Official Steve Irwin Tribute

Myspace LayoutsStephen 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.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 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.Having grown up in Essendon, Irwin was a fan of the Essendon Bombers, an Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League.[1] Irwin took part of an Australian Rules football promotion in Los Angeles as part of "Australia Week" in early 2006.[2]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.[3] 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.