OCT. 2006

"If I’m going to die, at least I want it filmed."

On September 4, Steve Irwin’s words from a 2002 interview came true. The internationally renowned Crocodile Hunter, famed for handling dangerous crocodiles, snakes, and other aquatic animals, was killed while doing what he loved best – getting close to wildlife in order to understand and educate. While snorkeling in the Batt Reef off North Queensland, Australia, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray’s barb. There to film the documentary, "The Ocean’s Deadliest" Irwin was taping a special segment about the stingray for an Animal Planet program to be hosted by his 8-year-old daughter, Bindi. Philippe Cousteau, a grandson of the legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, was working on the documentary with Irwin.

Lauded as one of Australia’s foremost conservationists, Irwin once said, "I have no fear of losing my life — if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it."

Founder of the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, Irwin was recently described by the CEO of Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia Queensland as a "modern-day Noah." British naturalist David Bellamy praised Irwin’s skills as a natural historian and media performer. Irwin discovered a new species of turtle on the coast of Queensland that now bears his name, Elseya irwini — Irwin's Turtle.

He also helped to found a number of other projects, including the International Crocodile Rescue, and the Lyn Irwin Memorial Fund, in memory of his mother, with proceeds going to the Iron Bark Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

"Conservation has such a limited advocacy in the general public," says Jack Schneider, curator of animals at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Conn. "His actions brought a level of awareness and enthusiasm for conservation that wouldn’t happen otherwise."

As with any high-profile figure, opinions of Irwin were mixed throughout the conservation world. "Some felt he was a grandstanding, showboat-type person," Schneider says. "The drama he brought to his work, and the way he interacted with animals – certainly some people viewed that as harassing or annoying them.

The "astonishing" international public outcry resulting from Irwin’s death is evidence of his tremendous and positive impact, Schneider says. "His means may not have been perfect, but his intent and his ends were good."

The general public doesn’t easily understand the psychology of wild animals, Schneider says, or how to be around them in a non-threatening way. "Stingrays and other animals work on a different level than humans, so it’s hard for us to relate to them," Schneider says. When we swim, our body structure resembles that of other large predatory swimming animals, so the 8-foot-long stingray may have felt threatened by Irwin’s proximity.

By all accounts, Irwin’s death was a freak accident. As experts continue to study the video of the stingray attack, a clearer picture will emerge as to what exactly happened. One recent account in "The Australian" reports that the presence of tiger sharks in the area caused stingrays to be unusually defensive at the time Irwin was struck. Irwin may have unwittingly swum too close to the stingray. "It's really quite unusual for divers to be stung unless they are grappling with the animal," said Australian marine biologist Dr. Meredith Peach shortly after the incident. "Knowing Steve Irwin, perhaps that may have been the case." Most stings occur on the legs or feet, Peach said, "and it is very unusual to be stung on the chest. It is highly unusual, extremely unusual for people to die from stingray stings."

Since first appearing as "The Crocodile Hunter" on Animal Planet in 1997, the Australian naturalist has thrilled 200 million viewers in more than 100 countries around the world.

Stephen Robert Irwin was born in 1962 in Essendon, west of Melbourne, Australia to parents Bob and Lyn. Bob worked as a plumber, and Lyn was a maternity nurse, but the family's consuming passion was rescuing and rehabilitating local wildlife. In 1970, that avocation became fulltime vocation, as the Irwins relocated to Queensland and opened the Beerwah Reptile Park, now the Australia Zoo. Irwin once described his childhood home as a mini-zoo and wildlife hospital, with makeshift marsupial "pouches" slung over the backs of chairs and snakes living everywhere.

From a young age, Irwin was involved in the park’s daily activities. He began handling crocodiles at age nine, tutored by his father. After graduating high school in 1979, Irwin moved to Northern Queensland, where he became a crocodile trapper for the local government, removing crocodiles from populated areas where they were considered a danger. Rather than kill the animals for meat and skin, as other trappers did, Irwin released the crocodiles in the wild, or sent them to the family’s reptile park.

Steve Irwin took over management of the facility in 1991 (renamed Australia Zoo in 1992) and soon met Terri Raines, visiting the park from Oregon, where she worked in a wildlife rehabilitation center. The couple married eight months later, and chose to go crocodile-trapping on their honeymoon, inviting a camera crew to accompany them. The filmed expedition later became the first episode of their hit TV show, "The Crocodile Hunter." In 2002 Steve and Terri played themselves in "Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course," a fictional tale of wildlife conservationists battling crocs and rogue CIA agents to retrieve a fallen satellite.

In 1998, daughter Bindi Sue Irwin was born, named after Bindi, a large female croc at the Irwins’ Australia Zoo, and Sui, the Irwins' beloved dog. Son Bob was born in 2003. In 2004, Irwin found himself the subject of public controversy for holding his infant son during a crocodile-feeding demonstration, and then setting the child on the ground beside an inhabited crocodile pond. The footage appeared on the Australian nightly news, causing locals to call the Queensland Department of Family Services to complain.

The incident drew international attention and debate. The media compared the incident to the notorious Michael Jackson baby-dangling incident, but the Irwins claimed that Steve had been in complete control of the situation and that the baby was never in danger. While no charges were filed, the Queensland government changed its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.

Several months later, Irwin again came under criticism for getting too close to whales, seals, and penguins while filming "Ice Breaker," a documentary about Antarctic wildlife. Faced with allegations of violating international and Australian federal laws, Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and officials dropped the charges after reviewing the film footage.

Irwin’s approach to wildlife may always be the source of debate. "What Irwin never seemed to understand was that animals need space," wrote author and fellow Australian, Germaine Greer just after Irwin’s death. "The one lesson any conservationist must labour to drive home is that habitat loss is the principal cause of species loss. There was no habitat, no matter how fragile or finely balanced, that Irwin hesitated to barge into, trumpeting his wonder and amazement to the skies. There was not an animal he was not prepared to manhandle. Every creature he brandished at the camera was in distress. Every snake badgered by Irwin was at a huge disadvantage, with only a single possible reaction to its terrifying situation, which was to strike. Easy enough to avoid, if you know what's coming."

But the experienced Irwin probably didn’t know what was coming, and had put himself in an unexpectedly dangerous situation on September 4. While perhaps not academically trained as a naturalist, says Jack Schneider of the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Irwin worked for many years with a variety of animals, "and there is nothing that takes the place of direct experience with animals."

In 2001 Irwin was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for his "service to global conservation and to Australian tourism." In 2004, he was recognised as Australia’s Tourism Export of the Year.

Known for his high energy and boyish enthusiasm, Irwin showed a unique sense of humor even with regard to his own death. He once insisted, "My number-one rule is to keep that camera rolling. Even if it's shaky or slightly out of focus, I don't give a rip. Even if a big old alligator is chewing me up I want to go down and go, 'Crikey!' just before I die. That would be the ultimate for me."

After Irwin’s death, Philippe Cousteau told reporters, "Steve and I spoke at length about why he does his work and [agreed] that by far and away humankind is the deadliest creature in the ocean.

"If we can help bring that message through this program and help [people] understand that all these animals have an important place in the world. then I think he [would] be proud of that."

- This profile was compiled from various online reports and websites.