When a stingray killed the flamboyant naturalist Steve Irwin last week, his fellow Australian Germaine Greer outraged many by writing: "The animal world has finally taken its revenge." Now, it seems, the human world is hitting back.
Up to 11 stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Australia's eastern coast since the Crocodile Hunter's death, prompting fears that Irwin's fans are exacting their revenge on the normally docile fish.
Officials from the department of primary industries and fisheries say two of the dead stingrays were not the victims of revenge attacks, but they have been unable to determine the cause of death of at least another nine.
The fact that the tails and barbs of several of the animals were lopped off has environmentalists worried.
Michael Hornby, the executive director of Irwin's conservation group, Wildlife Warriors, said he feared the rays were being hunted and killed in retaliation for the TV star's death.
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