Terri Irwin

Terri Irwin
Born	(1964-07-20) July 20, 1964 Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A.
Occupation(s)	Naturalist, Zoologist, Conservationist
Spouse	Steve Irwin (1992-2006)
Children	Bindi Sue Irwin and Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin
Website	www.crocodilehunter.com.au

Theresa Penelope Irwin, AM (born July 20, 1964) is an American-born naturalist, author, the widow of Australian naturalist Steve Irwin, and owner of Australia Zoo at Beerwah, Queensland, Australia. She co-starred with her husband on The Crocodile Hunter, their unconventional television nature documentary series, as well as their spinoff series, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries and the Croc Files. She has lived in Australia since 1992, when she married Steve Irwin.

Terri features in the first episode of the new cartoon series The Big Gag. The episode satires negative attention she is receiving due to Bindi's intense media commitments and commercial activities since her father's death.

Background

Terri was born in Eugene, Oregon in the United States of America and she is the youngest of three daughters. Her family was in the trucking business. As a small child, her father constantly brought home injured animals from the highways on which his trucks travelled; this eventually instilled in her an ongoing commitment to saving and rehabilitating wild animals.

While working in the family business in 1986, Terri started a rehabilitation facility called "Cougar Country" to re-educate and release predatory mammals such as foxes, opossums, raccoons, bears, bobcats, and cougars back into the wild. Soon she was handling three hundred animals each year.

Career

Terri Raines joined an emergency veterinary hospital in 1989 as a veterinary technician to gain further valuable knowledge on the care and support to all kinds of animals. Her life was very busy, as she still kept a hand in helping her dad run the family business, rehabilitating animals through her "Cougar Country", and working spare moments at the vet hospital. In addition, she had fifteen cats of her own, several birds, and a dog.

In 1991, she went on a tour of Australia, and while visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities, she had a chance meeting with and was charmed by Steve Irwin, whose father had managed the Australia Zoo. A whirlwind romance followed: They were engaged after just four months, and eight months later, on June 4, 1992, they married. Their first television documentary was filmed on their honeymoon. The footage, shot by John Stainton, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which became successful in America.

Steve Irwin was the owner of Australia Zoo, along with Terri.

The couple chose to settle in Australia, and Terri had to leave her Cougar Country behind in the United States. However, as a partner in their wildlife enterprises and television shows, she has been able to do far greater work on behalf of wildlife conservation.

In addition to their two popular television programs, which are shown on the Animal Planet television network in the United States, in 2002, the Irwins' feature film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, was released.

In an interview before the birth of their second child, Terri Irwin had this to say about her marriage and working with her husband Steve:

"We don't drink, we don't smoke, and we are actually in love and happily married. We love our little girl, we go home to each other at night, and we believe in what we are doing,"

"Say my husband had a dangerous job and I wasn't with him; I don't know how you go, 'Oh honey, how was it with the police department today? You got all your fingers and toes today?' It would scare me. I'd have to become a police officer and work with him; I couldn't do it."

In 2006, Irwin was made an honorary Member of the Order of Australia for services to wildlife conservation and the tourism industry. ("Honorary" membership in the Order of Australia is a version of the award given to non-citizens of Australia.)

Terri (and her children) were reportedly trekking in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, when her husband Steve died on the morning of September 4, 2006 after sustaining chest and heart injuries from a short-tail stingray barb. He died shortly after the attack. He was filming an underwater documentary at the time at Batt Reef near Port Douglas in Queensland.

After Steve Irwin's death

In her first statement since her husband's death on September 4 2006, Terri announced that the Australian memorial service on September 20, 2006, at Australia Zoo in Queensland, would be open to the public, and that people who wish to attend should make a donation to Irwin's Wildlife Warriors fund. The service was held at the "Crocoseum," a 5,500 seat open-air amphitheater, which Steve built at the zoo and of which he was so proud. When it was suggested that a larger facility may be more appropriate, Terri stated that she couldn't see how a memorial service would work in any other place other than the Crocoseum. She also thanked well-wishers for their "overwhelming outpouring of love", support and prayers for her family". Terri herself was too upset to speak at the ceremony. She remained with her young son Bob during the proceedings, but her daughter Bindi spoke about her love for her dad, to which she received a standing ovation. Australian TV network Channel 9 screened an interview between Terri and local presenter Ray Martin, on Wednesday 27 September, at 8:30pm on the station. During the interview, she said "And I'll make Australia Zoo bigger. I'll make it bigger... because I promised."

Barbara Walters announced on The View that she would be holding an exclusive interview with Terri, which aired September 27 in the US.

On October 31, 2006 she was invited to the Royal Albert Hall to award a Special Recognition Award to Sir David Attenborough at the British National Television Awards. When she came on stage, the entire audience gave her a standing ovation out of recognition for her bravery in light of her husband's death. She fought back tears in appreciation of the British people, while the camera cut to Neighbours star Alan Fletcher, who was shown to be fighting back tears also. She cited Attenborough as a great inspiration for her late husband, saying "If there's one person who directly inspired my husband, it's the person being honoured tonight." and going on to say "[Steve's] real, true love was conservation- and the influence of tonight's recipient in preserving the natural world has been immense."

Attenborough reciprocated by praising her husband for introducing many to the natural world, saying "He taught them how wonderful and exciting it was; he was a born communicator."

On 3 January 2007, the only video footage showing the events that led to Irwin's death was handed over to Terri, who said that the video would never become public, and noted her family has not seen the video either. In an 11 January 2007 interview with Access Hollywood, Terri said that "all footage has been destroyed."

On March 2, 2008 it was announced that Bob Irwin, father of Steve Irwin, had resigned from Australia Zoo, of which he was the founder, in order to 'keep his son's dream alive'. In a statement to the press, the elder Irwin thanked the staff for all their help but made no mention of Terri.

External links

• Crocodile Hunter.com.au The Irwins' website, The Crocodile Hunter
• Animal Planet Crocodile Hunter
• Terri Irwin at IMDb
• Terri Irwin Interview
• Animal Planet profile of Terri Irwin
• Collection of news items from News.Com.Au
• Australia Zoo