| Occasionally - just occasionally - there comes | | | | Australia Zoo, holding him in one arm while feeding |
| along a TV personality whose enthusiasm and | | | | a croc with the other. Irwin, however, refused to |
| charisma engenders almost universal affection | | | | apologise for the stunt, insisting that the child was |
| with audiences. Environmentalist, naturalist and | | | | never in any real danger. |
| documentarist Steve Irwin - known the world | | | | Again in 2004 Irwin caused controversy during a |
| over as the Crocodile Hunter - was one of those | | | | trip to Antarctica, facing allegations that he |
| rare personalities. | | | | disturbed whales, seals and penguins while filming a |
| Born Steven Robert Irwin on 22 September, | | | | documentary. |
| 1962 in Melbourne, Australia, Steve Irwin was the | | | | Irwin's life came to a tragic end on the morning of |
| owner and manager of the Australia Zoo in | | | | September 4th, 2006 while filming an |
| Beerwah, Queensland. The zoo, originally called the | | | | documentary on the Great Barrier Reef off the |
| Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, belonged to | | | | coast of Queensland, Australia. While filming a |
| his parents, Bob and Lyn. | | | | stingray he approached too close and was hit in |
| As a young man Irwin worked as a crocodile | | | | the chest by a barb, causing a fatal injury, and |
| trapper in Queensland, catching and removing | | | | was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 44. |
| crocs from populated areas. While he didn't draw | | | | Steve Irwin is survived by his wife Terri and his |
| a salary, he worked on the condition that he could | | | | two young children, Bindi Sue and Robert Clarence. |
| keep the crocodiles he captured for his parents' | | | | While Irwin always lived life on the edge, we |
| zoo. | | | | never really expected him to be killed. There was |
| After taking over management of the zoo in | | | | just something about the confidence with which |
| 1991 Irwin met his future wife, American-born | | | | he handled dangerous creatures that made us |
| veterinarian Terri Raines. Following a whirlwind | | | | think that he was invulnerable. His antics weren't |
| romance the couple married, and the video | | | | quite real - if they had been, we may not have |
| footage of their crocodile-trapping honeymoon | | | | been so quick to laugh. |
| was aired as the first episode of The Crocodile | | | | It came as a surprise, then, for us to wake up to |
| Hunter, the series that made Irwin an international | | | | the news that he had been killed. Even more so, |
| celebrity. | | | | considering the manner of his death. After all, |
| The success of The Crocodile Hunter led the | | | | Irwin was only the third person to be killed by a |
| Discovery Channel and Animal Planet to | | | | stingray in Australia. Rays are usually considered |
| commission several wildlife series from Irwin, | | | | to be relatively docile, and it's even possible to |
| including The Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter | | | | feed them by hand under the right conditions. |
| Diaries and New Breed Vets. Known for his | | | | Irwin's death, though tragic, can perhaps be |
| expansive personality and boundless enthusiasm, | | | | viewed as one final act of showmanship. He won |
| Irwin's documentaries made him an Australian icon | | | | our hearts with his death-defying stunts and it |
| - often ridiculed, but just as often praised for his | | | | seems fitting that he should go out with a bang. |
| idiosyncrasies. | | | | While it would be crass to make light of his death, |
| What made Irwin such a popular figure with | | | | it could perhaps be argued that this is the way he |
| audiences the world over was his fearless attitude | | | | would have wanted to go, while living right on the |
| to wild animals. Often seen chasing snakes, crocs | | | | edge. Maybe that could come as some small |
| and all sorts of dangerous creatures, audiences | | | | consolation for the family of a man who died |
| tuned in not so much to see the animals as to | | | | before his time. |
| see Irwin's unbelievable feats of courage and | | | | In life, as well as in death, Steve Irwin was an |
| fearlessness. His documentaries gained such a | | | | Australian icon: a modern day, real life Crocodile |
| huge audience that they were adapted to the | | | | Dundee. He was everything we think of as |
| 2002 movie The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. | | | | typically Australian: rugged, adventurous and |
| Irwin's enthusiasm for his subject matter, | | | | dangerous, though not without a sense of humor. |
| however, occasionally got the better of him, and | | | | While Australians were often embarrassed by his |
| his career was fraught with controversy. In an | | | | antics, thinking of him as a caricature of Australian |
| incident in 2004 he took his infant son Bob into | | | | stereotypes, that's exactly why the rest of the |
| the crocodile enclosure during a public show at the | | | | world adored him. |