Born to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Irwin moved with his parents as a child to Queensland in 1970. Bob Irwin 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 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. Irwin followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a volunteer for the Queensland Government's East Coast Crocodile Management program.
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, and in 1992 met (at the park) and married Terri Baines Irwin. The footage, shot by John Stainton, of their crocodile-trapping honeymoon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which became wildly successful in the United States and the UK. His exuberant and enthusiastic presenting style, broad Australian accent, constant wearing of khakis and catch-phrase "Crikey!" became known worldwide: The Crocodile Hunter has aired in over 120 countries.
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 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 and possibly other sites around the world.
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 being paid $175,000 worth of taxpayers' money to appear in a television advertisement and possible political ties, Irwin told the 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."
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.
In 1992, Irwin married Terri Baines from Eugene, Oregon, in the United States. The pair had met a few months earlier when Terri 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 that 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."
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 while diving in Batt Reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef), off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia. 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 dagger." 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." Immediately after the attack, Irwin was shown on tape pulling the barb out, before losing consciousness. This was confirmed by his colleague John Stainton. It is thought, in the absence of a coroner's report, that either the toxins of 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 fatality in Australian history from a stingray attack, and the first since 1945.As of 1996, only seventeen worldwide fatalities had been recorded, and it is believed to be the only fatal attack 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. Several Australian news websites went down because of high web traffic and for the first time the top ten stories on www.theage.com.au were sweeped 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."
God rest his soul. Taken so early, he swam with the crocs, now he flies with the angels.
