Stingrays can kill: 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin has been killed by a stingray. A Herald article illustrates the impact this news has had on the public.

In Australia the public had been a little underwhelmed - an Aussie ocker, ho hum. But the interview with Andrew Denton showed Irwin's personality. There is a transcript of the interview but it is no substitute for the video. Irwin was larger than life, and played it up a bit. He took his animals, his family and his business seriously, but not himself. It makes for an iconic Australian character, a real larrikin. His message was to relocate crocodiles, rather than to shoot them; to save wildlife, rather than kill it. It's a good message.

Stingrays can kill: 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin has been killed by a stingray. A Herald article illustrates the impact this news has had on the public.

In Australia the public had been a little underwhelmed - an Aussie ocker, ho hum. But the interview with Andrew Denton showed Irwin's personality. There is a transcript of the interview but it is no substitute for the video. Irwin was larger than life, and played it up a bit. He took his animals, his family and his business seriously, but not himself. It makes for an iconic Australian character, a real larrikin. His message was to relocate crocodiles, rather than to shoot them; to save wildlife, rather than kill it. It's a good message.