Vale to a wonderful Aussie………..

He died after a car crash on his wildlife park.

Lucky1 said:

Vale to a wonderful Aussie………..

He died after a car crash on his wildlife park.

is it confirmed yet? Heard on the radio that the name has not been released.

RENOWNED WA adventurer and conservationist Malcolm Douglas has died in a car crash at his Broome wildlife park overnight.

Douglas, also known as the barefoot bushman, became a household name as he toured northern Australia during the 1960s, capturing his adventures in more than 50 documentaries.

He established at Broome Crocodile Park in 1983 and also the wildlife park on Great Northern Highway, 16km from the town.

Police are yet to confirm Mr Douglas was killed or release details of the crash.

Mr Douglas’ shocked personal assistant Joanne McCardle said she was unable to confirm her boss had been killed in the accident.

“There is no confirmation (of his death) at this stage,” Joanne McCardle said.

“I am on my way out there now to see what’s going on.”

“I have tried to ring everyone out at the farm and the Crocodile Park office, which deals with both parks, and not one person is responding to my phone calls.

“I am on my way out there now to try to find something out.

She said she had tried to contact Mr Douglas direct on his mobile phone without success.

“He very rarely answers his mobile phone anyway,” She said.

“He is not at home or his office. He would have been at the farm but it is not confirmed it is him, I don’t know any more than that at this stage.”

bluegreen said:

Lucky1 said:

Vale to a wonderful Aussie………..

He died after a car crash on his wildlife park.

is it confirmed yet? Heard on the radio that the name has not been released.

Family is being contacted…. just said it on our radio here.

Farewell to a great Aussie bloke :(

The original crocodile hunter Malcolm Douglas has died after the car he was travelling in crashed into a tree on his property in Western Australia.

WA police said a man was killed after their four-wheel-drive vehicle crashed into a tree at about 6.30am (WST) in an area near the Douglas’s Wilderness Wildlife Park in Broome.

They would not confirm the man’s identity, saying next of kin were yet to be informed.
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For more than 40 years, Douglas, also known as the “barefoot bushman”, trekked across the Australian outback documenting his adventures through dozens of wildlife documentaries and television shows.

The 69-year-old’s Crocodile Park opened in 1983 to enormous success, with tourists from all over the world flocking to the park to see and feed his crocodiles.

Later in life, Douglas was often overshadowed by the popularity of The Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, who garnered global popularity with his exuberant demeanour and fearless behaviour.

However Douglas was alway seen as the man who set the mould for adventurers to come.

“What you see is what you get,” he told Fairfax in 2009.

“I’m not fake and I don’t pre-plan takes, it’s all real. There’s no helicopter on standby if something goes wrong. In places like the Kimberley one mistake and you’re dead.”

He was virtually an overnight success after his first wildlife show, Across The Top, was screened in 1976.

“I was filming Aboriginal people killing kangaroos and drinking the blood because there wasn’t any water,” he said.

“No-one had seen anything like it and they loved it.”

Douglas was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004 and told he had 18 months to live.

But just as he overcame the merciless terrain of the Australian outback and its venomous snakes and volatile crocs, Douglas beat his predatory disease.

“It changes your attitude too,” he told the ABC while battling his illness.

“You try and remain calmer. You try and appreciate life. You appreciate every day, you know? Because, from now on, I could have been dead, and I’m, you know … I’m still kickin’.”

Douglas is survived by his wife Valerie and two adult children, Amanda and Lachlan.