 Stephen Robert Irwin was born to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Victoria in February 1962. Bob Irwin was a keen enthusiast of reptiles and moved his family to Queensland in 1970 to start a small reptile park at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast. Australia Zoo became a true family business, flourishing until 1991 when Bob and Lyn retired, turning over management to their son, Steve.
Living in the Zoo, Steve grew up with animals of all kinds, taking part in the animals’ daily feeding, care and maintenance. As he grew older, Steve followed in his father’s footsteps and volunteered his services to the Queensland Government’s East Coast Crocodile Management program.
Since 1991, Australia Zoo has expanded under Steve’s guidance. In 1990, a chance reunion with his friend, television producer John Stainton, filming in the Zoo for a TV commercial, gave Steve the opportunity to show his diverse animal talents to the world when they both took a punt and made the first documentary, The Crocodile Hunter, in 1992.
 The Crocodile Hunter arose because of an emergency. Shortly after Steve Irwin and Terri Raines were married in 1992, Steve got a call that he was needed to help trap a crocodile in the Outback. So Steve and Terri went out and relocated their honeymoon to the resultant safari with his associates. Among the misadventures filmed during the trip was Terri finding a venomous Red Bellied Black Snake while trying to find a place to go to the bathroom, and Steve running to her rescue to toss the snake clear. The footage from the safari was eventually compiled and turned into a pilot for a new kind of nature show.
Steve had the greatest respect and understanding for all animals – something that has been instilled in him by his family for all his life – and he was always proud to share his passion with every visitor to Australia Zoo.
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