The Steve Irwin Standard

No single person did more to change how the world sees crocodilians than Steve Irwin. To talk about being croc wise without talking about him would be to miss the heart of the matter — because Irwin’s entire life was the argument this book is making, lived out loud in front of a global audience.

Who he was

Stephen Robert Irwin (1962–2006) grew up among reptiles at his family’s small wildlife park in Queensland, taught about crocodilians by his father from boyhood. He took over the park, expanded it into Australia Zoo, and through the television series The Crocodile Hunter became one of the most recognizable people on the planet — the khaki-clad Australian with the boundless enthusiasm, crouched beside animals most people would run from, shouting “Crikey!” with undisguised joy. He died in 2006 in an accident while filming on the Great Barrier Reef. The world mourned him as few wildlife figures have ever been mourned, and his family — Terri, Bindi and Robert — carry his work forward to this day.