SYDNEY, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Australia's crocodile hunter Steve Irwin has escaped charges after a flurry of criticism over his taking his month-old son within feet of a hungry crocodile.
The televised stunt -- feeding the croc with one hand, the baby in the other -- sparked an investigation by the Queensland State Families Department, CNN reported Saturday.
Known internationally as "The Crocodile Hunter," Irwin was called reckless and irresponsible by children's groups for the Friday incident at his Australia Zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
The acting premier of Queensland state, Terry Mackenroth, said Irwin would not face charges.
"They claim that the child was not in danger. They understand people's concerns and have assured Children's Services that it won't happen again," Mackenroth told Australian ABC Radio.
Parliamentarian Wayne Swan, the families spokesman for the Federal Opposition, called it "very irresponsible."
"I think he's a bloody idiot," rival Cairns Crocodile Farm owner Keith Cook told the Courier-Mail newspaper.
