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Nominee: Steve “The Crocodile Hunter” Irwin(posthumous)
Age: 43(at time of passing)
Group: The Australia Zoo
Contact information: Australia Zoo, Glass House Mountains Tourist Drive, Beerwah Queensland 4519, Australia, Telephone: (07) 5436 2000, International: +61 7 5436 2000, Facsimile: (07) 5494 8604, International: +61 7 5494 8604
E-Mail: info@australiazoo.com.au
Type of nomination: Conservation
Description of nominee: Stephen Robert Irwin (February 22, 1962 – September 4, 2006), nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian wildlife expert and television personality. He achieved world-wide fame from the television program The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally-broadcast wildlife documentary series co-hosted with his wife Terri Irwin. Together with her, he also co-owned and operated Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, founded by his parents.
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." 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. He had 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.
He founded the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, which was later renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, and became an independent charity. He was described after his death by the CEO of RSPCA Queensland as a "modern-day Noah", and British naturalist David Bellamy lauded his skills as a natural historian and media performer.[21] Irwin and his father discovered a new species of turtle that now bears his name, Elseya irwini — Irwin's Turtle — a species of turtle found on the coast of Queensland. He also helped to found a number of other projects, such as the International Crocodile Rescue, as well as the Lyn Irwin Memorial Fund, in memory of his mother (who was in a fatal car crash in 2000), with proceeds going to the Iron Bark Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. Irwin, however, 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".
In 1992, Irwin married Terri Raines from Eugene, Oregon, United States. Together they had two children: a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin (born July 24, 1998), and a son, Robert Clarence "Bob" Irwin (born December 1, 2003). 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."
Shortly after 01:00 UTC (11:00 AEST) on September 4, 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray spine whilst snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, at Batt Reef, which is located off the coast of Port Douglas in 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 was hosting, when, according to his friend and colleague, John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the stingrays. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat the Croc One. Irwin died soon after.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie extended the offer of a state funeral to Irwin's family, an honour also agreed to by Prime Minister John Howard. The family decided that such a funeral wouldn't be appropriate, a sentiment echoed by many Australians outside media and political circles. Steve Irwin's father, Bob Irwin, stated that his son would not have wanted such an honour, and would want to be remembered as an "ordinary bloke".[75] Beattie stated he would honour the decision of the Irwin family regarding their arrangements. Irwin was farewelled by family and friends at a private funeral service held at Caloundra on the afternoon of 9 September.[76]The naturalist was buried in a private ceremony at the zoo on the same day. A public service was held at the 5,500-seat Animal Planet Crocoseum at Australia Zoo on Wednesday morning September 20, 2006. 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 around the world, particularly the United States, where the service was broadcast commercial free on Animal Planet, as well as to Asia and Germany. A BBC camera crew was also sent especially to Australia to cover the memorial service for the United Kingdom. It is estimated that over 300 million viewers worldwide watched the service.[77]. The memorial was also rebroadcast on Animal Planet on January 1st, 2007 as part of their New Year's Day celebration, and again the following day. In 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. Flags on the Sydney Harbour Bridge flew at half mast on the day of the memorial service. Memorials have been made in Irwin’s memory: both in Australia and America, and some bring controversial in nature.
Controversies surrounded him amid his successes in his career, and on both the small and the big screens. It cannot be held in any doubt that his purpose in life was conservation for the planet and its wildlife, and the world has lost one of its greatest guardians.
(Majority of the information taken from the Steve Irwin article at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin)
Nominator(s): ShadowDarkFyre, Flint Luchtaine