This is an accepted version of this page Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006), known as "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, wildlife educator, and environmentalist.

Irwin became involved with the park in a number of ways, including taking part in daily animal feeding, as well as care and maintenance activities.

[13] American satellite and cable television channel Animal Planet ended The Crocodile Hunter with a series finale titled 'Steve's Last Adventure'.

The last Crocodile Hunter documentary spanned three hours with footage of Irwin's across-the-world adventure in locations including the Himalayas, the Yangtze River, Borneo, and the Kruger National Park.

[21] In 1998, Irwin continued his television career, working with director Mark Strickson to present The Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World.

[27] In 2002, Irwin and his family appeared in the Wiggles video/DVD release Wiggly Safari, which was set in Australia Zoo and featured singing and dancing inspired by Australian wildlife.

Irwin was a passionate conservationist and believed in promoting environmentalism by sharing his excitement about the natural world rather than preaching to people.

[30] 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.

[35] Irwin 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.

When presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to Attenborough after Irwin's death at the British National Television Awards on 31 October 2006, Terri Irwin said, 'If there's one person who directly inspired my husband it's the person being honoured tonight.... [Steve's] real, true love was conservation – and the influence of tonight's recipient in preserving the natural world has been immense'.

[37] Attenborough reciprocated by praising Irwin for introducing many to the natural world, saying, 'He taught them how wonderful and exciting it was[;] he was a born communicator'.

[41] After his death, a picture of Irwin wearing a Bombers guernsey was shown by ESPN.com in their Bottom 10 ranking of the worst Division I FBS college football teams after Week 1 of the season in tribute to him.

As a teenager, he played for the Caloundra Sharks as a second-rower,[43] and as an adult he was known to be a passionate Brisbane Broncos fan and was involved with the club on several occasions.

A behind-the-scenes episode of The Crocodile Hunter showed Irwin and the crew finding a petrol station in a remote part of Namibia to watch the Wallabies defeat France in the 1999 Rugby World Cup Final.

[45] In 2004, Irwin was appointed ambassador for The Ghan, the passenger train running from Adelaide to Alice Springs in the central Australian outback, when the line was extended all the way to Darwin on the northern coast that year.

[47] As a part of the United States' 'Australia Week' celebrations in January 2006, Irwin appeared at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.

[48] In November 2003, Irwin was filming a documentary on sea lions off the coast of Baja California Peninsula in Mexico when he heard via his boat's radio that two scuba divers were reported missing in the area.

On the second day of the search, kayakers found one of the divers, Scott Jones, perched on a narrow rock ledge jutting out from the side of a cliff.

[49] Irwin died on 4 September 2006, after being pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb while filming in the Great Barrier Reef with Philippe Cousteau Jr.

[62] On 2 January 2004, Irwin carried his one-month-old son, Robert, in his arm while hand-feeding a chicken carcass to Murray, a 3.8-metre (12 ft 6 in) saltwater crocodile.

The infant was close to the crocodile, and comparisons were made in the press to Michael Jackson dangling his son outside a German hotel window.

[65] Both he and his wife publicly stated that Irwin was in complete control of the situation, as he had dealt with crocodiles since he was a small child, and based on his lifetime of experience neither he nor his son was in any danger.

[67] The incident prompted the Queensland Government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.

[68] In June 2004, allegations were made that he disturbed wildlife (namely whales, seals and penguins) while filming The Crocodile Hunter episode "Ice Breaker" in Antarctica.

[72] Another, previously incomplete scene, featuring Irwin providing the voice of an albatross and essentially playing himself, was restored to the DVD release.

[81][82] Another newly discovered Australian animal – a species of air-breathing land snail, Crikey steveirwini, was named after Irwin in 2009.

[95] Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki paid tribute to Irwin, noting that '[h]umanity will not protect that which we fear or do not understand.

[96] After his death, the vessel MV Robert Hunter owned by the environmental action group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was renamed MY Steve Irwin.

[97] Shortly before his death, Irwin had been investigating joining Sea Shepherd's 2007–2008 voyage to Antarctica to disrupt Japanese whaling activity.

[108] When asked by the press on the matter, prime minister Anthony Albanese declined to take a position, offering that it wasn't the right time to discuss who would be on the currency in the immediate wake of the Queen's death.