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Steve Irwin
Born	22 February, 1962 Essendon, Victoria, Australia
Died	4 September, 2006 Batt Reef, Queensland, Australia
Occupation(s)	Environmentalist, television personality
Spouse	Terri Irwin
Children	2
Website	www.crocodilehunter.com

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006) was an Australian environmentalist and television personality. He was best known for the television program The Crocodile Hunter, an unconventional wildlife documentary series which he hosted with his wife Terri Irwin. Irwin's personality and outrageous antics in the series made him an international celebrity. He also owned and operated the Australia Zoo at Beerwah in Queensland.

Early years

Born in Essendon, a suburb on the outskirts of Victoria's capital Melbourne, Steve Irwin moved with his parents as a child to Queensland. His parents, Bob and Lyn, ran the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Steve grew up around crocodiles and other reptiles. He became a crocodile trapper, removing crocodiles from near populated areas, performing the service for free with the quid pro quo that he kept them for the park.

Career

Rise to fame

In 1991, Irwin took over the running of the park, now renamed the "Australia Zoo", and in 1992 met (at the park) and married Terri. The footage, shot by John Stainton, of their crocodile-trapping honeymoon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which became wildly successful in America. His exuberant and enthusiastic presenting style, broad Australian accent, constant wearing of khakis and catch-phrase "Crikey!" became known worldwide: The Crocodile Hunter aired in over 122 countries worldwide.

Under Irwin's expansive leadership, the operations grew to include the zoo, the television series, The Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, and International Crocodile Rescue. Improvements to his Australia Zoo include the Animal Planet Crocoseum, the rainforest aviary, and Tiger Temple.

Film

In 2001, Steve appeared in a cameo role in the Eddie Murphy film Dr. Dolittle 2. In 2002, his first feature film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, was released. In general, reviews of this film were negative. In 2003 Irwin was reportedly in line to host a chat show on Australian network television, a series that never eventuated.

Animal Planet

Animal Planet then released a Crocodile Hunter special called "Crocodiles & Controversy", which attempted to explain both the "Baby Bob Incident" and the Antarctica incident (see below). 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.

Animal Planet ended The Crocodile Hunter with a series finale entitled "Steve's Last Adventure". The last Crocodile Hunter documentary went for three emotional hours with footage of Steve'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, Steve appeared at the Pauley Pavilion, UCLA Los Angeles, California. During an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Steve announced that Discovery Kids will be developing a show for his daughter, Bindi Sue. 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 Steve, and he features in it heavily with his wife and daughter. The show includes the song "Crocodile Hunter, Big Steve Irwin".

Steve Irwin was active in politics and was a supporter of the conservative Liberal Party of Australia. In particular, he strongly supported the incumbent Prime Minister John Howard, describing him once as "the greatest leader Australia has ever had" and the "greatest leader in the entire world"; comments which drew a cycnical reaction in the Australian media.

Media work

As well as being a general ambassador for Australia due to the nature of his work, Irwin was also involved in several media campaigns. He was employed by the Department of Agriculture to promote Australia's strict quarantine/customs requirements, with advertisements and posters featuring slogans such as, "Quarantine Matters! Don't muck with it" .

In 2004 he was appointed ambassador for The Ghan, an Adelaide to Darwin train that began operations in 2004.

He was also a keen promoter for Australian tourism and in general and Queensland tourism in particular. In 2002 the Australia Zoo was voted Queensland's top tourist attraction.

Honours

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.

Personal life

Family

Steve Irwin was married to Terri Irwin (1992) and had two children: a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin (born 24 July 1998), and a son, Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin (born 1 December 2003). Bindi Sue is jointly named after two of Steve's dogs: Bindi, who was accidentally killed by a hunter, and Sui, who 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 Terri once said, "The only thing that could ever keep him away from the animals he loves are the people he loves even more."

Baby Bob incident

Major controversy arose during a public show on 2 January 2004, when Irwin carried his infant son, Bob, in one arm while feeding a chicken carcass to a crocodile with the other hand. 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 apartment window. In addition, child welfare groups, animal rights groups, and many 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 apologize for his actions despite considerable public outcry both in Australia and abroad. His defenders pointed to his many decades of hands-on experience and direct interaction with crocodiles. 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 (although the police did visit Irwin at his home and advised him not to repeat the incident).

The incident prompted the Queensland government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.

Antarctica incident

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 in Antarctica. Subsequently, the matter was closed without charges being filed.

Death

On 4 September, 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a manta ray off the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia while filming an underwater documentary. The BBC reported that this was only the second known fatality in Australian history from a stingray/manta ray attack.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time (01:00 UTC), Irwin was filming in the Low Isles near Port Douglas, north of Cairns, Queensland, Australia, where he was stung either through his heart or through the left side of his chest and suffered cardiac arrest. After he was stung, his crew called for medical help and the Queensland Rescue Helicopter responded, taking him to Cairns Base Hospital. However, Irwin was immediately pronounced dead at the scene. The Queensland Police Service notified his family and released a statement for the media concerning the event.

Environmentalism

Irwin 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 urged people to take part in considerate tourism and not support illegal poaching through the purchase of items such as turtle shells. 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." Conversation was the main theme of this 2002 film Collision Course.

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 the Gator mascot of the University of Florida to the ground in an ESPN studio hallway.
• A parody of Steve and Terri forms one of the themes of Irregular Webcomic!
• A parody of Steve, Strewth Irwin, is a recurring character on the Flash cartoon On The Moon.
• He appeared in Dr. Dolittle 2 as The Crocodile Hunter who tried to wrestle an alligator and lost his arm.
• In 2004, during an interview with Larry King, he admitted that after receiving many painful bites he had a fear of parrots.
• Irwin was a fan of the Essendon Bombers in the Australian Football League, Essendon being where he grew up as a boy. Steve made several appearances with players and was part of an Australian rules football promotion in Los Angeles as part of Australia week in early 2006 .

References

1. USAweekend.com: Wild Thing, June 18, 2000.
2. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 13 January 2006.
3. The Sun-Herald: Crikey! Praise for PM puts you in a snake pit, November 9, 2003.
4. The Age: He's smart, by crikey, June 10 2003.
5. Sydney Morning Herald: Irwin defends stunt, January 6, 2004.
6. CNN.com LARRY KING LIVE: Interview With Steve Irwin, airdate November 25, 2004.
7. O'Rourke, Claire (January 5, 2004). "Croc hunter ducks for cover". Sydney Morning Herald. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. Sydney Morning Herald: Steve Irwin baby concerns prompt law change, February 24, 2005.
9. Middleton, Karen (June 14, 2004). "Crocodile Hunter's frolic with whales gets frosty reception". Sydney Morning Herald. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "Irwin cleared after Penguin Probe". BBC News. June 15, 2004. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin killed
12. "Steve Irwin dead". ABC Australia. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2006-09-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Williams, David (2006-09-04). "Steve Irwin killed by stingray". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-09-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. "Irwin's stingray death unusual: doctor". The Age. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2006-09-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "Australian wildlife personality Steve Irwin has died" (Press release). Queensland Police Service. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2006-09-04. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. "Steve Irwin dead". The Courier-Mail. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2006-09-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. The Age: He's smart, by crikey, June 10 2003.
18. "Singapore Sling!". International Crocodile Rescue. Retrieved 16 March. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
19. CNN LARRY KING LIVE - Transcript of Interview With Steve Irwin Aired 25 November 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2006.

External links

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• Steve and Terri's website called The Crocodile Hunter Crocodile Hunter.com
• Animal Planet Crocodile Hunter
• Steve Irwin at IMDb
• Australian Story: What Lies Beneath, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 22 September 2003.
• Enough Rope with Andrew Denton: Steve and Terri Irwin, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 22 March 2004.

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• Current events
• 1962 births
• 2006 deaths
• Accidental deaths
• Australian environmentalists
• Australian television presenters
• Conservationists
• Entertainers who died in their 40s
• People from Melbourne
• People from Queensland