Steve Irwin best mate to film notorious animal attacks


STEVE Irwin's former best friend John Stainton has begun a new project that involves re-creating some of Australia's most notorious animal attacks.

Stainton, who witnessed Irwin's shock death in September 2006, is shooting the series Your Worst Animal Nightmares for America's cable network The Discovery Channel.

The series will feature dramatic re-enactments of highly publicised animal attacks including the Alicia Sorohan crocodile attack in 2004 and the Rodney Fox shark attack in 1963.

But while the series will focus on famous Australian attacks, it will not include any reference to Irwin's shock stingray attack on the Great Barrier Reef.

"I can't go there. I definitely cannot go there," Stainton told Confidential yesterday.

"But I spoke with Steve a lot about these famous attacks and it's because of him that I know so much about them.

"Now this series is a matter of taking another look at these stories but mostly getting across the conservation message that they have."



Sorohan made headlines in 2004 when she jumped on a crocodile north of Cooktown as it was dragging her son's friend Andrew Kerr into the water. The croc was later shot.

In 1963 South Australian spear-fishing champion Fox was viciously attacked by a shark and although he suffered near-fatal wounds, today Rodney works as a Great White shark conservationist.