Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin was an Australian wildlife expert and television personality. Irwin was raised in Queensland, Australia, where his parents owned the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. He began handling crocodiles as a child and learned wildlife conservation through hands-on experience at his family’s zoo, which was later renamed the Australia Zoo.

Irwin gained recognition in 1996 when The Crocodile Hunter premiered internationally. The show featured Irwin’s close encounters with dangerous animals. The series ran until 2007, including spinoffs such as Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries and New Breed Vets. Irwin also appeared in the 2002 feature film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. He founded the conservationist foundation Wildlife Warriors that same year.

Throughout his career, the Australia native made guest appearances on numerous talk shows and nature documentaries including The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and The Daily Show. His contributions to conservation earned him multiple awards and honors, including posthumous recognition on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1992, he married Terri Raines, an American naturalist. The couple had two children: Bindi Irwin (born in 1998) and Robert Irwin (born in 2003), both of whom have followed in his footsteps in wildlife conservation and television.

Irwin died on September 4, 2006, after being injured by a stingray while filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef.