The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

"Millie," costumed character mascot of the Brampton Arts Council

Boomer Beaver, mascot of the American Minor League Baseball team the Portland Beavers, pointing wildly to the camera.

Chief Osceola and Renegade the official symbols of Florida State University.

A tired costumed character taking a break. It is traditional to avoid showing the unmasked faces of performers.^{[citation needed]}

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck^[1] – colloquially (informally) includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, representative spokespeople for consumer products, such as the rabbit used in advertising and marketing for the General Mills brand of breakfast cereal, Trix.

In the world of sports, mascots are also used for merchandising. Team mascots are often confused with team nicknames.^[2] While the two can be interchangeable, they are not always the same. For example, the athletic teams of the University of Alabama are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, while their mascot is an elephant named Big Al. Team mascots may take the form of a logo, person, live animal, inanimate object, or a costumed character, and often appear at team matches and other related events, sports mascots are often used as marketing tools for their teams to children. Since the mid-20th century, costumed characters have provided teams with an opportunity to choose a fantasy creature as their mascot, as is the case with the Philadelphia Phillies' mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.

Costumed mascots are commonplace, and are regularly used as goodwill ambassadors in the community for their team, company, or organization such as the U.S. Forest Service's Smokey Bear.

[edit] Etymology

The word mascot has been traced back to a dialectic use in Provence and Gascony, where it was used to describe anything which brought luck to a household.^[3] The suggestion that the word is derived from masqu (meaning "masked" or "concealed"), the Provincial French for a child born with a caul, in allusion to the lucky destiny of such children, is improbable.

The word was first popularized in 1880, when French composer Edmond Audran wrote a popular comic operetta titled La Mascotte. However, it had been in use in France long before this, as French slang among gamblers, derived from the Occitan word masco, meaning "witch" (perhaps from Portuguese mascotto, meaning "witchcraft"), and also mascoto, meaning "spell."

Audran's operetta was so popular that it was translated into English as The Mascot, introducing into the English language a word for any animal, person, or object that brings good luck. The word with this definition was then incorporated into many other languages, although often in the French form mascotte.

[edit] Choices and identities

This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (March 2009)

Often the choice of mascot reflects a desired quality; a common example of this is the "fighting spirit," in which a competitive nature is personified by warriors or predatory animals.

Mascots may also symbolize a local or regional trait, such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers' mascot, Herbie Husker: a stylized version of a farmer, owing to the agricultural traditions of the area in which the university is located.

In the United States, controversy^[4] surrounds some mascot choices, especially those using human likenesses. Mascots based on Native American tribes are particularly contentious, as many argue that they constitute offensive exploitations of an oppressed culture.^[5]

Some sports teams have "unofficial" mascots: individual supporters or fans that have become identified with the team. The New York Yankees have such an individual in fan Freddy Sez. Former Toronto Blue Jays mascot BJ Birdie was a costumed character created by a Blue Jays fan, ultimately hired by the team to perform at their home games. USC Trojans mascot is Tommy Trojan who rides on his horse (and the official mascot of the school) Traveler.

[edit] Sports mascots

See also: Lists of sports mascots: Australian sports, Brazilian football, MLB, NFL, NHL, Olympics and Paralympics, U.S. colleges (post-secondary)

See also: Native American mascot controversy, List of sports team names and mascots derived from indigenous peoples

See also: Religious symbolism in U.S. sports team names and mascots

One of the earliest sports mascots was for the Chicago Cubs, in 1908.^[6]

In Britain, some teams have young fans become "mascots". These representatives sometimes have medical issues, and the appearance is a wish grant,^[7] the winner of a contest,^[8] or under other circumstances. Unlike the anonymous performers of costumed characters, however, their actions can be associated with the club later on.^[9]

[edit] Military mascots

The goat mascot and Goat Major of the Royal Regiment of Wales.

Mascots are also popular in military units. For example, the United States Marine Corps uses the bald eagle as a formal emblem; the bulldog is also popularly associated with the U.S. Marines.

The goat in the Royal Welsh is officially not a mascot but a ranking soldier. Lance Corporal William Windsor retired on 20 May 2009, and a replacement is expected in June.^[10] Many regiments of the British Army have a live animal mascot which may appear on parades, including a ram for the 95th Derbyshire Regiment, an Irish Wolfhound for the Irish Guards, a Shetland pony for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and a goat for the Royal Regiment of Wales. Other British military mascots include a pair of drum horses, an antelope, and a ferret.

The Norwegian Royal Guard adopted a King Penguin named Nils Olav as its mascot on the occasion of a visit to Edinburgh by its regimental band. The (very large) penguin remains resident at Edinburgh Zoo and has been formally promoted by one rank on the occasion of each subsequent visit to Britain by the band or other detachments of the Guard. Regimental Sergeant Major Olav was awarded the Norwegian Army's Long Service and Good Conduct medal at a ceremony in 2005.

[edit] NASA mascots

Camilla Corona SDO is the mission mascot for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and assists the mission with Education and Public Outreach (EPO).

[edit] Mascots in music

Some bands, particularly in the Heavy Metal genre use band mascots to promote their music. The mascots are usually found on album covers or merchandise such as band T-shirts, but can also make appearances in live shows or music videos. A famous example of a band mascot is Eddie the Head of the English Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden. Eddie is a zombie-like creature which is personified in different forms on all of the band's albums, most of its singles and some of its promotional merchandise. Eddie is also known to make live appearances, especially during the song Iron Maiden. Another notable example of a mascot in music is Skeleton Sam of [The Grateful Dead].

[edit] See also

• Car mascot
• Fursuit
• List of mascots (college, computing, commercial, sports, public-service, television and movie, computer and video games, political parties)
• Mascot Hall of Fame
• National emblem, National personification, National animals
• Totem

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mascots

• List of Free and Open Source software mascots

Vladislav Starevich

Vladislav Starevich (August 8, 1882 - February 26, 1965), born Władysław Starewicz (Russian: Владисла́в Алекса́ндрович Старе́вич), was a Russian and French stop-motion animator who used insects and other animals as his protagonists. (His name can also be spelled Starevitch, Starewich and Starewitch.)

[edit] Early career

Scene from The Cameraman's Revenge (1911)

Władysław Starewicz was born in Moscow, Russia to Polish parents (father Aleksander Starewicz from Surviliškis near Kėdainiai and mother Antonina Legęcka from Kaunas, both from "neighbourhood nobility", in hiding after the failed Insurrection of 1863 against the Tsarist Russian domination), and had lived in Lithuania which at that time was a part of the Russian Empire. The boy was raised by his grandmother in Kaunas, then a capital of Kovno Governorate. He attended Gymnasium in Dorpat (today Tartu, Estonia).

Starewicz had interests in a number of different areas; by 1910 he was named Director of the Museum of Natural History in Kovno, Lithuania. There he made four short live-action documentaries for the museum. For the fifth film, Starewicz wished to record the battle of two stag beetles, but was stymied by the fact that the nocturnal creatures inevitably went to sleep whenever the stage lighting was turned on. Inspired by a viewing of Les allumettes animées [Animated Matches] (1908) by Émile Cohl, Starewicz decided to re-create the fight through stop-motion animation: by replacing the beetles' legs with wire, attached with sealing wax to their thorax, he is able to create articulated insect puppets. The result was the short film Lucanus Cervus (1910), apparently the first animated puppet film with a plot and the natal hour of Russian animation.

In 1911, Starewicz moved to Moscow and began work with the film company of Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. There he made two dozen films, most of them puppet animations using dead animals. Of these, The Beautiful Leukanida (premiere - 1912), a fairy tale for beetles, earned international acclaim (one British reviewer was tricked into thinking the stars were live trained insects), while The Grasshopper and the Ant (1911) got Starewicz decorated by the czar. But the best-known film of this period, perhaps of his entire career, was Mest' kinematograficheskogo operatora (Revenge of the Kinematograph Cameraman, aka The Cameraman's Revenge) (1912), a cynical work about infidelity and jealousy among the insects. Some of the films made for Khanzhonkov feature live-action/animation interaction. In some cases, the live action consisted of footage of Starewicz's daughter Irina. Particularly worthy of note is Starevich's 41-minute 1913 film The Night Before Christmas, an adaptation of the Nikolai Gogol story of the same name. The 1913 film Terrible Vengeance won the Gold Medal at an international festival in Milan in 1914, being just one of five films which won awards among 1005 contestants. [1]

During World War I, Starewicz worked for several film companies, directing 60 live-action features, some of which were fairly successful. After the October Revolution of 1917, the film community largely sided with the White Army and moved from Moscow to Yalta on the Black Sea. After a brief stay, Starewicz and his family fled before the Red Army could capture the Crimea, stopping in Italy for a while before joining the Russian émigrés in Paris. There, they formed a company in the remains of Georges Méliès' old studio. At this time, Władysław Starewicz changed his name to Ladislas Starevich, easier to pronounce in French. He made one animated film for this studio, The Scarecrow, before the operation was wound up, with most of the Russians joining the Berlin or Hollywood studios.

[edit] After World War I

Wishing to remain independent, Starevich moved to Fontenay-sous-Bois and started on a series of puppet films that would last for the rest of his life. In these films he was assisted first by his wife France Starevich and later by his daughter Irina (who had changed her name to Irène). The first of these films was Les Grenouilles qui demandent un roi (The Frogs That Demand a King, aka Frogland [US]) (1922), probably the closest Starevich ever came to political commentary in his French films. Following Aesop's fable of the frogs who demand a king from the god Jupiter and are disappointed by the results, the film shows a clear preference not for the pre-monarchial or decadent democracy (which would likely be the slant of an American or French film), but for King Log's form of libertarian government.

During the years at Fontenay-sous-Bois, the Stareviches made two dozen films. Among the most notable are La Voix du rossignol (The Voice of the Nightingale) (1923), a hand-tinted film (some sources say Prizmacolor) starring the young "Nina Starr" (Janina Starevich) and the naturalistic nightingale who convinces her to free him, and Fétiche Mascotte (Duffy the Mascot, aka The Mascot, aka Puppet Love, aka The Devil's Ball) (1934), a long and strange story about a loving dog puppet who practically goes through Hell to get an orange to a girl dying of scurvy, selected by Terry Gilliam as one of the ten best animated films of all time.^[1] La Voix du rossignol was awarded the Hugo Riesenfeld Medal for being the "most novel short subject motion picture in the USA during the year 1925".

Often mentioned as being among his best work, The Tale of the Fox (French: Le Roman de Renard, German: Reinicke Fuchs) was also his first animated feature. Although most of the production took place in Paris from 1929–1931, it was finally released in Berlin in 1937 and in France in 1941. It was the third animated feature film to have sound, after Quirino Cristiani's Peludópolis (1931) and The New Gulliver (1935) from the Soviet Union.

Starevich introduced sound and color into his puppet films as soon as they became available. He kept every puppet he made, so stars in one film tended to turn up as supporting characters in later works (the frogs from Grenouilles qui demandent un roi are the oldest of these).

Vladislav Starevich died on 26 February 1965, while working on Comme chien et chat (Like Dog and Cat). It was left unfinished out of respect. He was one of the few European animators to be known by name in America before the 1960s, largely on account of La Voix du rossignol and Fétiche Mascotte (The Tale of the Fox was not widely distributed in the US). His Russian films were known for their dark humor, probably an inevitable consequence of the choice of dead beetles and grasshoppers as subjects. Once he switched to using more ordinary puppets for his French films, his work became more lyrical. However, the fact that he was working independently had the negative effect that the films are sometimes considered too long, too lyrical, and too uncommercial. The films are united, however, by their wild imagination.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Films directed in Kaunas, Lithuania (1909–1910)

(with original titles in Polish)

• Nad Niemnem (1909) - Beyond the River Nemunas
• Zycie Ważek (1909) - The Life of the Dragonfly
• Walka żuków (1909) - The Battle of the Stag Beetles
• Piękna Lukanida (1910) - The Beautiful Lukanida (the first puppet animation film)

These films are currently considered lost.

[edit] Films directed in Russia (1911-1918)

(with original titles in Russian)

• Miest Kinomatograficheskovo Operatora (1911) - The Cameraman’s Revenge
• Rozhdyestvo Obitatelei Lyesa (1911) - The Insects' Christmas
• Strekoza I Muravei (1911) - The Ant and the Grasshopper
• Aviacionnaya Nedelya Nasekomykh (1912) - Insects' Aviation Week
• Strashnaia Myest (1912) - The Terrible Vengeance
• Noch' Pered Rozhdestvom (1912) - The Night Before Christmas
• Veselye Scenki Iz Zhizni Zhivotnykh (1912) - Amusing Scenes from the Life of Insects
• Puteshestvie Na Lunu (1912) - A Journey to the Moon
• Ruslan I Ludmilla. (1913) - Ruslan and Ludmilla
• Snegurochka. (1914) - The Snow Maiden
• Pasynok Marsa (1914) - Mars’s Stepson
• Kayser-Gogiel-Mogiel (1914) - Gogel-Mogel General
• Troika (1914) - Troika
• Fleurs Fanees 1914 - Faded Flowers
• Le Chant Du Bagnard (1915) - The Convict's Song
• Portret (1915) - (May Be Produced By The Skobeliew Committee) - The Portrait
• Liliya Bel'gii (1915) - The Lily of Belgium
• Eto Tyebye Prinadlezhit (1915) - It’s Fine for You
• Eros I Psyche (1915) - Eros and Psyche
• Dvye Vstryechi (1916) - Two Meetings
• Le Faune En Laisse (1916) - The Chained Faun
• O Chom Shumielo Morie (1916) - The Murmuring Sea
• Taman (1916) - Taman
• Na Varshavskom Trakte (1916) - On the Warsaw Highway
• Pan Twardowski (1917) - Mister Twardowski
• Sashka-Naezdnik (1917) - Sashka the Horseman
• K Narodnoi Vlasti (1917) - Towards People’s Power
• Kaliostro (1918) - Cagliostro
• Yola (1918) - Iola
• Wij (1918) - Vij
• Sorotchinskaia Yarmaka (1918) - The Sorotchninsk Fair
• Maiskaya Noch (1918) - May Night
• Stella Maris (1918) - Starfish

[edit] Films directed in France (1920–1965)

(with original titles in French)

• Dans les Griffes de L'araignee (1920) - In The Claws of the Spider
• Le Mariage de Babylas (1921) - Babylas’s Marriage
• L'epouvantail (1921) - The Scarecrow
• Les Grenouilles qui Demandent un Roi (1922) - Frogland
• La Voix du Rossignol (1923) - The Voice of the Nightingale
• Amour Noir et Blanc (1923) - Love In Black and White
• La Petite Chanteuse des Rues (1924) - The Little Street Singer
• Les Yeux du Dragon (1925) - The Eyes of the Dragon
• Le Rat de Ville et le Rat Des Champs - (1926) The Town Rat and the Country Rat
• La Cigale et la Fourmi (1927) - The Ant and the Grasshopper
• La Reine des Papillons (1927) - The Queen of the Butterflies
• L'horloge Magique (1928) - The Magic Clock
• La Petite Parade (1928) - The Little Parade
• Le Lion et le Moucheron (1932) - The Lion and the Fly
• Le Lion Devenu Vieux (1932) - The Old Lion
• Fetiche Mascotte (1933) - The Mascot
• Fetiche Prestidigitateur (1934) - The Ringmaster
• Fetiche se Marie (1935) - The Mascot’s Marriage
• Fetiche en Voyage De Noces (1936) - The Navigator
• Fetiche Chez les Sirenes (1937) - The Mascot and the Mermaids
• Le Roman de Renard (1930–1939) - The Tale of the Fox
• Zanzabelle a Paris (1947) - Zanzabelle in Paris
• Fleur de Fougere (1949) - Fern Flowers
• Gazouilly Petit Oiseau. (1953) - Little Bird Gazouilly
• Gueule de Bois (1954) - Hangover
• Un Dimanche de Gazouilly (1955) - Gazouilly’s Sunday Picnic
• Nez au Vent (1956) - Nose to the Wind
• Carrousel Boreal (1958) - Winter Carousel
• Comme Chien et Chat (1965) - Like Dog and Cat

A documentary about Starevich was made in 2008.

[edit] References

1. ^ Gilliam, Terry (April 27, 2001). "Terry Gilliam Picks the Ten Best Animated Films of All Time". The Guardian. http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,479022,00.html. 

• Donald Crafton; Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898-1928; University of Chicago Press; ISBN 0-226-11667-0 (2nd edition, paperback, 1993)
• Giannalberto Bendazzi (Anna Taraboletti-Segre, translator); Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation; Indiana University Press; ISBN 0-253-20937-4 (reprint, paperback, 2001)
• Liner notes to the DVD The Cameraman's Revenge and Other Fantastic Tales

[edit] External links

• www.afterpartiesdays.com The website of the movie "After Parties Days Are Ending Too", winner 2009 of the Ladislas Starewitch Award (5mn30) and directed by a French young director, Lou BEAUCHARD- Best Film of Animation 2010/ Columbia Gorge International Film Festival (Vancouver/Oregon)
• The Cameraman's Revenge can be viewed at the Internet Archive
• Fétiche Mascotte (1934) at the Internet Archive
• Ladislas Starewich Biography - part of "Animation Heaven and Hell", by Tim Fitzpatrick. Website also includes a few video clips.
• Tribute to Starewitch - made by his granddaughter
• Ladislas Starevich at the Internet Movie Database
• Entomology and Animation: A Portrait of an Early Master Ladislaw Starewicz (May 2000 6-page article from Animation World Magazine)
• Starevich at UbuWeb (view some of his early films)
• (Spanish) Biography (with many pictures)
• Irene Starevich at IMDB
• creative documentary "The Bug Trainer" about L. Starewitch

Judson Laipply
Laipply at Blog World Expo 2008
Born	1976 (age 35–36)
Residence	Lakewood, Ohio[1]
Nationality	American
Other names	Jud Laipply
Years active	2006–present
Known for	Motivational speaking, Comedy, Dance
Notable work(s)	Evolution of Dance (video)[2] Evolution of Dance 2 (video)[3] Might as Well Dance (book)[4]
Website
TheEvolutionOfDance.com MightAsWellDance.com

Judson Laipply (born 1976) is an American motivational speaker and dancer from Bucyrus, Ohio.^[5] He is best known for his performance in the Evolution of Dance viral video clip.^[6] He has worked as a public speaker since 2000.^[1]

[edit] The Evolution of Dance

Laipply first performed "The Evolution of Dance" in March 2001, at which time it consisted of 12 popular dance songs. In 2006, he uploaded a video of the six-minute performance to YouTube. The clip received 70 million views in under 8 months.^[7] It was rated on YouTube as:^[8]

• #1 Most Viewed All Time Video on YouTube.com
• #1 Top Rated Video on YouTube.com
• #3 Most Discussed Video on YouTube.com

[edit] Songs in Evolution of Dance

[edit] Evolution of Dance 2

The Evolution of Dance 2 video was released in January 2009.^[3]

[edit] Evolution of Dance 3

This was announced by Judson on June 16, 2010.^[11] He stated that it was in its early stages and that it was too early to give any details. In a YouTube comment he claimed he was trying to incorporate much older music and possibly include a second dancer. In a talk given at TASC (April 2nd) he displayed his new dance. It contains new tracks such as LMFAO's "I'm sexy and I know it" and "Party Rock anthem" as well as other dances such as the "Stanky leg".

[edit] Popular culture

In December 2007, Judson appeared in an advert on the BBC for the 'dance season' during the Christmas Holidays.^[12] "Evolution of Dance" was #1 on the show Rude Tube hosted by Alex Zane and Laipply was interviewed on the show. Judson was also featured in the music video for Weezer's song "Pork and Beans" along with several other Internet celebrities.

In February 2010 the video was used as a question reference on the game show Jeopardy! in the 2010 college championships. In "The Delivery" episode of The Office, Andy Bernard does the dance sans music as a pregnancy distraction for Pam. In 2011 Judson also appeared on Tosh.0, hosted by Daniel Tosh.

He did another video, called "The Evolution of the Touchdown Dance", which included memorable NFL touchdown dances, like "The Ickey Shuffle", Joe Horn's cell phone celebration, and famous celebrations from Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• YouTube page
• Evolution of Dance video, and Judson interviewed for StayTunedTV.tv
• Evolution of Dance on VidTaggr - The Evolution of Dance video labeled with song titles.

Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin in Australia, 2005
Born	Stephen Robert Irwin 22 February 1962(1962-02-22) Essendon, Victoria
Died	4 September 2006(2006-09-04) (aged 44) Batt Reef, Queensland
Cause of death	Stingray accident
Nationality	Australian
Other names	The Crocodile Hunter
Occupation	Naturalist Zoologist Conservationist Television personality Herpetologist
Years active	1997–2006
Notable work(s)	The Crocodile Hunter
Spouse	Terri Irwin (m. 1992–2006) «start: (1992)–end+1: (2007)»"Marriage: Terri Irwin to Steve Irwin" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.db.wn.com/index.php/Steve_Irwin)
Children	Bindi Sue Irwin (b. 1998) Robert Clarence Irwin (b. 2003)
Website
Australia Zoo

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006), nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian wildlife expert,^[1][2] television personality, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted with his wife Terri. Together, the couple also owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwin's parents in Beerwah, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the Queensland state capital city of Brisbane. Irwin died on 4 September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary film titled Ocean's Deadliest. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship MY Steve Irwin was named in his honour.

[edit] Early life

Irwin was born on his mother's birthday to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria.^[3] He moved with his parents as a child to Queensland in 1970, where he attended Landsborough State School and Caloundra State High School.^[4] Irwin described his father as a wildlife expert interested in herpetology, while his mother Lyn was a wildlife rehabilitator. After moving to Queensland, Bob and Lyn Irwin started the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Steve grew up around crocodiles and other reptiles.

Irwin became involved with the park in a number of ways, including taking part in daily animal feeding, as well as care and maintenance activities. On his sixth birthday he was given a 12-foot (4 m) scrub python. He began handling crocodiles at the age of nine after his father had educated him on reptiles from an early age.^[5] Also at age nine he wrestled his first crocodile, again under his father's supervision.^[6] He worked as a volunteer for Queensland's East Coast Crocodile Management program and captured over 100 crocodiles, some of which were relocated, while others were housed at the family park.^[7] Irwin took over the management of the park in 1991^[7] and renamed it Australia Zoo in 1992.^[8]

[edit] Career

[edit] Marriage and family

Terri Raines Irwin, the wife of Steve Irwin

In 1991, Irwin met Terri Raines, an American naturalist from Eugene, Oregon who was visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Australia and had decided to visit the zoo. According to the couple, it was love at first sight. Terri said at the time, "I thought there was no one like this anywhere in the world. He sounded like an environmental Tarzan, a larger-than-life superhero guy."^[9] They were engaged four months later and were married in Eugene on 4 June 1992. Together they had two children: a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin (born 24 July 1998), and a son, Robert Clarence "Bob" (named after Irwin's father) Irwin (born 1 December 2003). Bindi Sue is jointly named after two of Steve Irwin's favourite animals: Bindi, a saltwater crocodile, and Sui, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier who died on 23 June 2004. Irwin was as enthusiastic about his family as he was about his work. He once described his daughter Bindi as "the reason [he] was put on the Earth." His wife once said, "The only thing that could ever keep him away from the animals he loves are the people he loves even more."^[3] Although the Irwins were happily married, they did not wear wedding rings; they believed that in their line of work, wearing jewellery could pose a hazard to them and/or the animals.^[10]

[edit] The Crocodile Hunter and related work

Irwin feeding a crocodile at Australia Zoo

Steve and Terri spent their honeymoon trapping crocodiles together. Film footage of their honeymoon, taken by John Stainton, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. The series debuted on Australian TV screens in 1996, and made its way onto North American television the following year. The Crocodile Hunter became successful in the United States, the UK,^[11] and over 130 other countries, reaching 500 million people. Irwin's exuberant and enthusiastic presenting style, broad Australian accent, signature khaki shorts, and catchphrase "Crikey!" became known worldwide.^[12] Sir David Attenborough praised Irwin for introducing many to the natural world, saying "He taught them how wonderful and exciting it was, he was a born communicator."^[13]

American satellite and cable television channel Animal Planet ended The Crocodile Hunter with a series finale titled "Steve's Last Adventure." The last Crocodile Hunter documentary spanned three hours with footage of Irwin's across-the-world adventure in locations including the Himalayas, the Yangtze River, Borneo, and the Kruger National Park. Irwin went on to star in other Animal Planet documentaries, including Croc Files,^[14] The Crocodile Hunter Diaries,^[15] and New Breed Vets.^[16] During a January 2006 interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Irwin announced that Discovery Kids would be developing a show for his daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin^[17] – a plan realised after his death as the series Bindi the Jungle Girl.^[18]

[edit] Other television and film work

In 1998, Irwin continued, working with director Mark Strickson, to present The Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World.^[19] He appeared on several episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.^[20][21] A 2000 FedEx commercial with Irwin lightheartedly dealt with the possibility of occupational death from snakebite and the fanciful notion that FedEx would have saved him, if only FedEx were used.^[22]

Under Irwin's leadership, the operations grew to include the zoo, the television series, the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation (later renamed Wildlife Warriors), and the International Crocodile Rescue. Improvements to the Australia Zoo include the Animal Planet Crocoseum, the rainforest aviary and Tiger Temple. Irwin mentioned that he was considering opening an Australia Zoo in Las Vegas, Nevada, and possibly at other sites around the world.^[3]

In 2001, Irwin appeared in a cameo role in the Eddie Murphy film Dr. Dolittle 2, in which a crocodile warns Dolittle that he knows Irwin is going to grab him and is prepared to attack when he does, but Dolittle fails to warn Irwin in time. Irwin's only starring feature film role was in 2002's The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, which was released to mixed reviews. In the film Irwin (who portrayed himself and performed numerous stunts) mistakes some CIA agents for poachers. He sets out to stop them from capturing a crocodile, which, unknown to him, has actually swallowed a tracking transmitter. The film won the Best Family Feature Film award for a comedy film at the Young Artist Awards. The film was produced on a budget of about US$12 million, and has grossed $33 million.^[23] To promote the film, Irwin was featured in an animated short produced by Animax Entertainment for Intermix.^[24]

In 2002, Irwin and his family appeared in the Wiggles video/DVD release Wiggly Safari, which was set in Australia Zoo and featured singing and dancing inspired by Australian wildlife.^[25]

Pacific National locomotive NR75 named Steve Irwin

In 2003, Irwin fronted an advertising campaign for The Ghan, a passenger train operating between Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Darwin.^[26] A Pacific National NR class locomotive was named Steve Irwin as part of the campaign.

In 2006, Irwin provided his voice for the 2006 animated film Happy Feet, as an elephant seal named Trev. The film was dedicated to Irwin, as he died during post-production.^[27] Another, previously incomplete scene, featuring Irwin providing the voice of an albatross and essentially playing himself, was restored to the DVD release.^[28]

[edit] Media campaigns

Irwin was also involved in several media campaigns. He enthusiastically joined with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service to promote Australia's strict quarantine/customs requirements, with advertisements and posters featuring slogans such as, "Quarantine Matters! Don't muck with it". His payments for these advertising campaigns were directed into his wildlife fund.^[29]

In 2004, Irwin was appointed ambassador for The Ghan, the passenger train running from Adelaide to Alice Springs in the central Australian outback, when the line was extended all the way to Darwin on the northern coast that year. For some time he was sponsored by Toyota.^[30]

Irwin was a keen promoter for Australian tourism in general and Queensland tourism in particular. In 2002, the Australia Zoo was voted Queensland's top tourist attraction.^[31] His immense popularity in the United States meant he often promoted Australia as a tourist destination there.^[32] As a part of the United States' "Australia Week" celebrations in January 2006, Irwin appeared at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.^[33]

[edit] Search and rescue in Mexico

In November 2003, Irwin was filming a documentary on sea lions off the coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula when he heard via his boat's radio that two scuba divers were reported missing in the area. Irwin and his entire crew suspended operations to aid in the search. His team's divers searched with the rescue divers, and Irwin used his vessel to patrol the waters around the island where the incident occurred, as well as using his satellite communications system to call in a rescue plane. On the second day of the search, kayakers found one of the divers, Scott Jones, perched on a narrow rock ledge jutting out from the side of a cliff. Irwin and a crewmember escorted him to Irwin's boat. Jones did not recognise Irwin. The other lost diver, Katie Vrooman, was found dead by a search plane later the same day not far from Jones' location.^[34]

[edit] Honours

In 1997, while on a fishing trip on the coast of Queensland with his father, Irwin discovered a new species of turtle. Later given the honour of naming the newly discovered species, he named it Irwin's turtle (Elseya irwini) after his family.^[35] Another newly discovered Australian animal – a species of air-breathing land snail, Crikey steveirwini, was named after Irwin in 2009.^[36]

In 2001, Irwin was awarded the Centenary Medal by the Australian government for his "service to global conservation and to Australian tourism".^[37] In 2004, he was recognised as Tourism Export of the Year.^[38] He was also nominated in 2004 for Australian of the Year^[39] – an honour which was won that year by Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh.^[40] Shortly before his death, Irwin was to be named an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland's School of Integrative Biology. On 14 November 2007, Irwin was awarded the adjunct professorship posthumously.^[1]

In May 2007, the government of Rwanda announced that it would name a baby gorilla after Irwin as a tribute to his work in wildlife conservation.^[41] Also in 2007, the state government of Kerala, India named the Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research Centre at Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary in his honour;^[42] however, Terri objected that this action had been taken without her permission and asked the Kerala government in 2009 to stop using Irwin's name and images^[43] – a request which the state government complied with in mid-2009.^[44]

[edit] Environmentalism

Irwin was a passionate conservationist and believed in promoting environmentalism by sharing his excitement about the natural world rather than preaching to people. He was concerned with conservation of endangered animals and land clearing leading to loss of habitat. He considered conservation to be the most important part of his work: "I consider myself a wildlife warrior. My mission is to save the world's endangered species."^[31] Irwin bought "large tracts of land" in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the United States, which he described as "like national parks" and stressed the importance of people realising that they could each make a difference.^[45]

Irwin founded the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, which became an independent charity and was later renamed "Wildlife Warriors Worldwide".^[46] He also helped found International Crocodile Rescue,^[47] the Lyn Irwin Memorial Fund (named in memory of his mother, who died in an automobile crash in 2000),^[48] and the Iron Bark Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Facility.^[49]

Irwin urged people to take part in considerate tourism and not support illegal poaching through the purchase of items such as turtle shells or shark-fin soup.^[50]

Sir David Attenborough was an inspiration to Irwin, according to his widow. When presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to Attenborough after Irwin's death at the British National Television Awards on 31 October 2006, Terri Irwin said, "If there's one person who directly inspired my husband it's the person being honoured tonight.... [Steve's] real, true love was conservation – and the influence of tonight's recipient in preserving the natural world has been immense."^[51] Attenborough reciprocated by praising Irwin for introducing many to the natural world, saying, "He taught them how wonderful and exciting it was, he was a born communicator."^[13]

Irwin, after his death, was described by Mark Townend, CEO of RSPCA Queensland, as a "modern-day Noah."^[52] British naturalist David Bellamy lauded his skills as a natural historian and media performer.^[53] Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki paid tribute to Irwin, noting that "[h]umanity will not protect that which we fear or do not understand. Steve Irwin helped us understand those things that many people thought were a nuisance at best, a horror at worst. That made him a great educator and conservationist."^[54]

After his death, the vessel MV Robert Hunter owned by the environmental action group Sea Shepherd was renamed MY Steve Irwin.^[55] Shortly before his death, Irwin had been investigating joining Sea Shepherd's 2007–2008 voyage to Antarctica to disrupt Japanese whaling activity. Following his death, the organisation suggested renaming their vessel, and this idea was endorsed by Terri Irwin.^[56] Regarding the ship and its new name, Terri said, "If Steve were alive, he'd be aboard with them!"^[57]

[edit] Sporting activities

Irwin loved mixed martial arts competitions and trained with Greg Jackson in the fighting/grappling system of Gaidojutsu.^[58]

Like many Australians, he was an avid cricket fan. This was seen during his visit to Sri Lanka where he played cricket with some local children and said "I love cricket" and "It's a shame we have to go catch some snakes now". This was seen during the Crocodile Hunter episode “Island of the Snakes".^[59]

Having grown up in Essendon, Irwin was a fan of the Essendon Bombers, an Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League.^[60] Irwin took part in an Australian Rules football promotion in Los Angeles as part of "Australia Week" in early 2006.^[61] After his death, a picture of Irwin wearing a Bombers Guernsey was shown by ESPN.com in their Bottom 10 ranking of the worst Division I FBS college football teams after Week 1 of the season in tribute to him.^[62]

Having lived in Queensland most of his life, Irwin was also a fan of rugby league. As a teenager, he played for the Caloundra Sharks as a second-rower,^[63] and as an adult he was known to be a passionate Brisbane Broncos fan and was involved with the club on several occasions. On one occasion after turning up to training he asked if he could tackle the largest player, Shane Webcke. Despite being thrown to the ground and looking like he'd been crushed he was jovial about the experience. Irwin laughingly shared the experience with the Queensland State of Origin squad before the 2006 series.^[64] Irwin also supported rugby union, being a fan of the national team, the Wallabies. He once wore a Wallaby jersey during a demonstration at the zoo. A behind-the-scenes episode of The Crocodile Hunter showed Irwin and the crew finding a petrol station in a remote part of Namibia to watch the Wallabies defeat France in the 1999 Rugby World Cup Final. Irwin was also a talented surfer.^[65]

[edit] Controversies

MY Steve Irwin approaching Melbourne in February 2008

A controversial incident occurred during a public show on 2 January 2004, when Irwin carried his one-month-old son, Bob, in his arm while hand-feeding a chicken carcass to Murray, a 3.8-metre (12 ft 6 in) saltwater crocodile. The infant was close to the crocodile, and comparisons were made in the press to Michael Jackson's dangling his son outside a German hotel window.^[66] In addition, child welfare groups, animal rights groups, and some of Irwin's television viewers criticised his actions as irresponsible and tantamount to child abuse.^[67] Irwin apologised on the US NBC Today Show.^[68] Both he and his wife publicly stated that Irwin was in complete control of the situation, as he had dealt with crocodiles since he was a small child, and based on his lifetime of experience neither he nor his son were in any danger. He also showed footage of the event shot from a different angle, demonstrating that they were much further from the crocodile than they had appeared in the publicised clip.^[69] Terri Irwin said their child was in no more danger than one being taught to swim. No charges were filed; according to one journalist, Irwin told officials he would not repeat the action.^[70] The incident prompted the Queensland government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.^[71]

In June 2004, allegations were made that he disturbed wildlife (namely whales, seals and penguins) while filming a documentary, Ice Breaker, in Antarctica. The matter was subsequently closed without charges being laid.^[72]

After questions arose in 2003 about Irwin being paid $175,000 worth of taxpayers' money to appear in a television advertisement and his possible political ties, Irwin told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that he was a conservationist and did not choose sides in politics. His comments describing Australian Prime Minister John Howard as the "greatest leader in the world" earned him scorn in the media.^[73]

Irwin was criticised for having an unsophisticated view of conservation in Australia that seemed more linked to tourism than to the problems Australia faces as a continent. In response to questions of Australia's problems with overgrazing, salinity, and erosion, Irwin responded, "Cows have been on our land for so long that Australia has evolved to handle those big animals." The Sydney Morning Herald concluded with the opinion that his message was confusing and amounted to "eating roos and crocs is bad for tourism, and therefore more cruel than eating other animals".^[74]

[edit] Death

On 4 September 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray spine while snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef, at Batt Reef, which is located off the coast of Port Douglas in north Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi Irwin was hosting^[75] when the ray suddenly turned and lashed out at him with the spine on its tail.^[76]

The events were caught on camera, and a copy of the footage was handed to the Queensland Police.^[77] In an interview with Time, marine documentary filmmaker and former spearfisherman Ben Cropp concluded that Irwin had accidentally boxed the ray in, causing it to attack: "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest.... It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger.... It's a one-in-a-million thing. I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me."^[78]

Initially, when CNN's Larry King interviewed Irwin's colleague John Stainton late on 4 September 2006, Stainton denied the suggestion that Irwin had pulled the spine out of his chest or that he had seen footage of the event, insisting that the anecdote was "absolute rubbish."^[79] However, the following day, when he first described the video to the media, he stated, "Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here [in the chest], and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone."^[77]

It is thought, in the absence of a coroner's report, that a combination of the toxins and the puncture wound from the spine caused Irwin to die of cardiac arrest, with most of the damage being inflicted by tears to arteries or other main blood vessels.^[80] A similar incident in Florida a month later, in which a man survived a stingray barb through the heart, suggested that Irwin's removing the barb might have caused or hastened his death.^[81]

Crew members aboard his boat called the emergency services in the nearest city of Cairns and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to the nearby Low Islets to meet an emergency rescue helicopter. However, despite the best efforts of Irwin's crew, medical staff pronounced him dead when they arrived a short time later.^[75] According to Dr Ed O'Loughlin, who treated Irwin, "it became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries. He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing."^[82] Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns. His wife, Terri Irwin, who was on a walking tour in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania at the time, returned via a private plane from Devonport to the Sunshine Coast with their two children.^[75]

Stainton told CNN's Larry King that, in his opinion, the videotape of Irwin's fatal accident "should be destroyed".^[83] In an interview with Barbara Walters on the American ABC network shortly after Irwin's death, Terri Irwin said she had not seen the film of her husband's deadly encounter with the stingray and that it would not be shown on television.^[84] 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 her family had not seen the video and that it would never be made public.^[85] In an 11 January 2007 interview with Access Hollywood, Terri said that "all footage [had] been destroyed."^[86] Despite these statements, numerous videos and still pictures claiming to be of Irwin's death surfaced on YouTube and other Internet sites.

Production was completed on Ocean's Deadliest, which aired for the first time on the Discovery Channel on 21 January 2007. The documentary was completed with footage shot in the weeks following the accident.^[87] According to Stainton, "Anything to do with the day that he died, that film is not available."^[88] Irwin's death is not mentioned in the film, aside from a still image of him at the end alongside the text "In Memory of Steve Irwin". Terri Irwin reported in 2007 that Steve had an ongoing premonition that he would die before he reached age 40.^[89] She wrote about this in a book about their lives together, Steve and Me.^[90]

[edit] Reaction

News of Irwin's death prompted reactions around the world. Then Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son."^[91] Queensland Premier Peter Beattie commented in a Channel Seven television interview that Irwin would "be remembered as not just a great Queenslander, but a great Australian".^[92] The Australian federal parliament opened on 5 September 2006 with condolence speeches by both Howard, and the Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley. Flags at the Sydney Harbour Bridge were lowered to half mast in honour of Irwin.^[93]

Several Australian news websites went down because of high web traffic, and for the first time, the "top ten" list of most-viewed stories for Fairfax Digital news sites was swept by a single topic.^[94] Talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief.^[95] The television interview show Enough Rope re-broadcast a 2003 interview between Irwin and Andrew Denton on the evening of his death. The Seven Network aired a television memorial show as a tribute to Irwin on 5 September 2006,^[96] as did the Nine Network on 6 September.

The US feed of the Animal Planet cable television channel aired a special tribute to Irwin that started on Monday, 4 September. The tribute continued with the Animal Planet channel showing highlights of Irwin's more than 200 appearances on Discovery Network's shows.^[97] CNN showed a repeat of his 2004 interview on Larry King Live. Late-night talk show host Jay Leno—on whose show Irwin had appeared more than ten times—delivered a tribute describing Irwin as a great ambassador of Australia.^[98] There were also tributes on Live with Regis & Kelly and Barbara Walters' The View.^[98]

Hundreds of people visited Australia Zoo to pay tribute to the deceased entertainer and conservationist. The day after his death, the volume of people coming to pay their respects affected traffic so much that police reduced the speed limit near the zoo and told motorists to expect delays.^[99] BBC reported on 13 September that thousands of fans had been to Australia Zoo since Irwin's death, bringing flowers, candles, stuffed animals and messages of support.^[100] In the weeks after his death, Irwin's conservation foundation, Wildlife Warriors, reported that thousands of people from around the world were offering their support via donations to the conservation group.

Dan Mathews, vice-president of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said it was "no shock at all that Steve Irwin should die provoking a dangerous animal." He added that "Irwin made his career out of antagonising frightened wild animals, that's a very dangerous message to send to children." He also made a comparison with another well known conservationist: "If you compare [Irwin] with a responsible conservationist like Jacques Cousteau, he looks like a cheap reality TV star."^[101][102] The son of Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel Cousteau—also a producer of wildlife documentaries—took issue as well with Irwin's hands-on approach to nature television, saying, "You don't touch nature, you just look at it." Cousteau went on to say that although Irwin's approach "goes very well on television", it would "interfere with nature, jump on animals, grab them, hold them, and have this very, very spectacular, dramatic way of presenting things" which he felt was "very misleading".^[103] Jacques Cousteau's grandson and Jean-Michel's nephew, Philippe Cousteau Jr., however, was working with Irwin on the "Ocean's Deadliest" documentary at the time of the accident and later described him as "a remarkable individual." Describing their project, he said, "I think why Steve was so excited about it that we were looking at these animals that people think of as, you know, dangerous and deadly monsters, and they're not. They all have an important place in the environment and in the world. And that was what his whole message was about."^[104]

[edit] Backlash against stingrays

Fatalities due to stingrays are infrequent and occurrences are not consistently collated,^[105] while there have been several others in Australia. Irwin's death is believed to be the only fatality from a stingray ever captured on film.^[106] In the weeks following Irwin's death, at least ten stingrays were found dead and mutilated, with their tails cut off, on the beaches of Queensland, prompting speculation that they had been killed by fans of Irwin as an act of revenge. However, Bill Turner, chairman of Queensland fishing information service Sunfish, said the claims were ridiculous. "To tie this into what happened with Steve is just ridiculous", he said. "I've been seeing this for the 50 years that I've been fishing." ^[107] Michael Hornby, a friend of Irwin and executive director of his Wildlife Warrior fund, condemned any revenge killings. "We just want to make it very clear that we will not accept and not stand for anyone who's taken a form of retribution. That's the last thing Steve would want", he said.^[108]

[edit] Funeral

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie offered to hold a state funeral for Irwin – an honour also agreed to by Prime Minister Howard. The family decided, however, that such a funeral would not have been appropriate. Irwin's father Bob stated that his son would not have wanted such an honour and would want to be remembered as an "ordinary bloke."^[109] Beattie stated he would honour the decision of the Irwin family regarding their arrangements.

Family and friends held a private funeral service at Caloundra on the afternoon of 9 September.^[110] Irwin was buried in a private ceremony at Australia Zoo on the same day; the grave site is inaccessible to the zoo's visitors.^[100]

[edit] Public memorial service

A public service was held at the 5,500-seat Crocoseum at Australia Zoo on 20 September. The service was broadcast live, commercial free, in the eastern states of Australia, by free-to-air channels Seven, Nine and the ABC in Australia, as well as live on subscription channel Sky News Australia. In addition, it was broadcast live and without commercials on Animal Planet in the United States, as well as to Germany, the UK, and Asia. It is estimated that over 300 million viewers worldwide watched the service.^[111] The memorial was also rebroadcast in the US on Animal Planet on 1 January 2007, as part of their New Year's Day celebration, and again the following day.

The "Crocoseum" at Australia Zoo, where Steve Irwin's memorial service was held.

The memorial included a speech by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, as well as messages by celebrities from Australia and around the world including Hugh Jackman, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, David Wenham, Kelly Ripa and Larry King. Costner called Irwin a fearless man who was brave enough to let people see him as he was.^[112] Irwin's father, Bob Irwin, spoke at the memorial, as did his daughter Bindi and associates Wes Mannion and John Stainton.^[112] Anthony Field of The Wiggles partly hosted the service, often sharing the screen with various animals, from koalas to elephants. Australian music star John Williamson sang True Blue, which was Irwin's favourite song. In a symbolic finish to the service, Irwin's truck was loaded up with gear and driven out of the arena for the last time as Williamson sang. As a final tribute, Australia Zoo staff spelled out Irwin's catchphrase "Crikey" in yellow flowers as Irwin's truck was driven from the Crocoseum for the last time to end the service.

[edit] Other memorials

Flags on the Sydney Harbour Bridge flew at half mast on the day of the memorial service,^[93] and several permanent memorials for Irwin have been considered or announced since his death. Premier Peter Beattie suggested a national park be named after Irwin or a permanent memorial might be constructed in his honour, though the details of the structure would depend on Irwin's family.^[99] On 1 January 2007, Glass House Mountains Road, the road that runs by the Australia Zoo, was officially renamed Steve Irwin Way.^[113] The Australian government announced in July 2007 that there would be a nature park in Australia named after Irwin.^[114]

Animal Planet announced it would rename the garden in front of Discovery Communications' world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland to be the Steve Irwin Memorial Sensory Garden.^[115] Animal Planet also announced the creation of a Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund (called "The Crikey Fund") to "provide a way for people from across the globe to make contributions in Irwin's honour to support wildlife protection, education and conservation".^[115]

On the DVD of the animated film Happy Feet, there is a deleted scene in which the main character, Mumble, meets an albatross (voiced by Irwin) and a blue whale. The scene was unfinished at first, but it was included on the DVD release to honour Irwin's memory, as Irwin had insisted on being in a film that contained a message about the environment. However, this scene was removed from the movie, and it was decided to let Irwin play an elephant seal named Trev.

On 4 September 2007, Australian fans gathered at the Irwin family zoo on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland to commemorate the first anniversary of Irwin's death. State Premier Peter Beattie described Irwin as one of the state's greatest cultural ambassadors. On 15 November, Irwin's widow Terri and children, Bindi and Bob, remembered his life and achievements on "Steve Irwin Day".^[116]

An asteroid discovered in 2001 was named 57567 Crikey in honour of Irwin and his "signature phrase".^[117]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

	Australia portal
	Biography portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Steve Irwin

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Steve Irwin (category)

The Wiktionary entry for crikey

• Australia Zoo's Crocodile Hunter website
• Official Animal Planet website for The Crocodile Hunter
• Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin – slideshow by Life magazine
• steveirwinday.org
• Huge collection of features and photographs from Daily Telegraph concerning the Irwins
• Steve Irwin at the Open Directory Project
• Steve Irwin at the Internet Movie Database