Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin was celebrated as an ordinary bloke yesterday by a handful of friends and family who buried him – and then had a barbecue – at his beloved Australia Zoo.
After a brief service in a tiny funeral parlor in Caloundra, the adventurer’s body was driven in a police-escorted white van the eight miles to the zoo, which was ringed by hundreds of grieving fans, a friend told Australian newspapers.
The mourners, led by Irwin’s American wife, Terri, and their children, Bindi, 8, and Bob, 2, then gathered for a simple cookout at the zoo, which has been in the Irwin family since 1970 and is home to 1,000 animals.
Government officials “gave the family permission to bury Steve at the zoo, and now we think they’re going to erect a monument so visitors can pay their respects,” the friend said.
Irwin’s manager John Stainton said the family would hold a press conference today – Monday in Australia – where Irwin’s father, Bob, plans to reveal further details about the ceremony.
Bob Irwin declined the Australian government’s offer of a state funeral, but a public memorial service will be held “within the next 10 days,” possibly at a 52,000-seat stadium in Brisbane, Stainton told CNN.
Irwin was killed Monday in a stingray attack off the Queensland Great Barrier Reef while shooting a documentary.
Stainton said Irwin’s film crew has since returned to the reef to finish the film, “Ocean’s Deadliest.”
Asked on the morning of Irwin’s death whether they would like to finish the project, “to a man, they all said yes,” he said.