Terri Irwin

Terri Raines Irwin
Born	20 July 1964 Eugene, Oregon, USA
Occupation(s)	Naturalist, Zoologist, Conservationist
Spouse	Steve Irwin (deceased)
Children	Bindi Sue & Robert Clarence
Website	www.crocodilehunter.com

Terri Raines Irwin, AM (born July 20, 1964, Eugene, Oregon, USA) is an American naturalist. She is the widow of the Australian naturalist Steve Irwin and is the owner of Australia Zoo at Beerwah, Queensland, Australia. She was a co-star with her husband on The Crocodile Hunter, their unconventional nature documentary series on television, as well as in the spin-off series Crocodile Hunter Diaries and the Croc Files that followed.

Background

Terri was born in Eugene, Oregon in the United States. Her family was in the trucking business. As a small child, she was exposed to her father constantly bringing home injured animals from the highways which his trucks traversed and this was to eventually instill in her an ongoing commitment to saving and rehabilitating wild animals.

While working in the family business in 1986, Raines started a rehabilitation facility called "Cougar Country" to re-educate and release predatory mammals such as foxes, opossums, raccoons, bears, bobcats, and cougars back into the wild. Soon she was handling 300 animals each year.

Career

Terri Raines joined an emergency veterinary hospital in 1989 as a veterinary technician to gain further valuable knowledge on the care and support to all kinds of animals. Her life was very busy, as she still kept a hand in helping her dad run the family business, rehabilitating animals through her "Cougar Country", and working spare moments at the vet hospital. In addition, she had 15 cats of her own, several birds, and a dog.

In 1991, she went on a tour of Australia, and while visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities, she had a chance meeting with Steve Irwin, whose father had managed the Australia Zoo. A whirlwind romance followed: they were engaged after just three months, and eight months later, on June 4, 1992, they married. Their first television documentary was filmed on their honeymoon. The footage, shot by John Stainton, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which became successful in America.

Steve Irwin was the owner of Australia Zoo, along with Terri

The couple chose to settle in Australia, and Terri had to leave her Cougar Country behind in the United States. However, as a partner in their wildlife enterprises and television shows, she has been able to do far greater work on behalf of animal husbandry.

Terri and Steve Irwin had two children together: Bindi Sue Irwin (born July 24, 1998) and Robert Clarence Irwin (born December 1, 2003). Even before they were born, the children were part of the television programs during Irwin's pregnancies. Bindi Sue was named after Steve's favorite crocodile Bindi and his dog Sui. Robert Clarence was named after Steve's father Robert (Robert was also Steve's middle name) and Terri's father Clarence.

In addition to their two popular television programs, which are shown on the Animal Planet television network in the United States, in 2002, the Irwins' feature film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, was released.

In an interview before the birth of their second child, Terri Irwin had this to say about her marriage and working together with her husband Steve:

"We don't drink, we don't smoke, and we are actually in love and happily married. We love our little girl, we go home to each other at night, and we believe in what we are doing,"

"Say my husband had a dangerous job and I wasn't with him, I don't know how you go, 'Oh honey, how was it with the police department today? You got all your fingers and toes today?' It would scare me. I'd have to become a police officer and work with him; I couldn't do it."

In 2006, Irwin was made an honorary Member of the Order of Australia for services to wildlife conservation and the tourism industry. ("Honorary" membership in the Order of Australia is a version of the award given to non-citizens of Australia.)

Terri (and her children) were reportedly trekking in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, when her husband Steve died on the morning of September 4, 2006 after sustaining chest and heart injuries from a short-tail stingray barb. He died shortly after the attack. He was filming an underwater documentary at the time at Batt Reef near Port Douglas in Queensland.

Death of her husband Steve

In her first statement since her husband's death on September 4 2006, Mrs Irwin advised that the Australian memorial service on September 20 2006 at Australia Zoo in Queensland would be open to the public, and that people who wish to attend should make a donation to Irwin's Wildlife Warriors fund. She said that although more spacious venues than this zoo, whose "Crocoseum" seats 5,500 people, had been suggested, she thought her husband would have wanted the service there; she couldn't see how a memorial service would work in any other place other than the Crocoseum, which Steve built there at the zoo and of which he was so proud. She also thanked well-wishers for their "overwhelming outpouring of love", support and prayers for her family".. Steve's memorial service took place on Wednesday, September 20th 2006. Terri Irwin was too upset to speak, but her daughter Bindi spoke about her love for her dad, to which she received a standing ovation.

External links

• Bindi Irwin
• Crocodile Hunter.com The Irwins' website, The Crocodile Hunter
• Animal Planet Crocodile Hunter
• Terri Irwin at IMDb