The war on terror, stingray division

Guilt by association: Mourners of the death of the Crocodile Hunter apparently engage in revenge killings of innocent stingrays.

At least 10 stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Australia's eastern coast since "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was killed by one of the animals last week, an official said Tuesday, prompting concerns of revenge attacks on the normally docile fish.

The popular television star was killed last week when a stingray barb pierced his chest as he filmed a TV show off Australia's Great Barrier Reef, prompting an outpouring of grief in Australia and among his fans worldwide.

The dead stingrays have been discovered on two beaches in Queensland state, including two that were found Tuesday with their tails lopped off, state fisheries department official Wayne Sumpton said.

Sumpton said fishermen who inadvertently catch the diamond-shaped rays sometimes cut off their tails to avoid being stung, but the practice is uncommon.

Steve Irwin wouldn't have wanted this kind of biological profiling and inter-species violence. We await a call for reason and compassion by Aussie Prime Minister John Howard, whose sensitivity is legendary.

(Cross-posted, and still in mourning...)


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