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Steve Irwin
Born	22 February, 1962 Essendon, Victoria, Australia
Died	4 September, 2006 near Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia
Occupation(s)	Naturalist, television personality
Spouse	Terri Irwin
Children	2 (Bindi Sue and Robert Clarence aka Bob)
Website	www.crocodilehunter.com

Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February, 1962 – 4 September, 2006), also known as the Crocodile Hunter, was an Australian naturalist, wildlife expert and television personality, best known for the television program The Crocodile Hunter, an unconventional wildlife documentary series broadcast worldwide and co-hosted with his wife Terri Irwin. The pair owned and operated Australia Zoo, in Beerwah, Queensland.

Irwin parlayed youthy experience as a crocodile trapper into an international television career, a feature film, and a series of accolades in Australia for his promotion of tourism and environmental awareness. Irwin, who had a macho image as a wrangler of large, dangerous animals, was a committed conservationist. His cavalier showman's approach drew criticism, especially with an incident when he held his baby boy while feeding crocodiles at his zoo.

Early years

Born to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Irwin moved with his parents as a child to Queensland in 1962. Bob was a reptile enthusiast and when the family moved, Bob and Lyn Irwin started the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Steve grew up around crocodiles and other reptiles.

Irwin became involved with the park in a number of ways, including taking part in daily animal feedings, as well as care and maintenance activities. On his sixth birthday he was given a scrub python. He began handling crocodiles at the age of nine, after his father had educated him on reptiles from an early age. He graduated from Caloundra State High School in 1979. He soon moved to Northern Queensland, where he became a crocodile trapper, removing crocodiles from populated areas where they were considered a danger. He performed the service for free with the quid pro quo that he be allowed to keep them for the park. Crocodiles that he caught were sent down to the family zoo. He stayed in North Queensland for around five years. Irwin followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a volunteer for the Queensland Government's East Coast Crocodile Management program.

Career

Rise to fame

The park was a family run business until it was turned over to Irwin in 1991. He took over the running of the park, now called Australia Zoo (renaming it in 1992). Also that year, he appeared in a one-off reptile and wildlife special for television. In 1992, he met Terri Raines at the park, while performing a demonstration. The two later married. The footage, shot by John Stainton, of their crocodile-trapping honeymoon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. The series debuted on Australian TV screens in 1996, and by the following year had made its way onto North American television. The Crocodile Hunter became wildly successful in the United States and the UK. By 1999, he had become very popular in the United States, making his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. By this time, the series was now broadcast in over 130 countries. His exuberant and enthusiastic presenting style, broad Australian accent, constant wearing of khakis and catch-phrase "Crikey!" became known worldwide.

Under Irwin's expansive leadership, the operations grew to include the zoo, the television series, the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, and the International Crocodile Rescue. Improvements to the Australia Zoo include the Animal Planet Crocoseum, the rainforest aviary and Tiger Temple. Irwin mentioned that he was considering opening an Australia Zoo in Las Vegas, Nevada, and possibly at other sites around the world.

Film

In 2001, Irwin appeared in a cameo role in the Eddie Murphy film Dr. Dolittle 2. In 2002, his first and only feature film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course was released. In general, reviews of this film were negative. Irwin portrayed himself, in addition to performing numerous stunts for the film. The film follows Irwin who mistakes some CIA agents for poachers. He sets out to stop them from capturing a crocodile, who, unknown to him, has actually swallowed a tracking drone. The film won the Best Family Feature Film award for a comedy film at the Young Artist Awards. The film was produced on a budget of about $12 million, and has grossed over $28 million (as of September 2006). In 2003 Irwin was reportedly in line to host a chat show on Australian network television, a series that never went into production.

Animal Planet

Animal Planet ended The Crocodile Hunter with a series finale entitled "Steve's Last Adventure." The last Crocodile Hunter documentary went for three hours with footage of Irwin's across-the-world adventure, visiting locations like the Himalayas, the Yangtze River, Borneo, and the Kruger National Park. Irwin went on to star in other Animal Planet documentaries, including The Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and New Breed Vets.

Later projects

In January 2006 as part of Australia Week celebrations in the USA, Irwin appeared at the Pauley Pavilion, UCLA in Los Angeles, California. During an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Irwin announced that Discovery Kids would be developing a show for his daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin. The show, Jungle Girl, was tipped to be similar to The Wiggles movies, with songs that surround a story. A feature-length episode of Australian kids TV show The Wiggles entitled "Wiggly Safari" appears dedicated to Irwin, and he's featured in it heavily with his wife and daughter. The show includes the song "Crocodile Hunter, Big Steve Irwin".

In 2006, the American network The Travel Channel had begun to show a series of specials starring Irwin and his family as they traveled on cross-country tours.

After questions arose about Irwin's being paid $175,000 worth of taxpayers' money to appear in a television advertisement and his possible political ties, Irwin told ABC: "I love John Howard, and that's the way I am. So everyone thinks I'm, like, this diehard Liberal supporter. I'm not! I'm not. I'm sitting on the fence, mate; I'm a conservationist. I can't afford to be one way or the other. I just have to run straight up the middle, mate. I have to get on with whoever's in power. And to tell you the truth, the best speech that popped up in Parliament House when George Bush was here was Simon Crean. Here's a bloke who actually disagreed with Iraq, OK, so he put forward the most eloquent speech, which really boosted his profile in my eyes. By crikey, I thought, Simon did the best one there, which is fantastic. So I appreciate good work when I see it, and that's all it is." His comments describing John Howard as the "greatest leader in the world" earned him great scorn in the media.

Search and Rescue Effort in Mexico

In November 2003, Irwin was filming a documentary on Sea Lions in Baja California Sur, Mexico when he heard via his boat's radio that two scuba divers were reported missing in the area. Irwin and his entire crew suspended operations to aid in the search. His team's divers searched with the rescue divers, and Irwin used his vessel to patrol the waters around the island, as well as using his satellite communications system to call in a rescue plane. On the second day of the search, kayakers found one of the divers, Scott Jones, perched on the a narrow ledge of rocks over waters with dangerous currents. Irwin and a crewmember escorted Jones to Irwin's boat and to safety. Jones reported not recognizing his celebrity rescuer as he never saw Irwin on television.

The other lost diver, Katie Vrooman, was found dead the following day by the search plane not far from Jones' location.

Media work

Irwin was also involved in several media campaigns. He enthusiastically joined with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service to promote Australia's strict quarantine/customs requirements, with advertisements and posters featuring slogans such as, "Quarantine Matters! Don't muck with it". His payments for these advertising campaigns were directed into his wildlife fund.

In 2004 he was appointed ambassador for The Ghan, an Adelaide to Darwin train that began operations in 2004. For some time he was sponsored by Toyota, in keeping with his rugged outback image.

He was also a keen promoter for Australian tourism in general and Queensland tourism in particular. In 2002 the Australia Zoo was voted Queensland's top tourist attraction. His immense popularity in the United States meant he often promoted Australia as a tourist destination there.

Honors

In 2001 Irwin was awarded the Centenary Medal for his "service to global conservation and to Australian tourism". In 2004 he was recognised as Tourism Export of the Year. Also in 2004, he was nominated for Australian of the Year, which was won by Steve Waugh. Doubts were cast over his nomination when the "baby Bob" incident occurred in January that year.

Environmentalism

Irwin was a passionate conservationist and believed in promoting environmentalism by sharing his excitement about the natural world rather than preaching to people. He was concerned with conservation of endangered animals and land clearing leading to loss of habitat. He considered conservation to be the most important part of his work: "I consider myself a wild-life warrior. My mission is to save the world's endangered species." Irwin bought "large tracts of land" in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the United States, which he described as "like national parks" and stressed the importance of people realising that they could each make a difference.

He had urged people to take part in considerate tourism and not support illegal poaching through the purchase of items such as turtle shells, or shark-fin soup:

These Hitlers use the camouflage of science to make money out of animals... So whenever they murder our animals and call it sustainable use, I'll fight it. Since when has killing a wild animal, eating it or wearing it, ever saved a species?

There are people who butt out their cigarettes in gorilla-paw ashtrays, with wastepaper baskets that were once elephant feet, who have ivory ornaments… who wear cheetah fur. Don't buy these things! Then there'll be no market and the animals won't be killed.

We have domesticated livestock raised for consumption and perfectly good fake leather and fur, so why must we kill wild animals to satisfy the macabre taste of some rich person?

He founded the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, which was later renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, and became an independent charity. He was described after his death by the CEO of RSPCA Queensland as a "modern-day Noah", and British naturalist David Bellamy lauded his skills as a natural historian and media performer. Irwin discovered a new species of turtle that now bears his name, Elseya irwini — Irwin's Turtle — a species of turtle found on the coast of Queensland.

He also helped to found a number of other projects, such as the International Crocodile Rescue, as well as the Lyn Irwin Memorial Fund, in memory of his mother, with proceeds going to the Iron Bark Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

Irwin, however, was criticised for having an unsophisticated view of conservation in Australia that seemed more linked to tourism than the problems Australia faces as a continent. The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2002 that Irwin had stated:

"Here is my greatest gift to the world," he cries. "We need to stand proud of what is Australia ... the greatest grazing nation on the face of the Earth! The whole joint is grazing land ... and by crikey we're good at it! We should be ... beef and lamb, not kangaroos and crocodiles. They're why tourists come to Australia. They are tourism icons!"

In response to questions of Australia's problems with overgrazing, salinity, erosion, Irwin responded: "Cows have been on our land for so long that Australia has evolved to handle those big animals." The Sydney Morning Herald concluded that his message was confusing and amounted to "eating roos and crocs is bad for tourism, and therefore more cruel than eating other animals".

Media image

Irwin cultivated an image as an "Aussie larrikin", making liberal use of Australian slang (such as his catchcry, "Crikey!") in a very broad Australian accent. His unabashed enthusiasm for dangerous animals and childlike energy sometimes made him appear simple, which initially drew some criticism at home. He expressed disappointment at times for media criticism, believing he was being targeted due to a cultural cringe.

Regardless of local opinion, his media personage was very popular worldwide but especially in the U.S., akin to another great international Australian success — Paul Hogan as "Crocodile Dundee" in the 1980s. His friends and family often reported that he was to them as he was to the rest of the world — larger than life.

Due to his memorable persona, numerous parodies of Irwin exist, including appearances in The Basil Brush Show, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Irregular Webcomic!, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, The Jedi Hunter, the Flash cartoon On The Moon, the webcomic PvP, The Simpsons, and the "Prehistoric Ice Man" episode of South Park, among others.

Even in death, Irwin displayed a sense of humor that undermines the conventional pieties that drown out other kinds of expressions of grief. Irwin once insisted, "My number one rule is to keep that camera rolling. Even if it's shaky or slightly out of focus, I don't give a rip. Even if a big old alligator is chewing me up I want to go down and go, 'Crikey!' just before I die. That would be the ultimate for me."

Personal life

Family

In 1992, Irwin married Terri Raines from Eugene, Oregon, United States. The pair had met a few months earlier when Raines had visited the zoo on a holiday. Together they had two children: a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin (born 24 July 1998), and a son, Robert Clarence "Bob" Irwin (born 1 December 2003). Bindi Sue is jointly named after two of Steve's favourite animals: Bindi, a saltwater crocodile, and Sui, a dog which died in June 2004.

Irwin was as enthusiastic about his family as he was about his work. He once described his daughter Bindi as "the reason he was put on the Earth". His wife once said, "The only thing that could ever keep him away from the animals he loves are the people he loves even more."

Controversy

Some controversy arose during a public show on 2 January 2004, when Irwin carried his one-month-old son, Bob, in his arm while hand-feeding a chicken carcass to a 4-meter-long crocodile. The infant was close to the crocodile, and comparisons were made in the press to Michael Jackson's dangling of his son outside a German hotel window. In addition, child welfare groups, animal rights groups, and some of Irwin's television viewers criticised his actions as being irresponsible and tantamount to child abuse. Irwin claimed that any danger to his son was only a perceived danger and that he was in complete control of the situation, and consistently refused to apologise for his actions despite public outcry, by some, both in Australia and abroad. His defenders pointed to his many decades of hands-on professional experience and direct interaction with crocodiles, as well as his well-known devotion to his responsibilities as a father. Terri Irwin claimed that their child was in no more real danger than a child being taught to swim would be. No charges were filed; according to one journalist, Irwin has told officials he would not repeat the stunt. The incident prompted the Queensland government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.

In June 2004, allegations were made that he came too close to and disturbed some wildlife (namely whales, seals and penguins) while filming a documentary, Ice Breaker, in Antarctica. Subsequently, the matter was closed without charges being filed.

Animal Planet released a "Crocodile Hunter" special called "Crocodiles & Controversy," which attempted to explain some incidents behind Irwin's controversies. This special argues that Irwin's son was never in danger of being eaten by the crocodile, and that Irwin could not have endangered animals in Antarctica.

Death

Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time (01:00 UTC) on 4 September, 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb whilst snorkelling in Batt Reef, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting, when, according to his friend and colleague John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the animals. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat the Croc One.

The events were caught on camera, and the footage was handed to the Queensland Police. After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and former spearfisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead." In such a case, the stingray responds by automatically flexing the serrated barb on its tail up to a maximum of 25 cm (10 in) of length. Cropp said Irwin had accidentally boxed the animal in. "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest. It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty cock." The stinging of Irwin by the bull ray was "a one-in-a-million thing," Cropp told Time magazine. "I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me." Some reports have claimed that after the incident, Irwin was shown on tape pulling the barb out, before losing consciousness, but this was both confirmed and denied by his colleague John Stainton in different sources. It is thought, in the absence of a coroner's report, a combination of the toxins and the puncture wound from the barb caused Irwin to die of an apparent cardiac arrest or that he died quickly as a result of a punctured aorta.

Crew members aboard his boat called the emergency services in the nearest city of Cairns and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Lowe Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later. According to Dr. Ed O'Loughlin, who treated Irwin, "it became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries." "He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing."

Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns. His wife was on a walking tour in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania at the time, and returned via a private plane from Devonport to the Sunshine Coast with their two children.

This was only the third known Australian fatality from a stingray, and the first since 1945. As of 1996, only seventeen worldwide fatalities had been recorded, and it is believed to be the only fatality from a stingray ever captured on film.

Reaction

The Queensland Police released a statement for the media concerning his death after notifying his family. News of his death prompted a public outpouring expressing shock and loss. Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son." Queensland Premier Peter Beattie extended the offer of a state funeral to Irwin's family, commenting in a Channel Seven television interview that Irwin "will be remembered as not just a great Queenslander, but a great Australian". Beattie also stated a permanent memorial might be constructed in honour of Irwin, though the details of the structure would depend on Irwin's wife. He also suggested that an award or national park may be named after him. Several Australian news websites went down because of high web traffic and for the first time the top 10 list of most viewed stories for Fairfax Digital news sites were swept by one topic. Talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief.

The U.S. feed of the Animal Planet cable television channel aired a special tribute to Steve Irwin at 6:00pm EST on Monday, 4 September 2006. The president of the Discovery Network, Billy Campbell, released a statement, saying:

Our entire company is deeply saddened by the tragic and sudden loss of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. Steve was beloved by millions of fans and animal lovers around the world and was one of our planet's most passionate conservationists. He has graced our air since October 1996 and was essential in building Animal Planet into a global brand.

Animal Planet will rename the garden space in front of Discovery's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland, to the "Steve Irwin Memorial Sensory Garden." They are also looking at the creation of the Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund, which they will call "The Crikey Fund" which will "allow people from across the globe to make contributions in Steve's honor to support wildlife protection, education and conservation."

Amid the outpouring of public grief, Germaine Greer launched an attack on her compatriot, declaring "the animal world has finally taken its revenge". She wrote in her column in the Guardian newspaper that the wildlife warrior displayed the "sort of self-delusion it takes to be a real Aussie larrikin". The Australian media reacted with distaste to this solitary attack amid the praise heaped on Irwin.

Public condolences

On the evening of his death, Enough Rope re-broadcast an interview between Irwin and Andrew Denton originally broadcast in 2003. CNN showed a repeat of his interview at Larry King Live, originally recorded in 2004. The Australian federal parliament opened on 5 September 2006 with condolence speeches by both the Prime Minister John Howard and the Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley. The Seven Network aired a television memorial show as a tribute to Irwin.

Hundreds of people visited Australia Zoo to pay tribute to the deceased entertainer and conservationist. The day after his death, the volume of people visiting the zoo to pay their respects had affected traffic so much that police had to reduce the speed limit around the Glass House Mountains Road and told motorists to expect delays.

Trivia

• Irwin was a great fan of the Singapore Zoo, which he considered a sister institution of the Australia Zoo.
• Irwin loved mixed martial arts competitions and trained with Greg Jackson in the fighting/grappling system of Gaidojutsu.
• Irwin appeared in a 2006 ESPN television commercial in their This is SportsCenter series. In the commercial, he wrestled Albert E. Gator, the University of Florida's mascot, to the ground in an ESPN studio hallway.
• In 2004, during an interview with Larry King, he admitted that, after receiving many painful bites, he had a fear of parrots.
• Having grown up as a child in Essendon, a Melbourne suburb, Irwin was a fan of the Essendon Bombers, an Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League. Irwin took part of an Australian Rules football promotion in Los Angeles as part of "Australia Week" in early 2006.

References

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53. AFL Match, Steve Irwin Show. URL accessed on 5 September 2006

External links

• Crocodile Hunter.com (Site may be unreachable at times due to heavy demand)
• Animal Planet
• Steve Irwin at IMDb
• Template:Tvtome person
• Memorial site
• Wildlife Warriors Worldwide
• More biographical info

Template:Persondata

• Current events
• Accidental deaths
• Australian environmentalists
• Australian naturalists
• Australian television presenters
• Australian conservationists
• Deaths due to animal attacks
• People from Melbourne
• People from Queensland
• 1962 births
• 2006 deaths