Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter
Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter pictures
Steve Irwin Tribute - News and Updates
7th September 2006
In a public statement today Steve's father said that Steve Irwin's funeral will be held  in a private ceremony for family and friends only.  A public memorial service will be held later on a date to be announced.

8th September 2006
It was announced that today is unofficially "Khaki Day" with everybody being urged to wear something green to work or at home to honour Steve Irwin. Large crowds are expected at Australia Zoo this weekend.  Staff at Australia Zoo announced they are determined to make Steve Irwins dream become a reality and to continue his conservation plans of purchasing large tracts of wilderness areas to create safe havens for the worlds wildlife.  The general public is being asked to donate to Wildlife Warriors to help make Steves's dream a reality.

Terri Irwin, Steve Irwin’s American-born wife, and two children, Bindi, 8, and Bob, 2, remained secluded at their home near the zoo.

At Australia Zoo after security officials roped off the area, Bob Irwin and other members of his family took a brief, private tour of the makeshift memorial on Thursday, reading notes from well-wishers, who continued to come to the site.

Terri Irwin has not commented since her husband’s death. Her mother, Julia Raines of Eugene, Ore., told the television newsmagazine show “Inside Edition” that Terri said she might have trouble coming to grips with being a single parent.

“Terri says it’s going to be hard being the only parent because you depend on the other person more than you realize, and she’s having a hard time with that,” said Raines. “She told me, ’I’m very concerned about raising the children by myself,’ but I know she’ll do well.”

Steve's Background
Steve Irwin was born Feb. 22, 1962, in the southern city of Melbourne to a plumber father and a nurse mother, who decided a few years later to chase a shared dream of becoming involved in animal preservation.

They moved to the Sunshine Coast in tropical Queensland state and opened a reptile and wildlife preserve at Beerwah in 1970. Irwin said in a recent interview that he was in his element.

He was given a 12-foot scrub python for his sixth birthday and regularly went on capturing excursions with his father in the bushland around the park. He was catching crocodiles by age 9, and in his 20s worked for the Queensland state government as a trapper who removed crocodiles from populated areas.

Irwin's father, Bob, said his son had an innate affinity with animals from an early age, a sense Irwin later described as "a gift." Irwin said he learned about wildlife working with his parents rather than in school.

In 1991, Irwin took over the park, Australia Zoo, when his parents retired and began building a reputation as a showman during daily crocodile feeding shows.

He met and married Terri Raines, of Eugene, Ore., who came to the park as a tourist, that year. They invited a television crew to join them on their camping honeymoon on Australia's far northern tip.

The resulting show became the first "Crocodile Hunter," was picked up by the Discovery Channel the following year, and the resulting series became an international hit.

Irwin was more famous in the United States than at home, where he typified a knockabout, rascally character that Australians call a "larrikin" and who many people worried painted a stereotypical picture of Australians as brash and uncouth.
Irwin loved Australia and its people, though, describing it as the greatest land on Earth.

By 2002 he had starred in his own movie, "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course," and appeared in the Eddie Murphy movie "Dr. Dolittle 2." Australia Zoo had become a major attraction and the Australian government enlisted him as the star of international tourist campaigns.

When President Bush visited Australia in 2003, Irwin was among the guests hand-picked by Howard to attend a ceremonial barbecue - and he turned up in his khakis.

9th September 2006
Irwin crew finishes filming on last documentary
Steve Irwin's film crew has secretly returned to the Queensland reef where he was killed to complete his final documentary, Ocean's Deadliest.

Irwin's longtime manager and friend John Stainton revealed on US TV that he had asked the crew on the morning after Irwin's death if they would like to complete the documentary.

"To a man, they all said yes," Stainton told CNN talkshow host, Larry King.
Stainton said they secretly slipped out to Batt Reef on the Great Barrier Reef, where Irwin was killed by a stingray on Monday, to shoot the final scenes of the documentary.

Filming continued covertly during the past "three or four days" so a media frenzy was avoided.

"We had to do such a covert operation to get back on the reef and shoot the scenes we needed, but these guys pulled it off," Stainton said.

Philippe Cousteau, who was co-hosting Ocean's Deadliest with Irwin, said Stainton called him at 5.45am (AEST) on Tuesday to ask if he would be part of the secret plan.

"He was in tears," Cousteau, grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, said of Stainton's early morning call  Stainton did not reveal when Ocean's Deadliest might be released for public viewing, although it has been funded by US TV channel, Animal Planet.

"The crew came together," Cousteau said.

"It was very difficult to get back on that boat and go out there. But I know if the situation was reversed, I would have wanted the same thing."

"I knew that Steve would have wanted that. We couldn't do anything but finish the film for him."

The film looks at the deadliest creatures in the ocean, but ironically stingrays will not be featured. Cousteau said the film concludes the deadliest creatures in the ocean are humans.

"It's a great irony that stingray was not even one of the creatures in the film," Cousteau said.

"They are not dangerous animals. There's only a few fatalities recorded around the world."

Stainton also hit back at expatriate academic Germaine Greer, who criticised Irwin following his death.

"She must be having another book coming out has she?" Stainton quipped.

At Australia Zoo today
Many thousands of people made their way to Australia Zoo this morning causing traffic jams.  Police were there to control the traffic and ambulance crews were at the ready.

Bob Irwin arrived at Australia Zoo to finalise funeral plans for Steve.  It is believed Steve's body has arrived at Australia Zoo.

Outside the zoo thousands openly grieved and a carpet of flowers lay right across the entrance of the zoo in a thick wide carpet, staff had already taken half of the flowers inside.  Staff at Australia Zoo said the flowers will be turned into mulch for the zoo's gardens and the many thousands of cards and words of sympathy would be saved and given to Terri, Bindi, Bob and Steve's family members.

12th September 2006
It is believed that Steve Irwin had a private funeral on Saturday at Australia Zoo and has been buried there.

A public memorial will be held at the Crocoseum at Australia Zoo next Wednesday.

Rush Expected for Steve Irwin Memorial service
Thousands of people are expected to camp out at booking outlets on Thursday night for tickets to the memorial service for Australia's Crocodile Hunter.

The life of Steve Irwin will be honoured at a special public memorial service next Wednesday at the family's Sunshine Coast animal park, Australia Zoo.

The memorial will be held at the park's Crocoseum, which was built by Mr Irwin and holds a capacity of 5,500.

Three thousand tickets - a maximum of four per person - will be released to the public at no charge from 9am (AEST) on Friday at Australia Zoo's box office and Ticketek outlets at Maroochydore and Brisbane.

A police spokeswoman said officers were working on a plan of action to deal with the crowds of people who were expected to queue for tickets.

Mr Irwin's manager and close friend John Stainton said the service would involve guests sharing their memories of Mr Irwin, with John Williamson to perform the Crocodile Hunter's favourite song, True Blue.

Although larger venues such as the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and Suncorp Stadium were suggested, Mr Irwin's widow Terri said on Wednesday her husband would have wanted the service to be conducted at home.

In a statement read by Mr Irwin's father Bob, Mrs Irwin said she understood the decision meant thousands would potentially miss out on attending the service, but it would not feel right having it at any other place.

She said it was hoped large screens at venues around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast would help alleviate the problem.

The service will also be broadcast live on the Seven Network, while discussions were underway to have the service broadcast in Asia and the US.

15th September 2006
Thousands of people have camped out at three different locations to ensure they get tickets to Steve Irwins memorial service next Wednesday at Australia Zoo's Crocoseum.

Terri and Bindi Irwin will take part in the service and Australian musician and personal friend John Williamson will perform.  Russell Crowe will also perform reading poetry.

Some people interviewed by tv reporters were reduced to tears as they explained that they felt a need to go to the memorial service in memory of Steve.

18th September 2006
It is rumoured that the film footage of Steve Irwin's actual death may be broadcast for the public to see.  This has caused a public outcry as people on internet discussion forums and the letters to the editor in Australian papers show as people express their disgust with the idea.

This webmaster lives in Queensland Australia and I would like it to be known that Steve Irwin himself publicly stated in an interview some time ago that if he were to be killed in the course of his work that he hoped his death would be filmed.  In this interview Steve emphatically stated that he would want the cameras to keep rolling and for people to see the footage.

It was his personal wish.  My personal opinion is that Steve meant what he said and that people expressing disgust at the thought the footage might be shown should respect Steve's own thoughts on this sad turn of events.

Any child or adult seeing the footage would never make the mistake of snorkeling or swimming over a Stingray in shallow water so a valuable lesson is there in the footage to be learned by many people.....and after all........that is what Steve Irwin was all about......teaching us about animals.

19th September 2006
5,000 people are expected at Australia Zoo tomorrow for Steve Irwin's memorial service.  Police are warning the public that anyone without a ticket will be turned away.  There will be no big screens at Australia Zoo but big screens will be in operation on the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast.  Channel 7 will be broadcasting the memorial service commercial free.

Media reports have stated that Bindi Irwin Steve's 8 year old daughter has expressed a desire to swim with the Stingray that killed her father. Bindi, who was named after one of Steve's favourite crocodiles, is working on her own wildlife series called 'Jungle girl', and has vowed to finish the film about the giant fish about stingrays.

It has also been reported that Bindi will also address a people's gathering at a public memorial service, which is to be held at the grounds of Irwin's Australia Zoo tomorrow.

While the media reported that Terri Irwin would address the crowd at Steve's memorial service later reports are stating she is still too upset to be able to make an appearance.

20th September 2006
Steve Irwin memorial watched by millions worldwide
Steve Irwin's memorial service, watched by up to 300m people worldwide, will be released as a DVD which is expected to sell in the millions. The Crocodile Hunter's public farewell at Australia Zoo was a slickly-produced spectacle, perfectly packaged for television.

Broadcast by several networks around Australia, the hour-long service was also telecast to hundreds of millions world-wide. It featured well-known celebrities, though the emotional high-point of the service came with Irwin's daughter Bindi and his father Bob.

Terri Irwin, unable to address the crowd at the memorial service, has agreed to speak to Nine in an exclusive interview next Wednesday.

US-based cable channel Animal Planet beamed the service to an audience of around 90 million throughout North America.

The service started at 9am (AEST), but in the US it fell perfectly for prime time TV audiences.

The BBC showed Mr Irwin's farewell in Britain and Europe and it was also broadcast throughout Asia.

The service featured video footage of Mr Irwin's wildlife exploits and tributes from Hollywood stars including Russell Crowe and Cameron Diaz.

Mr Irwin's best friend and producer John Stainton, the mastermind of the Crocodile Hunter series, directed the service.

Mr Stainton's offsider at the Brisbane-based Best Picture Show Company, Judi Bailey, said they were considering whether to make the program available on DVD.

"We've obviously been discussing that," Ms Bailey said.

She said Australian TV networks had already shown interest in re-running the memorial service.

The Seven Network repeated the program on Wednesday in a 4.30pm (AEST) broadcast.

Mr Stainton and Ms Bailey kept tight control of the media at the Australia Zoo service with the TV coverage pooled and print media access restricted.

Only three newspaper groups plus wire services Australian Associated Press and the Associated Press were officially accredited to have one reporter and photographer each inside the Crocoseum.

ABC radio broadcast live from inside the zoo but most media representatives were kept outside, watching the service on a few TVs that were provided under a tent.

Some organisations had gained entry to the zoo by queuing for some of the 3,000 free tickets made available to the public.

27th September 2006 Terri Irwins Interview
In an emotionally charged interview with well known Australian reporter Ray Martin, Terri Irwin has broken her silence.

Choking back tears and looking very tired Terri Irwin spoke of how overwhelmed she has been by the worlds reaction to Steve's death and of her proud amazment of Bindi's strength through all of this.

When asked by Ray Martin what Steve would have thought of the fact 300 million people were expected to watch his public commemoration at Australia Zoo.....Terri said that if Steve knew that the world had reacted this way you would have been able to "knock him down with a feather".

Obviously still not able to cope with the fact Steve is gone Terri spoke of how she still now expects him to walk in the door.

For the first time Terri walked outside Australia Zoo to see the flowers and tributes laid by the public for Steve, Terri and Bindi and Bob.  Of course it brought her to tears but she thanked everyone and made the point that seeing it all will help her through this time.

Ray Martin talked with Terri about how they met and the life they built together.  Terri stated that she had lived a fairy tale for 14 years and that it was the best 14 years that anyone could ever wish for.

Terri vowed to carry on Steve's work and that Bindi will also continue in the footsteps of her father.  Terri said young Bob has already described jumping and roping a croc, and that he can describe what they should do when catching a croc right down the gauge of the rope used to tie the crocs jaws......young Bob is only 3 years old.

Terri described Steve's seemingly death defying handling of animals saying that Steve didn't see it as death defying.  She stated that one night Steve got up at home and said, "I've got to go down to the zoo, something is happening down there".  Without hearing or seeing the problem Steve found two Alligators locked in mortal combat.  Terri said that she could tell you a million stories like that and that she felt he had a sixth sense when it came to animals.

Terri said that she can feel Steve guiding her and that she knows he is still with them.  That ideas she is getting and thoughts she is having are coming from Steve and that the love between them was so strong the bond can't be broken.

Terri said that she had not seen the footage of the incident that took Steve's life and also that she did not want to see it.  Terri also stated that the footage would not be released to be shown to the public....she said that she could not see any useful purpose in showing the footage. 

She was aware that Steve always said for the cameras to keep rolling if he was killed while filming.

I don't see the point in describing everything that Terri said.  It was highly obvious during the interview she is totally in love and is devoted to Steve and their love was the stuff fairy tales are made of.....with a big difference.....their love was real. You could see the entire interview was an extremely hard ordeal for Terri and you have to admire and respect her for coming forward so soon while still in the grip of heavy grieving.

Terri made a promise that she would carry on their work and that she will make Australia Zoo bigger and keep the dream alive.

Steve Irwins last resting place
The burial site of Steve Irwin will always be kept a secret.  The general public will not ever know where he has been laid to rest.  Terri explained that it was Steve's wish that his funeral not be public and that his resting place not be made public, she said that he said that he lived his life larger than life in the public eye, and that in death he wanted privacy.......Terri said that she has carried out Steve's own wishes in regards to this.

Oz Magic the Web Site visitors
This website has received thousands of visitors since the death of Steve Irwin.  I would like to thank everyone who has emailed and expressed their grief and sense of loss and also their personal messages for Terri Irwin. Your emails were forwarded to the crochunters website. The Queensland Government's condolence book has now been taken offline (28/05/07).

Click Here for Steve Irwin Tribute main page
Click Here for Australian Saltwater Crocodile info and pictures

This ends my tribute to Steve Irwin.  I don't think it is good to continue to dwell on the death of this great Australian son.  It is far better that you now go to his Wildlife Warriors web site and focus on what you can personally do to contribute to the continuation of the work and the dream that Steve started. 

This is the best way to honour the memory of Steve Irwin.........to keep his dream alive and to help to make it happen. If you take into consideration that 300 million people watched Steve Irwin's public commemoration and that if each of those people donated just $2 a year (the cost of a cup of coffee) to Wildlife Warriors each year.......it is very easy to see that Steve and Terri's dream can be easily achieved.

Don't talk about what you thought about Steve.......make a point of giving just $2 every year to Wildlife Warriors.

My own humble & personal message to Steve is a simple one........

Thank you mate for everything you showed and taught us......and for keeping the Australian spirit alive and well......for being a proud Australian and for showing the world what it means to be an Australian.....you've done Australia.....and Australians proud.......and enjoyed yourself while doing it..........................
Rest Easy Mate.....Your Dream Will Survive.

Gary Crockett
Oz Magic the Web Site
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Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter