Irwin, Steven Robert (1962-2006)

Australian naturalist, conservationist, and television personality. Known for his exuberance and dangerous encounters with deadly reptiles, he gained international popularity with his wildlife series Crocodile Hunter (1996-06).

He co-hosted Crocodile Hunter, a documentary series broadcast around the world, with his wife, Terri, with whom he also owned the Australia Zoo (founded by his parents as the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park) in Beerwah, Queensland. Other series include The Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World (1998), Croc Files (1999), and The Crocodile Hunter Diaries (2002). He starred as himself in the family comedy film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course in 2002 and lent his voice to an elephant seal in the Academy Award-winning animated film Happy Feet (2006). He died from a chest wound from the lashing of a stingray while he was filming his final documentary, Ocean's Deadliest (broadcast in 2007), in the Great Barrier Reef.

Irwin was born in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, and moved to Queensland in 1970. His parents, both wildlife experts, founded the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and involved young Steve in its day-to-day running. From an early age he handled a range of reptiles, including snakes and crocodiles. After high school he worked as a crocodile trapper in a government programme to humanely relocate crocodiles in Northern Queensland. In 1992 he married US conservationist Terri Raines, and footage from their honeymoon spent crocodile-trapping was used to create the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. He and Terri founded the conservation charity Wildlife Warriors Worldwide in 2002.