Steve Irwin, the ebullient Australian TV personality and conservationist known as the Crocodile Hunter, was killed Monday by a stingray barb to the heart during a diving expedition, police and his wildlife park said. Irwin, 44, was filming an underwater sequence for a television series on remote Batt Reef off the far northeast coast of Australia when he encountered the ray and was stung about 11 a.m. (0100 GMT), Australia Zoo, Irwin's park, said in a statement carried by the Associated Press. Crew members aboard Irwin's boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered cardio pulmonary resuscitation techniques as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead at about midday, the statement said.
