(IN): Kerala crocodile park named after Irwin

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Link: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070012165

 

Kerala crocodile park named after Irwin

 

Press Trust of India

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 (Thiruvananthapuram)

A crocodile research centre in Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary was named by

the Kerala government after late Steve Irwin, the Australian animal

expert known to TV viewers as the ''crocodile hunter''.

 

The state's forest and wildlife department is perhaps the first

government body in the world to name a memorial after Irwin, whose

documentaries on wildlife and reptiles endeared him to thousands of

viewers.

 

The centre was thrown open to the public by Forest Minister Benoy

Viswom at a function in Neyyar on Tuesday.

 

Viswom had announced that the centre would be named after Irwin soon

after he died when a stringray pierced a barb into his heart while he

was filming at sea.

 

It is called the Steve Irwin Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research

Centre, an official release said.

 

Set up on 2.5 hectares at a cost of Rs 5 lakh, the centre will have

marsh and mugger crocodiles found in the marshlands of the subcontinent.

 

The park was started in 1977 as part of a national programme to

conserve crocodiles.