Smash hit

As a recognised ambassador for conservation he was invited to become the face of the Australian Customs quarantine publicity campaign, part of the effort to keep animal and plant diseases out of Australia.

He and his slogan "Quarantine matters! Don’t muck with it!" brought about a 25 per cent increase in the number of people volunteering information about potential breaches; it was the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service’s most successful campaign.

His zoo, meanwhile, was thriving. Having undergone Irwin’s imaginative improvements — including the addition of an Animal Planet Crocoseum, rainforest aviary and Tiger Temple — it attracted the US Olympic track team during their visit to Australia for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and was voted Queensland’s top tourist attraction in 2002.

Its success was helped by Irwin’s appearances in the Eddie Murphy film Dr Dolittle 2 and another, weakly plotted, feature film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002), which nevertheless won the best family feature film award for a comedy film at the Young Artist Awards.

But Irwin had a few lapses of judgment: in 2004, during a public show at his zoo he "did a Michael Jackson" and fed a chicken to a crocodile while holding his baby son Bob in his other arm 3ft away. It caused outrage — and prompted the Queensland Government to ban children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures — but Irwin vigorously defended himself, saying that the child was in no danger, and that it equated to other children learning to swim.

Then, in June 2004, Irwin was said to have breached an Australian law prohibiting people from getting too close to Antarctic wildlife in filming whales, penguins and seals. In response to the outcry a special edition of Crocodile Hunter, entitled Crocodiles & Controversy, was made to explain both incidents.

Appearances on Larry King Live (2004) and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2006) helped him to win back some support, and Irwin had just signed a deal with Warner Brothers and IMAX in America to make an IMAX film next year. He was filming an underwater documentary Ocean’s Deadliest on the Great Barrier Reef, when he died.

Irwin owned land in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the US. He was a fan of Essendon in the Australian Football League, and loved mixed martial arts competitions. He supported the conservative Liberal Party, and once described the Prime Minister, John Howard, as the "greatest leader in the entire world".

Howard returned the favour on hearing of Irwin’s death, calling him "the genuine article . . . he took risks, he enjoyed life, but he brought immense joy to millions of people, particularly to children". Among Irwin’s legacies is Elseya irwini, a new type of snapping turtle he discovered on the coast of Queensland. He was named Tourism Export of the Year in 2004.

Irwin’s death in a stingray attack is thought to be only the second known case in Australia. Stainton has said that Irwin’s eight-year-old daughter Bindi, whose new TV show will appear in January, will succeed him as wildlife warrior.

He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Times Charity Appeal: SolarAid
• Is it Black Monday all over again for Dubai?
• Behind the scenes at the biggest deal