Great croc hunter salutes Irwin

2006-09-04 12:01

Ed Stoddard

Johannesburg - Africa's great crocodile hunter saluted his Australian counterpart on Monday, saying the death of Steve Irwin by a stingray barb was an "unfitting" end for the fearless showman.

Khalid Hassen, who had shot dead more than 17 000 African crocodiles in a hunting career, which had spanned over four decades, said: "I'm very upset to hear about it. I know that he led a dangerous life, but it just doesn't seem right that a fish should kill him... It is an unfitting death for him.

"I thought he would perhaps get mauled by a crocodile, but a stingray?" Irwin died on Monday after a stingray barb pierced his chest as he was filming an underwater documentary.

Irwin grew up near crocodiles in Australia, trapping and removing them from populated areas and releasing them in his parent's park. His wildlife documentaries and daring adventures brought him global fame.

'I'm a hunter, I'm a killer'

Hassen, a successful Malawian businessman, had probably killed more crocodiles than anyone else, but he said he had huge respect for Irwin and his non-lethal methods of trapping the big reptiles.

Hassen, who hunted at night by boat with a heavy calibre rifle in the waterways of southern Malawi, where dozens of peasants are attacked each year by man-eating crocodiles, said: "He was a conservationist and I'm a hunter, I'm a killer."

Hassen gave the meat to the locals and sold the skins. He described Irwin as fearless. Hassen said: "Nobody else has done what he did. He was really an outstanding person, he was fearless.

"When he came to Africa, he went into game parks and approached lions and rhinos. Deep down he must have known that there was an element of great risk in what he was doing.

"Crocodiles are very unpredictable. They are like sharks in the ocean, you never know when they are going to strike."

But Hassen, a recognised wildlife expert, said Irwin knew what he was doing and had a deep understanding of wildlife.

Hassen said: "He was a showman but he had a great knowledge of all these things."

- Reuters