Family

Father: Steve Irwin

Stephen Robert Irwin was born to Lyn and Bob Irwin on February 22, 1962, in upper Fern Tree Gully, Essendon, Victoria, Australia. He moved with his parents and two sisters to Beerwah, Queensland, where his folks opened the Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park in 1970.

Steve grew up loving all wildlife, especially reptiles. He caught his first venomous snake (a Common Brown) at the tender age of six and would often arrive late to school after convincing his mother to pull over so he could rescue a lizard off the road. By the time he was nine years old, he was helping his dad catch small problem crocodiles hanging around boat ramps by jumping on them in the water and wrestling them back into the dinghy. He always had an uncanny sixth sense when it came to wildlife and he spent his life honing that skill.

In the 1980s, Steve spent months on end living in the most remote areas of far North Queensland catching problem crocodiles before they ended up shot by a poacher's bullet. He worked with his little dog, Sui, and developed crocodile capture and management techniques that are now utilised with crocodilians around the world.

By 1980, the family wildlife park was called the 'Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park' and where Steve called home. Steve and his best mate, Wes Mannion, worked countless hours caring for the wildlife and maintaining the grounds.

In 1991, Steve took over managing the wildlife park and met Terri Rains, a visiting tourist, on 6 October. Steve and Terri were married in Eugene, Oregon, on the June 4, 1992 at the Methodist church Terri's grandmother used to attend.

Instead of a honeymoon, the couple embarked on filming a wildlife documentary with John Stainton from the 'Best Picture Show' company. The show was so successful it turned into a series and the Crocodile Hunter was born.

After Steve's parents retired in the 1992, Steve worked tirelessly to improve and expand his wildlife park. Renaming it Australia Zoo in 1998, Steve's vision for the world's best Zoo was coming to fruition. In July 2006, Steve set out his ten year business plan for his beloved zoo. He couldn't know he would be gone just two months later, but he believed his conservation work would go on. His wife and two beautiful children will make sure it does.

Mother: Terri Irwin

Terri Raines was born in Eugene, Oregon, USA at Sacred Heart Hospital on July 20, 1964 (current age: 46). Her father, Clarence, drove heavy-haul trucks and would bring home wildlife that had been injured on the road. This instilled in Terri a love for wildlife and a desire to help animals from a very early age.

At the age of 10, Terri bought a horse named Princess with her own money. She started her own bank account at the age of six and over the next four years saved $400. This was enough to pay for the horse, saddle, bridle and a ton of hay. A very happy Terri spent the next eight years attending 4H riding club meetings and trail riding. As a young adult, she spent summers exploring the Eagle Gap wilderness area in North-east Oregon on horseback. This further convinced Terri of the need to protect wildlife and wild places.

At 18, Terri bought a three-bedroom home and worked hard to pay it off by the time she was 25. At this point in her life, it was all about work. She was running the family business, worked part-time at an emergency veterinary hospital and operated a wildlife rehabilitation organisation called 'Cougar Country'. This left little time for holidays, so when Terri's friend, Lori, suggested a trip to Australia, Terri took the opportunity to head Down Under.

While visiting Brisbane, Terri and Lori were invited to a barbeque near the Glasshouse Mountains. After the BBQ lunch, while driving back to Brisbane, they passed a small roadside wildlife park. Ever interested in a wildlife experience, Terri and her friends went into the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park where they encountered a most enthusiastic man talking passionately about crocodiles. In a crowd of only ten or fifteen visitors, Terri managed to catch the attention of the man doing the show. After introducing herself, the man said, "G'day mate, my name is Steve...Steve Irwin." This chance encounter would change their lives forever.

After an international courtship, which meant they had spent less than six weeks actually together, Steve and Terri married on 4 June, 1992, in Eugene, Oregon. Some 400 people attended the wedding, as it was also when all of Terri's friends, family and colleagues would be saying goodbye. Terri and Steve immediately began their life together in Australia with wildlife documentary filming, a beautiful zoo, and later two incredible children and a stack of adventure.

Today, even after losing Steve, Terri considers herself very blessed. "I found my Prince," She says. "And if I had my time again, even knowing it would end, I wouldn't change the 14 amazing years I had with Steve."

Terri is now looking toward the future and continuing Steve's legacy. On November 15, 2009 ("Steve Irwin Day"), as a tribute to her late husband, she officially became an Australian citizen. She is determined to dedicate the rest of her life to Bindi, Robert, and her husband's battle for conservation. Like Steve, Terri is truly a Wildlife Warrior.

Brother: Robert Irwin

Steve and Terri's second child, Robert Clarence Irwin, was born on Monday, December 1, 2003 (current age: 7). Robert, or 'Bob' as they call him, was a gorgeous 7 pound 4 ounce baby boy. In Robert's short journey so far he has become a great younger brother for Bindi and a fascination to all the Australia Zoo crew. He and Bindi celebrate their birthdays every year at the Zoo and draw in thousands of people from all over the world to the Queensland. Robert also traveled around the world during his father's lifetime while he filmed wildlife documentaries, and now travels to promote Bindi's work and to promote conservation. As of 2010, Robert is learning to feed and care for Australia Zoo's animals and is expected to become an official staff member in the near future, like his big sister Bindi did on her ninth birthday in 2007.

Grandfather: Bob Irwin

Bob Irwin (born c.1939 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), is an Australian naturalist, animal conservationist, and a pioneering herpetologist who is also famous for his conservation and husbandry work with apex predators and other reptiles. He is the father of Steve Irwin and founder of the Beerwah Reptile Park, now the Australia Zoo.
Irwin was a successful plumber from Melbourne who, in addition, had also spent time building sheds and houses. Bob Irwin's career in animal conservation officially began in 1970, when Irwin moved his family from Essendon, located west of Melbourne, Australia, to Queensland.
Irwin had decided to turn his love for animals from a hobby into a career and purchased 4 acres (16,000 m2) of land to construct a wildlife refuge. As a builder, Irwin personally turned his hand to building and designing the Beerwah Reptile Park. Irwin dedicated so much time to constructing the Reptile Park and the enclosures that, for the first years in their new life of exhibiting native fauna, the Irwins lived in an old RV caravan. Irwin would build a shed, and then the Irwin house, which the Irwin family and Bob Irwin inhabit to this day.
Irwin's foresight and innovation in captive care, breeding, and handling of native Australian animals set a new benchmark for wildlife welfare in Australia. Irwin was noted in the conservation sector for utilizing non-violent capture techniques which were then largely unemployed, such as proximity lassoing, hooding, trapping, and netting instead of the more common tranquilizers, chains, or other potentially harmful methods. Irwin would also come to strike bargains with the government, catching problematic or intruding crocodiles in Queensland and in return bringing them to the Reptile Park. Irwin, later aided by son Steve, personally caught and raised every crocodile in the Reptile Park, ultimately tallying over 100 crocodiles.