Croc Hunter Bitten by Crazed Female

January 18 -- Australian celeb Steve Irwin makes his living wrestling beasts on the Animal Planet channel's popular Crocodile Hunter series, but sometimes, his scaled friends like to show off for the camera as well.

The daring Irwin, who is often seen tempting poisonous snakes and cavorting with crocs, had a chunk of his leg removed by a frisky crocodile named Toolakea this week. Irwin needed 12 stitches for the wound, according to The Associated Press.

Irwin was moving Toolakea, a 13-year-old female, to a new habitat at his zoo near Brisbane, Australia, when she attacked him. "I threw a jaw rope over her, jumped on her, and we were lifting her over a fence," he explained to the AP. "And as I got her up to that point of no return, where I'm handing her over to the other crew, she just went ballistic."

We may even get a play-by-play of the dreadful incident: A documentary crew was filming the fearless croc hunter when the 176-pound beast decided it was hungry. "This poor little female was just defending herself," Irwin shrugs, calling the bite an "occupational hazard."

Hey, mate, it's only a flesh wound!

Crocodile Hunter airs in 130 countries and is a favorite of celeb couple Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton.