Crocodile hunter Irwin killed by stingray

Steve Irwin during a visit to Auckland in 2002. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

UPDATE - Crocodile Hunter and environmentalist Steve Irwin has been killed in an accident in north Queensland.

State government sources say Irwin, 44, was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest.

He was apparently filming an underwater documentary off the Low Isles, near Port Douglas.

The Queensland Ambulance Service issued a statement saying it received a call about 11am (1pm NZT).

It dispatched a helicopter to a boat near Batt Reef off the coast near Cairns with a doctor and emergency services paramedic.

Mr Irwin had a puncture wound to the left side of his chest and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

It is understood his body is being flown to Cairns.

Irwin, who dressed in khakis, worked with his American-born wife Terri, and children Bindi and Bob, to make programmes, often using his catchcry "Crikey" when confronted with a dangerous animal.

Crocodile Hunter was first broadcast in 1992.

Sky News Australia reported that Mr Irwin's wife Terri is trekking on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and may not yet know of her husband's death.

Irwin was hugely popular and, at times, controversial.

He triggered outrage in 2004 when he held his one-month-old baby Bob in one arm while feeding a snapping crocodile during a show at his zoo.

The incident made worldwide headlines.

He was investigated but cleared in 2004 by the Australian government's environment department after complaints he breached laws forbidding interaction with Antarctic animals such as whales, seals and penguins last year.

Irwin was filmed in the Antarctic taking a dip with two giant humpback whales, playing around with penguins and lounging with leopard seals. He denied riding a whale, saying he was just "bobbing around" in the water when the whales came up to him.

But this year he was picked as the face of an Australian Made campaign to boost Australian exports, causing some critics to grumble that his blond, brash image was at odds with modern Australia.

Born in 1962, Irwin picked up his fascination with reptiles from his father, Bob, who had opened a small reptile park on the Sunshine Coast in the 1970s.

Irwin took over the family business in 1991 and grew it into Australia Zoo.