Robert "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 reptiles. He is the father of Steve Irwin and the widowed husband of Lyn Irwin.

Personal life[link]

Bob Irwin married Lyn, a maternity nurse who died in a single automobile accident in 2000. Together, they have a daughter, Joy, son Steve (who died in 2006), and second daughter, Mandy. Although Irwin was officially a plumber, and Lyn a maternity nurse, the family's consuming passion was rescuing and rehabilitating local wildlife. Steve Irwin, the couple's middle child, would not only come to fulfill the roles of curator and director of the Beerwah Reptile Park, but also produce and star in his highly popular educational documentary series, The Crocodile Hunter. Steve would enlarge the park to its present size of 72 acres (29 ha) and rename the park the Australia Zoo.

Steve Irwin wrote on his website

What a childhood! My mum was the Mother Teresa of wildlife rehabilitation. Our house was a giant maternity ward fair smack-dab in the middle of the Beerwah Reptile Park. It was nothing for us kids to be sharing our house with orphaned joey kangaroos, sugar gliders, ringtail or brushtail possums, koala joeys, baby birds and untold amounts of other injured Australian animals. What a wild menagerie, and an exceptional household to be raised in.

Steve Irwin died in 2006. While filming a documentary, he swam too close to a stingray, which stung him. The barb pierced his heart, and Steve died of blood loss and cardiac arrest.

Bob has since remarried to Judy, and was Queensland's Grandfather of the Year in 2008.^[1] Bob and Judy live on a rural property near Kingaroy, from where Bob continues to campaign for wildlife and environmental conservation.

Career[link]

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 lived in until Bob gave the wildlife park to son, Steve Irwin.

"The family home was itself a mini zoo and wildlife hospital," said son, Steve Irwin, on his website, "With makeshift marsupial 'pouches' slung over the backs of chairs and snakes stashed everywhere. Later, the park would be significantly expanded to cover 72 acres (29 ha).

Innovations[link]

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.

Controversy[link]

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (June 2011)

On 2 March 2008, it was announced that Bob Irwin had resigned from Australia Zoo in order to "keep his son's dream alive". He thanked all the zoo staff for all their support with the notable exception of Terri Irwin. ^[2]

Bob quit the zoo and his role as manager of Ironbark Station at Blackbutt where he lived, moving to a new 240-hectare (590-acre) property surrounded by forest and national park between Kingaroy and Murgon where he would continue his son's conservation work.^[1]

On 12 April 2011, Bob Irwin was arrested and charged for contravening police direction as part of his actions against the Queensland Gas Company.^[3] He faced court in May 2011.

Politics[link]

On 1st July Bob Irwin announced he was considering challenging Labour incumbent Kate Jones and Liberal National Party leader Campbell Newman for the seat of Ashgrove in Brisbane.^[4]

On 5th September it was reported in the mainstream media that Bob had become disenchanted with politics and felt he could best carry on his passion for animal conservation and fight against the coal seam gas industry from outside of the political arena.^[5]

Bob Irwin is reportedly considering rejoining the Queensland Party if it can obtain 500 members and remain registered on friday 23rd September 2011. According to reports in the press he doesn’t like Bob Katter or his support for indigenous hunting rights like hunting dugongs and turtles. He originally left the party because he couldn’t in good conscience work with the Minister for Kennedy Bob Katter . If the Queensland Party can pull together 500 members by Friday 23rd September 2011 and remain registered then he has stated that he might come back and stand as a candidate for Ashgrove after all.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bob Irwin Wildlife Fund (Official)
• Bob Irwin, Artist of the Month

Bindi Irwin
Bindi in May 2011
Born	Bindi Sue Irwin (1998-07-24) 24 July 1998 (age 13) Nambour, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Actress Television presenter
Years active	2006–present
Parents	Steve Irwin Terri Irwin
Awards	Silver Logie Daytime Emmy

Bindi Sue Irwin (born 24 July 1998 in Nambour,^[1] Queensland, Australia) is the daughter of The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin, and mother Terri Irwin. Bindi is a child celebrity who has been involved in acting, singing, songwriting, dancing, rapping, and a fitness DVD. She espouses the same conservationist philosophy as her parents.

Her first name comes from the name of her father's favourite female crocodile at the Australia Zoo, and her middle name is from the family's dog Sui, Sue. According to her father, Bindi is an Australian Aboriginal word that means "young girl."^[2]

Life[link]

Bindi began appearing on television shows as early as age two.^[3] She appeared regularly in her father's television shows, including The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and also appeared in the 2002 film The Wiggles: Wiggly Safari in a credited cast role.^[4]

Irwin was the presenter of a 26-part wildlife documentary kids show called Bindi the Jungle Girl, a production of the Discovery Kids television network.^[5][6][7] Her father was filmed in many of the early shows before his death in 2006, when production was temporarily put on hold.^[8] The series premiered in June 2007 on Discovery Kids.

Post Steve Irwin's death[link]

Bindi's father, Steve Irwin, was killed by a stingray on 4 September 2006 while setting up to shoot ocean reef footage for a show that would include segments with Bindi, because weather prevented him from filming footage for a different show.^[9][10] Bindi and her mother announced that Bindi would continue her late father's conservation and television work.^[11] Steve Irwin had always said he supported Bindi's rise to fame, claiming "I just want to be co-star to my daughter".^[12]

On 20 September 2006, Bindi eulogized her father by delivering a speech in front of a crowd of 5,000 and a worldwide television audience of more than 300 million viewers, which received a standing ovation and was voted the television moment of the year by readers of the Australia TV Week Reader Poll 2006. Bindi's speech received 43 percent of the votes from the poll. Her mother stated that Bindi had written the speech herself, apart from some assistance with typing.^{[13][14][15][16]}

In June 2007, she hosted a US TV special about her father called My Daddy the Crocodile Hunter.^[17] She also starred in a child fitness DVD in which she sang and danced with a group called Bindi Kidfitness. She made a hip-hop album called Trouble In The Jungle. Bindi and The Crocmen sang "Trouble In The Jungle" on The Today Show in November 2007. Bindi is currently learning how to play the piano.^[18][13]

Bindi and Terri Irwin at Edwards USAFB to film a segment for Bindi the Jungle Girl.

In September 2006, at age 8, Bindi Irwin appeared on the cover of the Australian magazine New Idea, the youngest person to have done so in the magazine's 104-year history.^[19]

In early January 2007, she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. At that time, she was also scheduled for appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and in attendance with Russell Crowe at a major dinner. She was promoting her new video, Bindi Kidfitness, and fulfilling her role as a newly-appointed "tourism ambassador" for Australia.^[20]

Irwin appeared on Larry King Live on 11 January 2007. She said that creative writing was her favourite subject and math is her least favourite. She also said that she enjoys being homeschooled because she and her teachers were such good friends.

Posing for the TV camera with Terri Irwin.

At the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, Irwin presented the award for "Favorite Male Singer", with help from George Lopez and Tyler James Williams, which was won by Justin Timberlake. She also presented at the TV Week Logies Awards 2007, with help from Glenn Robbins for 'Most Outstanding Children's Show', which was won by The Upside Down Show.^[21]

On 22 November 2007, Bindi appeared with her mother Terri in the 81st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and performed songs from her album Trouble in the Jungle with The Crocmen on their jungle animal float.^[22][23][24]

In 2008, Irwin won a Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series. At age nine, she became the youngest performer ever to win a Daytime Emmy, beating the previous record held by Camryn Grimes, who won a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series at age ten for The Young and the Restless.

On 26 December 2009 Bindi appeared live on stage at Australia Zoo with new backup singers/dancers The Jungle Girls.

Bindi commits 10% of her wage to Wildlife Warriors, the charity founded by her family in 2002.^[25]

She starred as Kirra in Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove, which was released on 23 March 2010.^[26]

In 2012, Bindi will be hosting a 26 part wildlife-themed game show called Bindi's Bootcamp. The contestants will be put through "adventure challenges" that will educate and test their wildlife knowledge.^[27]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bindi Irwin

• Forever Bindi fansite
• Bindi's Say
• Animal Planet profile
• Bindi's Profile from Australia Zoo
• Totally Bindi fansite
• Bindi Irwin at the Internet Movie Database