Crikey - Croc hunter handler bitten by deadly snake

A snake handler at a zoo run by Steve Irwin of TV’s Crocodile Hunter nature programme was bitten by one of the world’s deadliest snakes today.

The 20-year-old man was bitten by a taipan on his right thumb while working at Irwin’s Australia Zoo in Beerwah, on Australia’s northeast coast, the Queensland state’s ambulance services said.

He was taken to hospital and is in a stable condition.

Last month Irwin caused an outcry when he took his month-old son Robert into a crocodile pen, holding the infant with one arm while dangling a piece of meat in front of a 13-foot crocodile.

Workplace safety officials investigated the incident to see whether Irwin had violated laws that prohibit unauthorised people into unsafe working areas.

They later said there was not enough evidence to charge Irwin for the incident, which outraged child welfare groups and drew unwelcome comparisons with disgraced pop star Michael Jackson who dangled his baby over a hotel balcony in Berlin in November 2002.