http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin

Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 =E2=80=93 4 September 2006), also
known as the Crocodile Hunter, was an Australian naturalist and
television personality, best known for the television program The
Crocodile Hunter, an unconventional wildlife documentary series
broadcast worldwide and co-hosted with his wife Terri Irwin. The pair
owned and operated Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland.

Irwin parlayed youthy experience as a crocodile trapper into an
international television career, a feature film, and a series of
accolades in Australia for his promotion of tourism and environmental
awareness. Irwin, who had a macho image as a wrangler of large,
dangerous animals, was a committed conservationist. His cavalier
showman's approach also drew criticism, especially after an incident
when he held his baby boy while feeding crocodiles at his zoo.

Early years
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.


Career

Rise 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 catch-phrase "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.


Film
In 2001, Irwin appeared in a cameo role in the Eddie Murphy film Dr.
Dolittle 2. In 2002, his first and only feature film The Crocodile
Hunter: Collision Course was released to generally negative reviews.
Irwin portrayed himself in addition to performing numerous stunts for
the film. The film follows Irwin who mistakes some CIA agents for
poachers. He sets out to stop them from capturing a crocodile, who,
unknown to him, has actually swallowed a tracking drone. The film won
the Best Family Feature Film award for a comedy film at the Young
Artist Awards. The film was produced on a budget of about $12 million,
and has grossed over $28 million (as of September 2006).[3] In 2003
Irwin was reportedly in line to host a chat show on Australian network
television, a series that never went into production.


Animal Planet
Animal Planet ended The Crocodile Hunter with a series finale entitled
"Steve's Last Adventure." The last Crocodile Hunter documentary went
for three hours with footage of Irwin's across-the-world adventure,
visiting locations like the Himalayas, the Yangtze River, Borneo, and
the Kruger National Park. Irwin went on to star in other Animal Planet
documentaries, including The Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries,
and New Breed Vets.


Later projects

Irwin feeding a crocodile at Australia Zoo.In January 2006 as part of
Australia Week celebrations in the USA, Irwin appeared at the Pauley
Pavilion, UCLA in 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 Irwin.[4] 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 Irwin,
and he's featured in it heavily with his wife and daughter. The show
includes the song "Crocodile Hunter, Big Steve Irwin".

In 2006, the American network The Travel Channel had begun to show a
series of specials starring Irwin and his family as they traveled on
cross-country tours.

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."[5] His
comments describing John Howard as the "greatest leader in the world"
earned him great scorn in the media.[6]


Search and rescue effort in Mexico
In November 2003, Irwin was filming a documentary on sea lions in Baja
California Sur, Mexico 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, 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 Jones to Irwin's boat and to safety. 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.[7]


Media work

A poster from Irwin's Quarantine Matters! campaign.Irwin was also
involved in several media campaigns. He enthusiastically joined with
the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service to promote Australia's
strict quarantine/customs requirements, with advertisements and posters
featuring slogans such as, "Quarantine Matters! Don't muck with it".
His payments for these advertising campaigns were directed into his
wildlife fund.[5]

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]

He was also a keen promoter for Australian tourism in general and
Queensland tourism in particular. In 2002 the Australia Zoo was voted
Queensland's top tourist attraction.[9] His immense popularity in the
United States meant he often promoted Australia as a tourist
destination there.[10]


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] Also in 2004, he was
nominated for Australian of the Year, which was won by Steve Waugh.
Doubts were cast over his nomination when the "baby Bob" incident
occurred in January 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=E2=80=A6 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 =E2=80=94
Irwin's Turtle =E2=80=94 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", 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 =E2=80=94 Paul Hogan as "Crocodile Dunde=

in the 1980s.[10] His friends and family often reported that he was to
them as he was to the rest of the world =E2=80=94 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 regards to death, Irwin displayed a sense of humour that
undermines the 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 life

Family
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]


Controversy
Some controversy arose during a public show on 2 January 2004, when
Irwin carried his one-month-old son, Bob, in his arm whilst
hand-feeding a chicken carcass to a 4-meter-long crocodile. The infant
was close to the crocodile, and comparisons were made in the press to
Michael Jackson's dangling of his son outside a German hotel
window.[23] In addition, child welfare groups, animal rights groups,
and some of Irwin's television viewers criticised his actions as being
irresponsible and tantamount to child abuse.[24] Irwin claimed that any
danger to his son was only a perceived danger and that he was in
complete control of the situation, and consistently refused to
apologise for his actions despite public outcry, by some, both in
Australia and abroad. His defenders pointed to his many decades of
hands-on professional experience and direct interaction with
crocodiles, as well as his well-known devotion to his responsibilities
as a father. Terri Irwin claimed that their child was in no more real
danger than a child being taught to swim would be. No charges were
filed; according to one journalist, Irwin told officials he would not
repeat the stunt.[25] The incident prompted the Queensland government
to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained
adults from entering crocodile enclosures.[26]

In June 2004, allegations were made that he came too close to and
disturbed some wildlife (namely whales, seals and penguins) whilst
filming a documentary, Ice Breaker, in Antarctica.[27] Subsequently,
the matter was closed without charges being filed.[28]

Animal Planet released a "Crocodile Hunter" special called "Crocodiles
& Controversy," which attempted to explain some incidents behind
Irwin's controversies. This special argues that Irwin's son was never
in danger of being eaten by the crocodile, and that Irwin could not
have endangered animals in Antarctica.


Death
See Wikinews article:
Crocodile Hunter's Steve Irwin dies at 44Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local
time (01:00 UTC) on 4 September 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the
chest by a short-tail stingray barb whilst snorkeling in Batt Reef,
which is part of the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Port Douglas
in Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be
called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin
decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a
segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting,[29]
when, according to his friend and colleague, John Stainton, he swam too
close to one of the animals. "He came on top of the stingray and the
stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his
heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat the Croc One.

The events were caught on camera, and the footage was handed to the
Queensland Police.[30] After reviewing the footage of the incident and
speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker
and former spearfisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt
threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman
ahead." In such a case, the stingray responds to "danger from above" by
automatically flexing the serrated barb on its tail (which can measure
up to a maximum of 25cm/10in in length) in an upward motion.

Cropp said Irwin had accidentally boxed in the animal. "It stopped and
twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the
chest. It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty
dagger." The stinging of Irwin by the bull ray was "a one-in-a-million
thing," Cropp told Time magazine. "I have swum with many rays, and I
have only had one do that to me."[31]

Some reports have claimed that after the incident, Irwin was shown on
tape pulling the barb out, before losing consciousness, but this was
both confirmed and denied by his colleague, John Stainton, in different
sources.[32][33][34] It is thought, in the absence of a coroner's
report, that a combination of the toxins and the puncture wound from
the barb caused Irwin to die of an apparent cardiac arrest, with most
damage being inflicted by tears to arteries or other main blood
vessels.[35][36] It is also possible that he died quickly as a result
of a punctured aorta.[37] It is also thought that shock could have
played a role in his death. Until the coroner's report is released,
however, the precise cause of Irwin's death remains conjecture.

Crew members aboard his boat called the emergency services in the
nearest city of Cairns and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to
nearby the Low Islets to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff
pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later.[29]
According to Dr. Ed O'Loughlin, who treated Irwin, "it became clear
fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries. . . . He had a
penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his
pulse and wasn't breathing."[38]

Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns. His wife was on a walking
tour in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania at the
time, and returned via a private plane from Devonport to the Sunshine
Coast with their two children.[29]

As of 1996, only seventeen worldwide fatalities had been recorded,[39]
[40] and it is believed to be the only fatality from a stingray ever
captured on film.[41]


Reaction
The Queensland Police released a statement for the media concerning his
death after notifying his family.[42] News of his death prompted a
public outpouring expressing shock and loss. Australian Prime Minister
John Howard expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying
that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son."[43] Queensland
Premier Peter Beattie extended the offer of a state funeral to Irwin's
family, commenting in a Channel Seven television interview that Irwin
"will be remembered as not just a great Queenslander, but a great
Australian".[44] Beattie also stated a permanent memorial might be
constructed in honour of Irwin, though the details of the structure
would depend on Irwin's wife.[45] He also suggested that an award or
national park may be named after him.[46] Several Australian news
websites went down because of high web traffic[47] and for the first
time the top 10 list of most viewed stories for Fairfax Digital news
sites were swept by one topic.[48] Talk-back radio experienced a high
volume of callers expressing their grief.[49]

The U.S. feed of the Animal Planet cable television channel aired a
special tribute to Steve Irwin which started at 6:00pm EST on Monday, 4
September 2006. The tribute will continue with the Animal Planet
channel showing highlights of Irwin's more than 200 appearances on
Discovery networks shows.[50] The president of the Discovery Network,
Billy Campbell, released a statement, saying:[51]

Our entire company is deeply saddened by the tragic and sudden loss
of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. Steve was beloved by millions of
fans and animal lovers around the world and was one of our planet's
most passionate conservationists. He has graced our air since October
1996 and was essential in building Animal Planet into a global brand.


Animal Planet will rename the garden space in front of Discovery's
world headquarters in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland, to
the "Steve Irwin Memorial Sensory Garden."[51] They are also looking at
the creation of the Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund, which they will
call "The Crikey Fund" which will "allow people from across the globe
to make contributions in Irwin's honour to support wildlife protection,
education and conservation."[51]

Amid the outpouring of public grief, Germaine Greer launched an attack
on her countryman, declaring "the animal world has finally taken its
revenge". She wrote in her column in The Guardian newspaper that the
wildlife warrior displayed (in the baby incident) the "sort of
self-delusion it takes to be a real Aussie larrikin". [1] The
Australian media reacted with distaste to this solitary attack amid the
praise heaped on Irwin. [2]

On the evening of his death, Enough Rope re-broadcast an interview
between Irwin and Andrew Denton originally broadcast in 2003. CNN
showed a repeat of his interview on Larry King Live, originally
recorded in 2004. The Australian federal parliament opened on 5
September 2006 with condolence speeches by both the Prime Minister John
Howard and the Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley. The Seven Network
aired a television memorial show as a tribute to Irwin.[52]

Hundreds of people visited Australia Zoo to pay tribute to the deceased
entertainer and conservationist. The day after his death, the volume of
people visiting the zoo to pay their respects had affected traffic so
much that police had to reduce the speed limit around the Glass House
Mountains Road and told motorists to expect delays.[3]