Remembering the Crocodile Hunter

When shooting his daredevil animal adventures, Steve Irwin had one iron-clad instruction for his film crews.

"When something grabs me, keep rolling. That's the golden rule. The golden rule," he once explained in an interview.

On Monday, Irwin's wishes were honored one last time, when a camera crew captured his final moments on video after he was fatally struck in the heart by a stingray's barb.

Irwin was working on an underwater documentary titled Ocean's Deadliest on the Great Barrier Reef at the time of his death.

The footage shows Irwin pulling the stingray's poisonous barb from his chest before losing consciousness, his friend and longtime manager John Stainton told reporters.

"It shows that the, Steve came over the top of the ray, and then the tail came up and spiked him [in the chest] and he pulled it out, and the next minute he's gone. And that was it, and then the cameraman had to shut down," Stainton said.

"It's a very hard thing to watch, because you are actually witnessing somebody die, and it's terrible."

Discovery Networks President Billy Campbell told the Australian Associated Press that it would be up to Irwin's family to decide whether the footage would ever be made public.

"It's still too early," Campbell told AAP. "We'll have to take a look at it."

The 44-year-old Irwin is one of only a few humans known to have met their end by stingray. According to marine wildlife experts, stingrays usually only lash out in self-defense and their attacks are rarely fatal, unless the animal manages to land its jagged barb in its target's stomach or chest as happened to Irwin.

Officials who reviewed the footage as part of the investigation into Irwin's death said there was no evidence he had antagonized the stingray. A post-mortem exam showed that he died almost instantaneously after the barb entered his heart.

As word of Irwin's death spread, fans flocked to Australia Zoo, where Irwin lived with his wife and children, leaving thousands of flowers, candles and written messages at the gates.

"Crikey, Steve, we will miss you," read one fan's message. "Mate, you made the world a better place," read another message.

Staffers kept the zoo open Tuesday, saying that Irwin would have expected nothing less.

Famous friends also offered their remembrances of the exuberant animal lover.

"He was and remains the ultimate wildlife warrior," Russell Crowe said in a statement. "He touched my heart, I believed in him, I'll miss him. I loved him and I'll be there for his family."

Hugh Jackman, who had just visited Australia Zoo on Saturday, recalled Irwin's zest for life.

"His enthusiasm, humour, passion and optimism was a beacon throughout the world," Jackman said.

Australian Prime Minster John Howard said that Irwin died in "quintessentially Australian circumstances."

"He did epitomize to many so people around the world what they saw to be uniquely Australian characteristics and for that we should be simultaneously proud and grateful," Howard said.

The Discovery Network announced it would air a Crocodile Hunter marathon on Animal Planet Saturday, honoring the most memorable moments of Irwin's television career. The network also pledged to create the Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund, to be known fondly as the "Crikey Fund," in memory of Irwin's dedication to conservation.

Irwin is survived by his wife and fellow conservationist Terri and their children, eight-year-old Bindi and two-year-old Bob.

The Irwins met in 1991 and married in 1992. "It was love at first sight," Terri recalled in a 2003 interview.

Footage of the twosome's crocodile-tracking honeymoon, shot by Stainton, later became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. The series debuted in Australia in 1996 and in North America the following year to huge success.

Less successful was the Irwins' film debut in 2002's The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course, which was panned by critics.

In 2004, Irwin was roundly criticized after he was filmed feeding a crocodile while holding his infant son in one arm, an action he defended.

"My intention was strictly and only to show people he's my little baby boy," Irwin told Larry King in 2004. "I would never endanger my son, as you wouldn't yours nor any good father."

Later that year, Irwin was again criticized for getting too close to penguins and other animals of Antarctica protected by conservation laws while filming a documentary called Ice Breaker. As with the baby incident, Irwin was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Despite a few career bumps, Irwin was, by all accounts, at the top of his game in recent weeks.

He was developing a TV series for his daughter, Bindi, and working on a $40 million expansion to Australia Zoo. He had just completed five weeks of crocodile research in Queensland's Lakefield National Park and signed with Disney and IMAX to make a 3D movie.

"Steve said to me on the boat, on Croc One...as we were leaving to go out for this doco, 'John, I've had the best month of my life'. I said, 'Gee, that's a big statement, Steve' and he said, 'No, it's the best month of my life,'" Stainton recalled.

"And that's great."