Steve Irwin
He grew up in a reptile park his parents opened at Beerwah in 1970, took it over in 1991, and renamed it Australia Zoo in 1998. Before any of the television, he spent years volunteering to catch problem crocodiles in north Queensland and move them somewhere they would not be shot, more than a hundred of them, often alone and often at night. He met an American naturalist called Terri Raines in 1991 when she came to watch him do a demonstration, and the footage from their honeymoon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. He died on 4 September 2006 at Batt Reef, aged forty-four. A state funeral was offered and his family declined it, because his father said Steve would have wanted to be remembered as an ordinary bloke. What he left is a zoo his family still runs, a wildlife hospital named for his mother that treats thousands of animals a year, more than four hundred and fifty thousand acres of protected land, a turtle he and his father discovered on the Burdekin, and two children who grew up on camera and are still doing the work.
A chronological documentary of 917 moments spanning 1962–2026 on Loreline.
Curated by Olivier · last updated 2026-09-20
Eras
- Wild Australia, The country itself, which is also where the free photographic record is richest. Cape York, the Wenlock and the Burdekin, Queensland bush and wetland, the Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah. The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve is here, and the correction that goes with it: he did not buy it. The Australian Government purchased Bertiehaugh Station in 2007, after his death, as a memorial, and the family manages it. His own land purchases, in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the United States, are a separate and real thing, and the total protected runs past four hundred and fifty thousand acres.
- The Zoo, Australia Zoo as a place. It opened on 3 June 1970 as the Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park, became the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park in 1982, and was only renamed Australia Zoo in 1998, seven years after Steve took it over. The grounds, the Crocoseum, the enclosures, the keepers, and the growth from a few acres to something enormous. The public memorial in September 2006 belongs here, introduced by Russell Crowe and watched by an estimated three hundred million people, ending with his ute driven out of the arena by his staff.
- Films, The public figure as distinct from the wildlife programmes. The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course in 2002, which was not the flop it is sometimes remembered as, taking about thirty three million dollars against a twelve million dollar budget. Happy Feet, the American talk shows, the Walk of Fame star, the Logies. And the thing that happened long after him: Bindi won Dancing with the Stars in 2015, and Robert won it in November 2025 at twenty one, the youngest male winner and the first Australian male winner, which makes them the first pair of siblings to both take it.
- Television, The Crocodile Hunter, which began on Australian television in 1996 and reached North America the following year, and everything after it: Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, New Breed Vets, Bindi the Jungle Girl, and Crikey! It's the Irwins. Note the dating here. Many individual episodes cannot be dated, so rather than guess a year in the middle of a run they are dated to the first year of the series with a note saying the episode year is not established.
- Crocodiles, The work he was known for and the work he did before anyone was watching. Through the late 1970s and 1980s he volunteered for the Queensland East Coast Crocodile Management Program, catching and relocating more than a hundred problem crocodiles that would otherwise have been shot. That was his own unpaid work and not, as it is often told, a government contract shared with his father. Later the demonstrations, the Crocoseum shows, the field research, and the named animals. Robert does this work on camera now, so the segment runs to the present.
- Family, Emotionally the centre of the archive. Bob and Lyn, who started the park; Lyn died in 2000 and the wildlife hospital is named for her. Terri, who came to watch a crocodile demonstration in October 1991 and stayed. Bindi and Robert, who grew up on camera and now run and represent the place. Chandler Powell and Grace Warrior, the fourth generation. The family declined the state funeral offered by John Howard and Peter Beattie, because Bob said Steve would have wanted to be remembered as an ordinary bloke.
- Conservation, Wildlife Warriors, Steve Irwin Day, the land acquisition, and the science. Professor Craig Franklin at the University of Queensland has run the longest crocodile tracking study in the world on the Wenlock River since 2007, and by the 2024 field season it had tracked 296 crocodiles and gathered more than ten million data recordings. He is a non-family academic voice and the best answer to anyone who reads Irwin as only a showman. Also Terri's six-year fight against mining on the reserve, which gathered 451,234 signatures and ended in Strategic Environmental Area protection, and Bob Irwin's own separate foundation.
- Reptiles, Where the whole story starts, since the park was a reptile park first. Taipans and other venomous snakes, pythons, goannas and lace monitors, turtles and tortoises. Elseya irwini, Irwin's turtle, is here because it is a father-and-son discovery: Bob and Steve caught the first specimen themselves on the Burdekin River in 1990, Steve photographed it, John Cann confirmed it as a new species, and it was named in 1997 while he was alive. Harriet the Galapagos tortoise is here too, with the zoo's claim that Darwin collected her recorded as a claim, since it is disputed and has never been established.
- Photography, The still image as its own body of work: the historic photography of Steve, of which very little exists under a free licence, and Robert Irwin's own award-winning wildlife photography. A note on what is missing and why. Only twenty five freely licensed photographs of Steve exist, from eight separate occasions, almost all of them between 2000 and 2005. His television work and his public appearances are photographed almost entirely by agencies and broadcasters, so the free record shows the zoo keeper rather than the television star, and this archive does not pretend otherwise.
- The Hospital, The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, named for Lyn Irwin. The first one opened in 2004 in an old avocado packing shed; a five million dollar replacement opened beside it in 2008 and is claimed to be the largest wildlife hospital in the world. Koala intake and rehabilitation, surgery, release, and the bushfire response. The animals-treated figures come from the zoo and Wildlife Warriors themselves, and the captions say so.
- - Mt Beerwah and Mt Coonowrin, Glasshouse Mountains, Sunshine Coast Region QUT-7231-1. Mount Beerwah is the highest of the ten volcanic plugs in the Glass House Mountains range, located on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Mount Coonowrin is one of the Glass House Mountains, located on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. It is easily distinguished because of its rocky formation at the top.
- - Glasshouse Mountains from Mary Cairncross Park QUT-7228. The Mary Cairncross Reserve is a conservation park located on the Blackall Range east of Maleny, in Queensland's Sunshine Coast Region of Queensland. The reserve is positioned in the mountain rainforests of the Maleny region overlooking the Glass House Mountains. (Wikipedia).
- - Glasshouse Mountains, Sunshine Coast QUT-7229-3. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1962. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Burdekin Bridge QUT-7358-2. The Burdekin River in north Queensland, 1963. Bob and Steve Irwin caught the first known Irwin's turtle themselves, on a crocodile catching trip on the Burdekin River in 1990. Steve photographed it, the turtle expert John Cann confirmed it was new to science, and Elseya irwini was named in 1997, during his lifetime.
- - Burdekin Bridge, c 1967. The Burdekin River in north Queensland, 1967. Bob and Steve Irwin caught the first known Irwin's turtle themselves, on a crocodile catching trip on the Burdekin River in 1990. Steve photographed it, the turtle expert John Cann confirmed it was new to science, and Elseya irwini was named in 1997, during his lifetime.
- - Mt Tibrogargan, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland QUT-7237-3. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1969. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Glass House Mountains, December 1970. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1970. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Farm near Mount Tibrogargan, December 1970. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1970. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Glass House Mountains, December 1970. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1970. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Cattle farm near Glass House Mountains, December 1970. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1970. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Glass House Mountains, December 1970. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1970. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - North Coast (now Sunshine Coast) hinterland with the Glasshouse Mountains in the background, 1971. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1971. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Mt Beerwah and Mt Coonowrin, Glasshouse Mountains QUT-7232. Mount Beerwah is the highest of the ten volcanic plugs in the Glass House Mountains range, located on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Mount Coonowrin is one of the Glass House Mountains, located on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. It is easily distinguished because of its rocky formation at the top.
- - Mt Tibrogargan QUT-7238. Mount Tibrogargan is a small mountain in the Glass House Mountains range in Queensland's Sunshine Coast Region. It is a magma intrusion of hard alkali rhyolite that squeezed up into the vents of an ancient volcano 27 million years ago. (Wikipedia).
- - Mt Coonowrin, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland QUT-7233. Mount Coonowrin is one of the Glass House Mountains, located on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. It is easily distinguished because of its rocky formation at the top. It is also known by its unofficial name Crookneck. (Wikipedia).
- - Mt Kilcoy and Mt Beerwah, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland QUT-7234. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1973. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - On Mount Tibrogargan, Glass House Mountains, Queensland QUT-7166-2. The Glass House Mountains are a cluster of thirteen hills that rise abruptly from the coastal plain on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. The most identifiable of all the mountains is Mount Tibrogargan, which from certain angles, bears a resemblance to a face staring east towards the ocean.
- - Mount Tibrogargan, Glass House Mountains, Queensland QUT-7166-1. The Glass House Mountains are a cluster of thirteen hills that rise abruptly from the coastal plain on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. The most identifiable of all the mountains is Mount Tibrogargan, which from certain angles, bears a resemblance to a face staring east towards the ocean.
- - Bruce Highway near tthe Glasshouse Mountains between Brisbane and Gympie, 1975. The Glass House Mountains behind Beerwah, 1975. Bob and Lyn Irwin opened the Beerwah Reptile Park in Queensland on 3 June 1970, after moving the family up from Victoria.
- - Queensland, Australia. Cape York country, 1995. The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on Cape York covers about 330,000 acres of the old Bertiehaugh Station. The Australian Government bought it in 2007, after his death, as a memorial, and the family manages it.
- - Steve Irwin saves some feisty Koalas | Irwin Family Adventures. Koala rescue footage from The Crocodile Hunter, revisited by the family. Koalas are the single largest patient group at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, which opened in 2004 and is dedicated to Steve's mother, Lyn Irwin.
- - Woohoo! It's almost Steve Irwin Day | Australia Zoo Life. Steve Irwin Day falls on 15 November each year and khaki is the dress code. The family say the date was chosen because it is the birthday of one of Steve's favourite animals, a Galapagos tortoise at the zoo.
- - Steve Irwin teaches Kelly Slater to feed crocs | Irwin Family Adventures. Kelly Slater is an eleven-time world surfing champion. Steve was a keen surfer himself and filmed a surfing episode of The Crocodile Hunter in Indonesia with Wes Mannion.
- - The Special History of Steve Irwin's Motorbike. Steve's ute was driven out of the Crocoseum by his staff at the close of his public memorial in September 2006, and his vehicles have stayed part of the zoo's fabric ever since. Robert Irwin was two years old when his father died.
- - Steve’s Wildest Croc Encounters | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Measuring, handling and releasing saltwater crocodiles was work Steve had been doing long before a camera followed him. He volunteered for the Queensland East Coast Crocodile Management Program in the late 1970s and 1980s, taking more than 100 problem crocodiles out of populated river systems so they would not be shot.
- - Steve and Terri Irwin Play With Pythons! | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Pythons are non-venomous constrictors and turn up in suburban roofs and gardens across Queensland. Reptiles are where the family enterprise started: Bob Irwin's own collection became the Beerwah Reptile Park in June 1970.
- - Bindi and Chandler throwback to Steve and Sui | Irwin Family Adventures. Sui was Steve's Staffordshire terrier and a constant presence on The Crocodile Hunter. Dogs have stayed part of the family's on-screen life, with Piggy and Stella now filling the same role.
- - Happy Steve Irwin Day!. Steve Irwin Day is held every 15 November. It has run annually since the year after his death and is now the largest date in the Australia Zoo calendar.
- - Heart-Pounding Close Call: Steve Irwin vs Massive Crocodile | Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. The capture technique on screen is the same one he learned removing problem animals for the Queensland East Coast Crocodile Management Program. Much of what looked like wrestling was capture-and-release research method, and the tracking programme it fed has since produced peer-reviewed results.
- - Steve + Terri Irwin on a rainforest adventure | Irwin Family Adventures. Southern cassowaries are the rainforest bird often called a living dinosaur, and they are threatened in north Queensland. Terri co-presented The Crocodile Hunter from its first episode.
- - Steve Irwin Makes a Special Connection with Orangutans | Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Orangutans put the series in Southeast Asian rainforest, a long way from the Queensland rivers it started in. The Crocodile Hunter ran to 78 episodes between 1996 and 2007.
- - Steve Irwin's Unbelievable Encounters with Snakes and Sharks | Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Snakes and sharks were both regular subjects across the series. Steve had handled venomous snakes since childhood, taught by his father before there was any camera or any audience.
- - Steve Irwin Meets Tree-Dwelling Snakes and Lizards | Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Arboreal snakes and lizards took the series into the north Queensland rainforest canopy. Reptiles remained the core of the collection at Beerwah even as the zoo expanded.
- - Australia Zoo - Steve Irwin Day 2007 Time-lapse. Steve Irwin Day falls on 15 November each year, a date the family say was chosen because it is the birthday of one of Steve's favourite animals, a Galapagos tortoise at the zoo. The 2007 event was the first after his death.
- - Freshwater Crocodiles React to Crowded Watering Holes | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Australian freshwater crocodiles concentrate in shrinking waterholes through the northern dry season. They are a separate species from the saltwater crocodiles Steve relocated for the Queensland government.
- - Steve Basks in the Sea | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Ocean episodes were a regular part of the series from early on. Steve was an accomplished diver and the marine material sits alongside the crocodile fieldwork rather than as a novelty.
- - Steve Irwin's Big Croc Diaries at Australia Zoo | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Many of the crocodiles at Beerwah arrived because Steve had removed them from rivers and beaches where they were in danger of being shot. Some were released into remote habitat, others came into the park, which was renamed Australia Zoo in 1998.
- - The magic of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve | Wildlife Warriors Missions. The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve holds 35 distinct ecosystems and, on 2023 figures, 170 bird species, 48 fish, 47 reptiles, 21 amphibians and 20 mammals. Wildlife Warriors describes the Perched Bauxite Springs there as a previously undescribed ecosystem type.
- - Unique biodiversity of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve. The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on western Cape York holds 35 distinct ecosystems and, on 2023 figures, 170 bird species, 48 fish, 47 reptiles, 21 amphibians and 20 mammals. The Australian Government bought it in 2007, after his death, as a memorial.
- - Steve Relocates His Feistiest Crocodiles | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Relocating crocodiles inside the park was a scaled-down version of the fieldwork that made his name. The property has grown from the two acres Bob and Lyn Irwin opened at Beerwah in June 1970 to roughly 700 acres today, about 110 of them open to visitors.
- - Life after Steve Irwin: The Crocodile Hunter's legacy | Documentary | Australian Story (2006). Australian Story returned six weeks after his death, in October 2006. The family declined a state funeral offered by Prime Minister John Howard and Premier Peter Beattie, with Bob Irwin saying Steve would have wanted to be remembered as an ordinary bloke.
- - Snakes on the Base! | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Sidewinders are American desert rattlesnakes, and the series filmed widely in the United States. It reached North America in 1997 through Animal Planet and Discovery.
- - Steve Searches For Camels | The Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Roadside rescues of injured animals were a recurring thread in the series and are the everyday work the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital was built to do at scale from 2004.
- - Karl can't stop laughing at vintage Steve Irwin footage with Rob | Today Show Australia. Robert Irwin was born on 1 December 2003 and was carried through crocodile enclosures as an infant. He now leads the crocodile work at the zoo himself.
- - What a night at the Steve Irwin Gala Dinner | Wildlife Warriors Missions. The Steve Irwin Gala Dinner is an annual Wildlife Warriors fundraiser. Wildlife Warriors was founded by Steve and Terri in 2002 as Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, and Robert Irwin is now a board director.
- - Steve Irwin's Turtle - Protecting this unique species | Wildlife Warriors Missions. Irwin's turtle, Elseya irwini, is a father-and-son discovery. Bob and Steve caught the first known specimen on a crocodile-catching trip on the Burdekin River in 1990, Steve photographed it, John Cann confirmed it was new to science, and it was named in 1997, during his lifetime.
- - Steve Irwin: Passion & Enthusiasm. Terri, Bob Irwin, John Stainton and his colleagues have all said consistently that the on-camera enthusiasm was not a character, and that the only calculated part was aiming it at conservation messaging.
- - Steve Irwin’s Jaw-Dropping Encounter With Tiger Sharks | Crocodile Hunter | Animal Planet. Tiger sharks are among the largest predatory sharks in Australian waters. Sharks and marine work appear throughout The Crocodile Hunter, and Robert Irwin has since dived with great whites for Discovery.
- - Conan & Steve Irwin Wrestle With A Snake | Late Night with Conan O’Brien. American late night was where the persona reached its widest audience, and he almost always brought live animals. He appeared repeatedly with Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Larry King and Oprah Winfrey.
- - Steve Irwin's son Robert wins wildlife photography prize | 5 News. Robert Irwin won the People's Choice Award at the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2020, for an aerial photograph of a bushfire front. He was 16.
…and 867 more moments.
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