Steve Irwin, A Tribute To The Crocodile Hunter

Steve was born on February 22nd 1962, which just happened to be his mother's birthday. He lived in Essendon (located in Melbourne Victoria) until the age of 8 when he moved to Queensland with his family. There his parents opened up the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. Steve grow up around crocodiles and other reptiles, which he quickly become passionate about. He was involved with feeding, handling and daily maintenaince of the reptiles. At the age of nine he wrestled his first crocodile under his father's supervision. Pictured Right: A picture of Steve Irwin and his dad (Bob Irwin)

Steve soon took over ownership of the family owned park and was renamed The Australian Zoo in 1992. The Crocodile Hunter first aired on Australian television in 1996 and followed Steve Irwin's adventures with Australian wildlife. His television series soon quickly spread to the United States and the United Kingdom. Making Steve a international celebrity, his enthusiasm, strong Australian accent, his khaki shorts and "Crikey!" catchphrase were known the world over.

Steve continued making documentries throughout his lifetime and was an active conservationist, promoting the importance of looking after the wonderful Australian nation and its wildlife. He also was actively involved in the Australian Zoo, putting on crocodile shows for tourists. Pictured Right: Steve wrestles a crocodile

in 1992 Steve Irwin married Terri Raines from the United States. The pair had met only a few months earlier at Australian Zoo. They both agreed that it was love at first sight.Terri said at the time, "I thought there was no one like this anywhere in the world. He sounded like an environmental Tarzan, a larger-than-life superhero guy."

Together they had two children. A daughter named Bindi Sue Irwin (born 24 July 1998). And a son named in memory of Steve's dad; Robert Clarence "Bob" Irwin (born 1 December 2003).

Steve Irwin was extremely passionate and valued family very highly. He often described Bindi as "the reason he was put on Earth". Steve Irwin not only promoted the important of wildlife but the importance of family. Pictured Right: Steve & His Family

On 4th September 2006, Steve tragiclly lost his life after being fatally pierced by a stingray spine while filming his own documentary, the barb piereced a hole straight through his heart. The whole tragedy was caught on film and believed to be the only ever stingray death to be captured (they are highly rare and infrequent).

Steve was quickly rushed to the mainland after being stung, but was pronounced dead on arrival, despite the best efforts of his crew. It is reported that Steve died of cardiac arrest from a mixture of the stingray toxin and the damage to his heart.

News of the Crocodile Hunter's death spread quickly and shocked not only Australia but the world.

Within a week of his death, countless TV stations had re-run interviews with Steve and tributes to the great Crocodile Hunter.

Stingrays were found on Queensland beaches following Stev'es death with their tails cut off, prompting speculation people were doing revenge killings for Steve's death.

Production of Stev'es documentary was completed and aired a year later, but did not cover anything from Steve's death, using only clips filmed weeks before his death. The documentary does not mention Steve's death to keep its main purpose of covering underwater wildlife. There is however a still image of Steve at the end with the caption "In Memory of Steve Irwin"

Only 2 weeks after her fathers tragic death, Bindi made a speech about her father in front of a crowd of 5000 at Australia Zoo and over 300million television viewers. Bindi's speech received a standing ovation and was voted the television moment of the year (Australia) in 2006. Bindi's speech received 43%of the votes. Bindi has since continued her father's dream and has since begun educating kids about the important of wildlife, family and health.

You can see the speech in the youtube video below.

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