Stephen Robert Irwin (February 22, 1962 – September 4, 2006) was an Australian naturalist, wildlife expert 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 that was broadcast worldwide. He also owned and operated the Australia Zoo at Beerwah in Queensland with friend William Rollo and his wife.
Steve married in 1992 to Terri Raines 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).
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, his parents 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 maintence activities. On his sixth birthday he was given a scrub python. He began handling crocodiles at the age of 9, 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. Steve followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a volunteer for the Queensland Government's East Coast Crocodile Management program.
The park was a family business, with Lyn and Bob turning it over in 1991 to Steve. He 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 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 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 his 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.
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.
In January 2006 as part of Australia Week celebrations in the USA, Irwin appeared at the Pauley Pavilion, UCLA 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. 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".
On September 4, 2006. Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray barb, while diving off Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. He had been filming a segment for his daughter Bindi Irwin's upcoming television series. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for his daughter's program. The BBC reported that this was only the second known fatality in Australian history from a stingray attack. The Sydney Morning Herald lists it as the third known death; the other two deaths being in 1938 and 1945.
Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time (01:00 UTC), Irwin was filming off the shores of Low Isles, Queensland, near Port Douglas and north of Cairns (map of that area), where he was stung either through his heart or through the left side of his chest After he was stung, Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Irwin’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef. The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty-minute dash to Low Isle. The Queensland Rescue Helicopter responded, taking him to Cairns Base Hospital, where Irwin was pronounced dead on arrival at noon. He was not killed by the sting itself but from a puncture to the heart in turn causing cardiac arrest. The Queensland Police Service notified his family and released a statement for the media concerning his death.
News of his death prompted a public outpouring expressing shock and loss. Several Australian news websites went down due to high web traffic and talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief, commemorating his passion and exuberance. Prime Minister John Howard, among many other politicians, expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son." Steve Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns, where stunned family and friends were gathering on Monday night. His U.S.-born wife Terri was told of her husband's death while on a walking tour in Tasmania, and returned to the Sunshine Coast with their two children
