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