Irwin's final farewell in 'Crocoseum'

Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin will get a final send-off in the "Crocoseum" of his beloved family zoo next week, his widow revealed Wednesday in her first comments since his death.

Irwin's American wife Terri, his eight-year-old daughter Bindi, his father Bob Irwin and his friend and manager John Stainton will all speak at the public memorial service at the Australia Zoo next Wednesday.

While much larger venues including a 52,000-seat stadium had been mooted for the service, Terri Irwin said her iconic reptile-wrangler husband would have wanted it at the zoo started by his father more than 35 years ago.

"I cannot see how a memorial service would work in any other place other than the Crocoseum which he built here at the zoo and of which he was so proud," she said of the 5,500-seater auditorium in a statement read by Irwin's father.

"I would therefore ask that everyone please bear with me in this wish and help me to make this happen," she said, thanking fans across the world for their "overwhelming outpouring of love" following the death of the man she described as her "soul mate."

Fans of the wildlife daredevil killed in a stingray attack last week will be asked to make a donation to Irwin's Wildlife Warriors fund to gain admission to the service at 9:00 am (2300 GMT Tuesday).

The event will be broadcast live on television across Australia, the United States and Asia and will also be cast onto large TV screens at venues in the city of Brisbane -- about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away on the Sunshine Coast where Irwin's zoo is based.

Australian country singer John Williamson, one of Steve Irwin's favourite performers, will play at the event, which friends and family have said would be a celebration of Irwin's remarkable life.

The larger-than-life star of the popular "Crocodile Hunter" programme on the Discovery Channel was killed on September 4 when he was stabbed in the chest by a stingray tail while filming off the Great Barrier Reef.

The 44-year-old was laid to rest in a private ceremony at his zoo on Saturday after his family turned down the offer of a state funeral for the conservationist they describe as "just an ordinary bloke".

His death sparked an extraordinary wave of public mourning across Australia and in the United States, where he was a much-imitated household name, with newspapers, radio and television providing blanket coverage.

(AFP)