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No state funeral for croc hunter
06/09/2006 10:58 - (SA)
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| Bob Irwin, father of late Australian media personality and environmentalist Steve Irwin, talks at a press conference outside Australia Zoo in Beerwah. (Steve Holland, AP) |
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Heather Faulkner
Beerwah - Wildlife TV star Steve Irwin's grieving father on Wednesday turned down a state funeral for a son he described as "just an ordinary bloke", as a global wave of mourning astonished Australia.
Fighting back tears, the weather-beaten, khaki-clad Bob Irwin told an impromptu news conference that his son had been his "best mate" and funeral arrangements would be up to his American widow Terri and their two young children.
Irwin was speaking to reporters outside his son's Australia Zoo, where a massive shrine of flowers, notes and personal mementoes has been laid by thousands of fans of television's wildlife warrior.
'An ordinary bloke'
The premier of Queensland state, Peter Beattie, had offered to provide a state funeral but Irwin said the star of the Discovery Channel hit series Crocodile Hunter would not have wanted a grand send-off.
"The state funeral would be refused because he's just an ordinary guy, and he wants to be remembered as an ordinary bloke," Irwin said.
Steve Irwin, 44, was killed on Monday off the Great Barrier Reef when the tail barb of a giant stingray punctured his heart as the creature lashed out at him while he was filming.
"He certainly did die doing something he loved doing, and that's a lot better than being hit by a bus," said his father. "He wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
Donations
Even in death, Irwin was rallying people to the wildlife conservation cause he so passionately promoted on television.
An environmental charity he set up, Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, had been overwhelmed by donations from around the world, said executive director Michael Hornby.
The website had received "something like a million hits in the first few hours of the news breaking" and on Tuesday "we were getting 55 donations every 10 minutes".
"Steve would be absolutely humbled by what was going on," Hornby said.
Global outpouring of grief
Staff at Irwin's zoo were also astounded by the extraordinary global outpouring of grief for Australia's most famous export.
"We've been stunned by the public reaction to this tragedy," spokesperson Louise Martin told AFP.
"It's incredible the impact that Steve had on people's lives around the world. It's absolutely amazing to see the flood of flowers," she said.
Shrine similar to Diana's
"Crikey! We will miss you," read one note in the sea of tributes at the zoo, reprising the daredevil naturalist's signature exclamation.
The shrine and outpouring of popular grief is being compared by Australian media to the floral mountain created in London after the 1997 death of Princess Diana.
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