Irwin lived a life full of adventure

CAIRNS, Australia — He stalked lions. He faced off with poisonous snakes. He wrestled with crocodiles.

When the end came for television's beloved "Crocodile Hunter," it was in an encounter with a stingray and its venomous tail barb.

Perhaps it wasn't surprising. Steve Irwin died doing what he loved best, getting too close to one of the dangerous animals he dedicated his life to protecting with an irrepressible, effervescent personality that propelled him to global fame.

The 44-year-old Irwin's heart was pierced by the serrated, poisonous spine of a stingray as he swam with the creature Monday while shooting a new TV show on the Great Barrier Reef, his manager and producer John Stainton said.

He said Irwin removed the barb from his chest but lost consciousness. "He pulled it out and the next minute he's gone," said Stainton, who saw videotape of Irwin's final moments.

The tape of Irwin's final moments has been secured by Queensland state police as evidence for a coroner's inquiry, the producer said.

Marine experts called the death a freak accident. They said rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, but the venom coating the barb usually just causes a very painful sting for humans.

News of Irwin's death reverberated around the world, where he won popularity with millions as the man who regularly leaped on the back of huge crocodiles and grabbed deadly snakes by the tail.

"Crikey!" was his catch phrase, repeated whenever there was a close call — or just about any other event — during his TV programs, delivered with a broad Australian twang, mile-a-minute delivery and big arm gestures.

"I am shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death," Australian Prime Minister John Howard said. "It's a huge loss to Australia."

Conservationists said all the world would feel the loss of Irwin, who turned a childhood love of snakes and lizards and knowledge learned at his parents' side into a message of wildlife preservation that reached a television audience that reportedly exceeded 200 million.

"He was probably one of the most knowledgeable reptile people in the entire world," Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, told ABC's "Good Morning America."