked his son's many fans for their messages of support.
"There's never been anybody else that I know of that had the personality that Steve had, and the strength, and the conviction of what he believed in," his father told a crowd of news cameras, journalists and well-wishers at the gate of the Australia Zoo. "And his message was conservation, and he was such a strong person that people all over the world believed in him."
Irwin, who described his son as his "best mate ever," reiterated the family's wishes not to have a state funeral, as offered by Prime Minister John Howard, saying, "He's just an ordinary bloke and he wants to be remembered as an ordinary bloke."
Tags: bob irwin, BobIrwin, crocodile hunter, CrocodileHunter, steve irwin, SteveIrwin, stingray
Posted Sep 4th 2006 12:08AM by TMZ Staff
Steve Irwin, the Australian known to millions of fans worldwide as the Crocodile Hunter, died today after being stung by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
Irwin was filming a segment for a show called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam on top of a stingray. The animals have a poisonous barb on the end of their tails, and the stingray's barb went through his ribcage and into his heart, killing him, according to his friend and colleague, John Stainton.
"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters. "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!'"
Famous for his Discovery Channel show "Crocodile Hunter" -- and his trademark exclamation, "Crikey!" -- Irwin was also known for being a conservationist. He leaves behind his American-born wife, Terri, who was often referred to as the "Crocodile Huntress," and two children, 8-year-old daughter Bindi Sue and his nearly 3-year-old son, Bob.
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Filed under: TV
Tags: Crocodile Hunter, CrocodileHunter, Steve Irwin, SteveIrwin
