Upper Ferntree Gully

On September 4, 2026 we remember Steve Irwin. It is his 20th memorial day. 🤍 The world called him the Crocodile Hunter. He never hunted: he protected crocodiles. His family carries his work on. 🤍 🌱 Steve Irwin grew up among the animals: in 1970 his parents opened a small reptile park in Beerwah, Queensland. At 6 he caught his first venomous snake, at 9 he wrestled his first small crocodile into the boat. Years later he spent months alone in northern Australia, catching problem crocodiles for the Queensland government - the animals were not killed, they were relocated. 💚 In 1991 Steve Irwin took over his parents' wildlife park. 2 days later an American tourist walked through the gate: Terri. 8 months later she was his wife - and their honeymoon, a crocodile-catching trip, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. The series aired in over 100 countries and made him one of the world's best-known Australians. 💛 He turned that fame into conservation. On television he said: every single cent goes straight into conservation. In 2002 Steve and Terri founded Wildlife Warriors, and in memory of his mother they built a wildlife hospital - up to 10,000 animals a year. 🕯️ In September 2006 the world said goodbye. A sea of flowers grew outside his zoo, and his daughter Bindi, 8, said: my daddy was my hero. What remains: • Australia Zoo - Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin run it to this day • The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve: over 130,000 hectares on Cape York, dedicated in 2007 • A wildlife hospital treating up to 10,000 patients a year • A species of turtle that carries his name: Elseya irwini • The first published satellite study of wild crocodiles - with Steve Irwin as co-author In Mooloolaba his memorial stands in white stone: Steve with his children, a crocodile in their arms. Forever remembered. 🕯️ 📷 Photos (details, edited), all via Wikimedia Commons: John (Flickr: shebalso), Sheba_Also, Richard Giles, Bernard Dupont, Eva Rinaldi, Ian Sutton, Chris Olszewski - licences CC BY 2.0/4.0 and CC BY-SA 2.0/4.0. 🎬 Jumping crocodile: Mutante, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); other background footage: Pexels. 🎵 Music: Tomaso Albinoni, Oboe Concerto in D minor op. 9 no. 2, Adagio, oboe: Paul Arden-Taylor (Musopen, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0). This video is a derivative work and is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.