Love him or hate him, an entire generation was introduced to some of the coolest creatures
from Down Under by the ever-enthusiastic Steve Irwin.
The world knew him as the Crocodile Hunter, but it was the kind of hunting most animal-lovers
could get behind.
The world's animals lost one of their biggest cheerleaders to a tragic accident in 2006,
but his work is still making a difference.
Let's take a look at the man in the khakis.
"Woo!
Danger danger danger!"
Not quite fearless
For a guy who didn't mind being face-to-face with angry crocodiles, Irwin still had a couple
animals he was terrified of.
In a 2001 clip, Irwin can be seen paddling down a river in Zambia when he comes across
a group of hippos.
According to Terri Irwin's voiceover, hippo groups aren't just dangerous, they're unpredictable.
"And by crikey they get grumpy!
They pushed me right out of the river."
"I was quite fearful and respectful of them, so I went around em, I left me canoe in the
end."
When Scientific American asked Irwin what animal he wasn't comfortable with, he responded,
"Parrots.
Yeah, for some reason parrots have to bite me.
That's their job.
I don't know why that is.
They've nearly torn my nose off.
I've had some really bad parrot bites."
No antivenom
In a 1991 TV appearance on a local kids show, Irwin had just finished explaining why his
non-venomous python won't bite him, when things took an unsettling turn.
"He can't eat meat, he doesn't feel scared, he doesn't feel all that scared so he won't
bite"
"Um, do you mind cutting, he's biting my neck.
I'm serious"
"Oh My God."
With bites coming so unexpectedly, you'd assume Irwin would have traveled with a stash of
antivenom.
But according to what he told Reptiles Magazine, he never carried any with him.
His reason?
"When I grab hold of them, this karma exudes through my fingertips into the animal and
they feel a lot more comfortable and I don't get bitten.
And I take great pride [that] I don't get envenomated.
I don't carry antivenin, never have, never will."
That's not really how karma works, but we do believe that Steve Irwin was magic.
"We call these one bitie!
Ow!
"Okay nice"
He just bit me on the arm!"
"Yeah, you have an hour to live."
Complete support
When Larry King talked to Irwin in 2004, not much time had passed since Siegfried and Roy's
famous tiger act went bad.
"Horn was attacked in the throat by one of these tigers and lost a huge amount of blood."
Reactions were mixed, as many people didn't think it was appropriate to keep wild animals
in that kind of environment.
But Irwin said it was nothing short of tragic, and chimed in with his complete support of
acts like theirs, explaining,
"They did what not many people can do.
They got tigers into people's hearts.
I believe that the time has come where if we don't get animals into people's hearts,
they're going to go extinct.
We're running out of time right now."
Ouch
It wasn't until halfway through his Larry King interview that Irvin admitted that his
collarbone was currently broken.
He said even though he had an almost magical ability to communicate with animals, he did
get hurt quite a bit, and told a story about breaking a finger while catching crocodiles.
His finger snapped at the knuckle, and he said he just wanted to cut it off, but certain
family members weren't so thrilled with that idea.
"But my daughter said, 'Oh please, Daddy.'
I said, 'No, it would be great, Bindi.
We'll have a little pet Daddy finger.'"
Over-the-top
No one talks about Irwin or his work without commenting on the over-the-top insanity that
made him famous.
Woohoo!...Our first big cats have arrived!
Yep!
The tigers are here."
It's what makes people love or hate him, and according to what he told Scientific American,
that was the idea.
"It excites them, which helps me to educate.
I believe that education is all about being excited about something."
"So if we can get people excited about animals, then by crikey, it makes it a heck of a lot
easier to save them."
Irwin said he knew people were more likely to become invested in a conservation project
when they were emotionally invested in the animals, so he made it a point to share his
own crazy, zany enthusiasm.
And it worked.
Tragic truth
Irwin somehow seemed completely invincible, and his bond with animals made his passing
seem that much more bizarre.
The footage of the tragic event was given to Terri Irwin and never broadcast.
In 2014, his cameraman Justin Lyons revealed that he and Irwin had come across a giant
stingray that unexpectedly lashed out at Irwin.
Lyons said he hadn't even realized anything was wrong at first, as he'd been focused on
the stingray.
When he looked back at Irwin, he saw the hole in his chest.
"And he just sort of calmly looked up at me and said, 'I'm going.'
And that was the last thing he said."
Irwin's father reportedly criticized Lyons for going public and re-opening old wounds,
saying,
"For a lot of people trying to get on with their lives without Steve, it wasn't something
that helped by any means."
Lifesaver
After Irwin's passing in 2006, global media picked up and ran with a slew of tributes,
including a story from an American diver named Scott Jones who owes Irwin his life.
Jones told the The Sydney Morning Herald that he was diving off the coast of Mexico when
he was caught in a sea surge and battered against rocks.
Once Jones managed to climb up onto the rocks, Irwin picked up the distress call nearby,
found the stranded diver, and hit the water to swim out to help him to safety.
Jones said,
"We'd love to go to Australia and tell his wife and kids just what a great man he is.
He was a hell of an educator, from kids all the way up to old farts like me…
He was a hero."
Thanks for watching!
Click the Grunge icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!