NOVEMBER 15TH IS STEVE IRWIN DAY IN AUSTRALIA
Stephen Robert Irwin was born to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Victoria in February 1962. Bob Irwin had a strong interest in reptiles and moved his family to Queensland in 1970 to start a small reptile park in Beerwah, Queensland (known as the Sunshine Coast of Australia). The park became a true family business, becoming more and more popular until 1991 when Bob & Lyn retired, turning over management to their son, Steve.
Living in the Zoo, Steve grew up with animals of all kinds, taking part in the animal’s daily feeding, care and maintenance. His 6th birthday present was what he had always wanted – his very own scrub python! It was 12 feet long and while most other children were opening cans of pet food for their cats or dogs, Steve was out catching fish and hunting rodents to feed to his crocodiles and snakes. Bob taught the young Steve everything there was to know about reptiles – even teaching his nine-year-old how to jump in and catch crocodiles in the rivers of North Queensland at night. This father and son’s proud boast is that every crocodile in their Zoo (the numbering some 100 animals) was either caught by their bare hands or bred and raised in their Zoo.
As he grew older Steve followed in his father’s footsteps and volunteered his services to the Queensland Governments East Coast Crocodile Management program which saw him spend years living on his own in the mosquito infested creeks, rivers and mangroves of North Queensland catching huge crocodiles single-handed. His record of successful catches is still staggering to this day.
Since 1991, Australia Zoo has grown bigger and better under Steve’s guidance. In 1990 a chance reunion with his friend, television producer John Stainton, gave Steve the opportunity to show his diverse animal talents to the world when they decided to make the first documentary, "The Crocodile Hunter" in 1992.
The huge success of this one program quickly encouraged the making of more and so over the next 3 years, 10 one hour episodes were made and on television screens all over the world. Steve filmed over 70 episodes of "The Crocodile Hunter", 53 episodes of "Croc Files", 43 episodes of “Croc Diaries” and his next television series was called “The New Breed Vets”.
Steve had the greatest respect and understanding for all animals – something that had been instilled into him by his family for all of his life – and he was proud to share his passion with everyone who visits his Zoo and with his five hundred million viewers world-wide.
In June 1992, Steve married Terri Raines from Oregon USA. They had met just a few months earlier when Terri visited the Zoo in Australia. Eventually, the couple welcomed their daughter, Bindi, into their life and a few years later, baby Bob came along to make their family complete.
September 4, 2006 will be remembered by many as a very sad day. While snorkeling on Batt Reef off the coast of Australia, Steve was fatally injured when the barb of a stingray pierced his heart (I’m sure if that stingray realized it was Steve, he wouldn’t have done it!). Like the rest of the world, I was in shock and disbelief. My heart went out to Terri, Bindi, Bob and all of Steve’s family and friends. He was taken too soon. It’s hard to believe he’s really gone.
While you are searching for this cache, look at the area through eyes like Steve’s. See the beauty of nature…listen to the wind blow through the trees, look at the birds flying overhead, stop and take the time to appreciate nature. There is beauty in every living creature if only we take the time to see it.