'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin's father quits zooStory Highlights
Father of late TV star Steve Irwin quit family's Australian conservation park .

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- The father of late television star Steve Irwin said he quit the family's Australian conservation park because he had become a "disrupting influence," although the widow of the khaki-clad "Crocodile Hunter" denies a rift in the clan.
_Steve Irwin is pictured in a typical pose at Australia Zoo shortly before his death in 2006.
_1 of 2 Bob Irwin's comments on a widely speculated falling out with his U.S.-born daughter-in-law, Terri Irwin, came as the manager of the dead star's multimillion dollar (euro) business claimed Thursday the zoo had been duped in a tax minimization scam.
_Australian media have speculated for months that Terri Irwin had fallen out with Bob Irwin following his son's death in a 2006 stingray attack.
_In brief excerpts released Thursday of Bob Irwin's first interview since he left the park earlier this year, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. he "was becoming a disrupting influence, not that I meant to be." There was no elaboration.
_Steve Irwin's parents established a reptile haven in the early 1970s in the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland state, and handed control of it to their son two decades later, just before his television career took off. The park, named Australia Zoo, became the center of Steve Irwin's multimillion-dollar television, tourist and conservation operations.
_"It's a strange feeling to spend half your lifetime building something up and walking away from it," Bob Irwin said in another interview excerpt.
_Terri Irwin has said she plans to expand the park to include a hotel and spa. She has also vowed to continue her late husband's conservation work. Their daughter Bindi is being groomed to follow her father into television.
_Terri Irwin has tried to dampen speculation that her father-in-law left the park because he disagreed with way his son's legacy was being handled.
_"I just can assure everyone that I love Bob dearly," Terri Irwin told reporters last month, noting that he was mourning not only his son but also his first wife. "He's gone through so much grief losing his wife and his only son that I will respectfully just leave it at that."
_Don't Miss
Thousands mourn 'Crocodile Hunter'
Separately, Terri Irwin faced legal problems.
_Australia Zoo and Terri Irwin are both being sued by a debt recovery agency for more than 2.5 million Australian dollars ($2.3 million; €1.5 million) allegedly owed to creditors. The case is in the preliminary stages before the courts.
_In a statement related to the case that was sent to media Thursday, Australia Zoo general manager Frank Muscillo said the Australian Tax Office was examining a set of deals involving Singapore-based investment bank HQZ Argentum that the zoo had entered into, then tried to cancel when it became clear they were not legitimate.
_"We were deceived by a very elaborate and deliberate plan," Muscillo said.
_He said Australia Zoo had "never pursued any illegal means to evade tax."
_He said Australia Zoo would be defending the civil suits against the zoo and Terri Irwin.
_The HQZ Argentum offices in Australia did not immediately respond to requests for comment