Taking the Big Break

Steve Irwin was a naturalist, an animalist, a philosopher, and an adventurer. He is famous for his family’s zoo, his TV shows, and his effort for animal conservation. He began his life on 22 February, 1962, and soon after displayed an amazing quality of being at peace with even the most dangerous animals. On his sixth birthday, he got a snake! He soon was traveling with his dad, the man who would always be his hero, and mentor. He watched his dad set and trap problem crocs and then transport them to locations where they could live freely.

Back then all traps for crocs were simply constructed of soft mesh. So they put the traps in shallow water and put in meat in them. Then, they stood back and let the trap do its work. His mom and dad decided to buy a park reserve called Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. Soon Steve was catching crocs by himself, and a year or two after, catching them bare-handed, jumping over the side of the boat, catch them by their mouth, and throwing them into the boat, with a blindfold on and a rope around their jaws.

The next few weeks he established a name for himself as “The Crocodile Hunter.” He then took over the running of the reptile park. Soon he happened to meet a tourist from Eugene, Oregon named Terri. They soon fell in love and were married in Oregon! Then they went back to Australia and instead of a honeymoon, they went out to catch some crocs for a show. Soon Terri was amazing at crocodile catching. They started making episodes about “The Crocodile Hunter” and they had Bindi, their daughter. They made lots of episodes and, after that, decided to change the name to Australia Zoo. Then they had their next child, Robert.

They had a very happy zoo because Steve Irwin himself did some of the shows. One philosophy of his was family first, zoo employees second, zoo visitors third. One sad day, as they were filming an underwater episode, a stingray hit him with a barb in the heart. He pulled it out and bled to death. His wife Terri covered up the episode and erased the footage. His work for conservation has been carried on by his wife and children.

We went to the Australia Zoo and had a wonderful time as we learned about animals, gasped as we saw animal shows, and marveled at Steve Irwin’s story.

The Croc Show

I especially loved the show in the Crocaseum with the birds and croc tricks. That show was the famous one that Steve Irwin used to do. I remember touching koalas up close and looking at the beautiful, yet weird cassowaries. I think everyone should love and support Steve Irwin’s mission to appreciate and protect animals like I do.