MUMBAI: One of television's popular personalities Steve Irwin has passed away. Irwin who is well known to viewers of Animal Planet for Crocodile Hunter died after he was wounded by a stingray barb to his heart. He was filming a sequence on Batt Reef in Australia for his daughter's new TV series.

Media reports state that a helicopter rushed paramedics to nearby Low Isles where Irwin was taken for treatment, but he was dead before they arrived. A stingray's barb is said to be as dangerous as a rifle bayonet.

He is only the third person in Australia to die from being stabbed by a stingray. Irwin became famious on television for placing himself in precarious situations with animals like snakes and crocodiles. His fascination for animals stemmed from the fact that he grew up near crocodiles, trapping and removing them from populated areas and releasing them in his parent's park.