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.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.[1] 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.CareerRise 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, whilst 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 122 countries, reaching 200 million people. His exuberant and enthusiastic presenting style, broad Australian accent, constant wearing of khakis, and catchphrase "Crikey!" became known worldwide. [2]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.In 2004 he was appointed ambassador for The Ghan, the passenger train running from Adelaide to Alice Springs in the central Australian outback, when the line was extended all the way to Darwin on the northern coast that year. For some time he was sponsored by Toyota, in keeping with his rugged outback image.[8]Honours
In 2001 Irwin was awarded the Centenary Medal for his "service to global conservation and to Australian tourism".[11] In 2004 he was recognised as Tourism Export of the Year.[12] He was also nominated in 2004 for Australian of the Year; an honour which was won by Steve Waugh. Doubts were cast over his nomination when the "baby Bob" incident occurred in January of that year.[13]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."[9] 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.[14]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? [15]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.[16] 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. [17]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 … [eating] 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".[18]Media image
Irwin cultivated an image as an "Aussie larrikin", however 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 drew some criticism at home. He expressed disappointment at times for media criticism, believing he was being targeted due to a cultural cringe.[19]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.[10] His friends and family often reported that he was to them as he was to the rest of the world — larger than life.[20]
Steve and Terri as depicted in the 1999 South Park episode, "Prehistoric Ice Man"
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. He appeared to have fun with his image, even participating in a 2006 ESPN television commercial depicting him wrestling Albert E. Gator, the University of Florida's mascot, to the ground in an ESPN studio hallway.Even with regard to his own death, Irwin displayed a sense of humor undermining 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." [21]Personal lifeFamily
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 Irwin's favourite animals: Bindi, a saltwater crocodile, and Sui, a dog 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 once said, "The only thing that could ever keep him away from the animals he loves are the people he loves even more."[22]Politics
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."[7] His comments describing John Howard as the "greatest leader in the world" earned him great scorn in the media.[29]Search and rescue effort in Mexico
In November 2003, Irwin was filming a documentary on sea lions off the coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula 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 where the incident occurred, 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 a narrow ledge of rocks over waters with dangerous currents. Irwin and a crewmember escorted him to Irwin's boat. Jones reported not recognising his celebrity rescuer as he had never seen Irwin on television.The other lost diver, Katie Vrooman, was found dead the following day by a search plane not far from Jones's location.[30]THE ABOVE WAS FROM WIKIPEDIAMyspace Contact Tables
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