Irwin cleared over Antarctic close encounter

Daredevil Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin has been cleared over claims that he got too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales while filming a documentary in Antarctica.

Interacting with Antarctic wildlife is punishable by a €718,400 fine and two years in jail.

Australia’s prime minister John Howard told Sky News television today that a month-long Environment Department investigation had recommended no punishment.

“A decision has been taken that no action of any kind is necessary,” Howard said.

Howard – who invited Irwin to lunch with visiting US president George Bush last October – was angered when asked if this was a case of favourable treatment for a celebrity.

“That is an absurd thing to say. You have no right to say that,” Howard told Sky News political editor David Speers.

The programme, Ice Breaker, aired by the US Animal Planet network last month, showed Irwin skimming down an icy slope with some penguins and lying on a rock near a leopard seal.

Irwin, host of the Crocodile Hunter wildlife programme, was also suspected of swimming too close to two humpback whales and patting them while filming earlier this year in the Australian-controlled part of Antarctica.

The Australian Antarctic Division, the agency that grants permits for people who want to travel to Australia’s section of the icy continent, strictly limits how close visitors may get to wildlife.

Irwin had denied any wrongdoing in Antarctica.

The allegations came just months after Irwin triggered an uproar by holding his baby in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to his son.