Up to 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 today, 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.

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

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

continued..............

http://www.24dash.com/content/news/v...8&newsID=10349