Stephen Robert Irwin
AO
(22 February 1962 ? 4 September 2006) was an Australian zookeeper, television personality, wildlife expert, environmentalist, and conservationist. He was famous for the television program
The Crocodile Hunter
, a well-known real-life animal program that he made with his wife Terri Irwin. Irwin's character and adventures on his program made him an international star.
Irwin's mother and father were Lyn and Bob Irwin was born in
Melbourne
,
Victoria
, Australia. The family moved to Queensland in 1970, when Irwin was 8. Bob Irwin was very interested in
reptiles
(a type of animal that includes snakes and
crocodiles
). When the family moved, Bob and Lyn Irwin started the small
Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park
. Irwin lived there until he became an adult.
Irwin worked in his family's park when he was nine: feeding the animals, and taking care of the grounds. He began working with
crocodiles
when he was nine, and became a crocodile-trapper (someone who traps crocodiles without killing them) when he was older. Irwin trapped crocodiles that were near places where people lived, and kept them for the park. He also worked for free for the Queensland Government's
East Coast Crocodile Management program
.
Irwin became head of the park in 1991 and changed the name to
Australia Zoo
. In 1992, at the
Zoo
, he met and married Terri Raines. As part of the marriage event, Irwin and his wife went on a journey to trap crocodiles. The journey was recorded for television and became the first part of the television show
The Crocodile Hunter
. This show made Irwin famous.
The Crocodile Hunter
has been seen by people in 120 countries across the world, and has a large number of fans (people who like it very much) in the
UK
and
Australia
. He made his fame wrestling crocodiles and other reptiles
Irwin made the zoo larger by adding the
Animal Planet Crocoseum
, a place where
rainforest
birds can be seen, and the
Tiger Temple
. He also started the
World Wildlife Warriors
(which was named the
Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation
), an organisation that tries to preserve rare animals that are in danger of
dying out
.
In 2003, one of the locomotives on
The Ghan
, the
Adelaide
to
Darwin
railway was named the
Steve Irwin
.
[1]
At about 11:00 a.m. Australian eastern standard time (01:00
UTC
) on 4 September 2006, Irwin was cut in the chest by the tail of a
stingray
(a large sea animal) while
snorkeling
(a way of swimming using a tube to help you breathe under water) in
Batt Reef
, near
Port Douglas
in
Queensland
, Australia. He died from the wound.
[2]
At the time, Irwin was being recorded for a television show,
The Ocean's Deadliest
. Bad weather had stopped recording and Irwin took the time to record some different pictures for another program. Irwin's friend, John Stainton, was on Irwin's boat. Stainton says Irwin swam too near to one of the animals - "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb
(a point on the stingrays' tail)
went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart". His wife (
Terri Irwin
) did not find out about his death until a few hours later because she was trekking in
Tasmania
.