AUSTRALIA: Private funeral service held for 'crocodile hunter' Irwin

Wildlife TV star buried in grounds of family's zoo

Straits Times
Monday, September 11, 2006

Sydney --- Australian wildlife TV star Steve Irwin was to be buried in the grounds of his family's zoo after a private funeral service at the weekend, local media reported yesterday.

Irwin, 44, star of the Crocodile Hunter programme on the Discovery Channel, was killed last week by a stingray while he was filming off the Great Barrier Reef.

Family and friends gathered for a private service at a chapel in the small town of Caloundra near Irwin's Australia Zoo in the north-eastern state of Queensland on Saturday, the Sunday Mail said.

Staff at the zoo would not confirm the funeral had been held, saying only that a private ceremony would be followed by a public memorial service within two weeks.

Friends said Irwin had always wanted to be buried at the zoo, and his family declined offers of a state funeral.

Irwin is survived by his American wife Terri, eight-year-old daughter Bindi and three-year-old son Robert.

Date Posted: 9/11/2006