Steve Irwin, the fearless wildlife conservationist who wrestled with crocodiles and braved the most dangerous creatures, was a legend to millions worldwide. His larger-than-life persona seemed indestructible until the devastating news of his sudden and tragic passing shook the world to its core.
However, the shock didn't end there. Mere months after Steve's tragic death, his cherished legacy was threatened by a billion-dollar mining company, sparking a battle that would determine the fate of his life's work. Steve's grieving wife Terri and their children Bindi and Robert raced to fiercely protect his memory and the values he held dear.
Steve Irwin’s Wife Reveals New Details On His Death
#steveirwin #animals #celebrity #lifestories
However, the shock didn't end there. Mere months after Steve's tragic death, his cherished legacy was threatened by a billion-dollar mining company, sparking a battle that would determine the fate of his life's work. Steve's grieving wife Terri and their children Bindi and Robert raced to fiercely protect his memory and the values he held dear.
Steve Irwin’s Wife Reveals New Details On His Death
#steveirwin #animals #celebrity #lifestories
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FunTranscript
00:00 She's gonna bite. You're a good girl, I'm getting out.
00:03 Everyone thinks Steve Irwin was just the crocodile hunter.
00:08 But that's far from the truth.
00:12 The reason I've been put onto this planet is to save wildlife.
00:17 Their habitat's being destroyed. They're caught in a war.
00:19 They're gonna go extinct. We're running out of time.
00:23 But when he tragically died, things got a lot worse.
00:27 Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent.
00:30 Once it's gone, it is gone.
00:32 So his wife and kids had to step in.
00:35 Steve Irwin's family is managing the conservation and research
00:38 at a nature reserve named in his honour.
00:40 Dad's favourite place in the entire world.
00:43 But it's also rich in minerals and now the miners want to move in.
00:48 If Terri was serious about conservation,
00:50 she should be encouraging us and working with us.
00:52 They'll take away all of the trees, grasses and other plants.
00:56 This is not an evil, this is a good project.
00:59 We have to stay together and get each other through this.
01:02 It's inappropriate to use a 10-year-old child in a public debate.
01:05 He won the first round of this battle.
01:08 A court order giving him access to the reserve.
01:10 We're seeing terrible environmental destruction.
01:14 Towns decimated, communities ruined.
01:16 If we do nothing, we're in trouble.
01:19 Steve, look. Look right there.
01:24 What's it doing?
01:26 Why is it... Don't get too close.
01:28 Why isn't it going into the water?
01:29 It's dead. It's dead, Terri. It's dead.
01:32 It's dead.
01:33 God, it's dead.
01:34 We got this phone call and apparently there was a crocodile in North Queensland
01:41 that was in danger of being shot.
01:45 Poachers were after it.
01:46 So they said, "Do you want to come back and try to catch this crocodile?"
01:51 Unfortunately, we didn't save the big male crocodile and we found his body.
01:55 Now he's lost. Gone forever. A real shame.
02:00 But we were able to catch his female.
02:02 OK, Terri. I want you to come up here and I want you to rest your weight right on him.
02:11 Get right into it, babe. Get right into it.
02:14 I'm really scared.
02:15 That's OK.
02:15 Come on, babe. Drop back.
02:16 OK, I'm back.
02:19 OK.
02:20 That's incredible.
02:33 I've been put on this planet to protect wildlife and wilderness areas,
02:40 which in essence is going to help humanity.
02:42 I want to have the purest oceans.
02:43 I want to be able to drink water straight out of that creek.
02:46 I want to stop the ozone layer.
02:48 I want to save the world.
02:49 And you know money? Money's great.
02:51 I can't get enough money.
02:52 And you know what I'm going to do with it?
02:54 I'm going to buy wilderness areas with it.
02:56 Every single cent I get goes straight into conservation.
02:59 The time has come where if we don't get animals into people's hearts,
03:04 they're going to go extinct.
03:06 Eastern Australia has been placed alongside the most infamous places
03:11 in the world for forest destruction.
03:13 Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent.
03:16 We're running out of time right now, Larry, right now as we stand here.
03:20 Our animals are dying.
03:22 Their habitat's being destroyed.
03:23 Steve was always in a hurry.
03:25 I want to get as much done as I can while I'm here.
03:29 I just can't do enough.
03:30 It drives me crazy that I've got to go to sleep.
03:33 What made Steve a wildlife warrior and what makes him so different to everyone
03:37 was he was prepared to do anything for the protection of wildlife.
03:41 He was afraid of nothing.
03:42 And the most important thing to him was to get people to embrace wildlife.
03:48 He came running in one evening after sitting by the fire for a little while,
03:56 and he said, "We've got to have children.
04:00 We've got to have children."
04:02 And so I was like, "Well, what's the urgency?"
04:04 And he said, "Who are we going to leave this all to?"
04:07 The whole reason you've been put on Earth is to do this.
04:13 It's what it seems like.
04:14 When my children can take the football that I call wildlife conservation and run it up,
04:25 when they're ready to run up our mission, I will gladly step aside.
04:31 And I guarantee you it'll be the proudest moment of my life.
04:35 And my job will be done.
04:37 Then and only then will I know that I have achieved my ultimate goal.
04:43 To be able to stand aside and let them run up my mission.
04:48 I remember Steve saying to me, "I'm getting to the point in my life
04:58 where I would like to spend more time being a dad and less time filming."
05:05 So he said, "I think after this documentary, I'm just going to slow down a bit with the filming."
05:11 Steve was standing at the runway and waving goodbye.
05:13 And it was just this incredibly, I don't know, poignant moment.
05:20 We all kind of had this strange sense of, I don't know, foreboding.
05:30 It just felt really weird.
05:31 It felt like we should be together.
05:33 And I remember Steve and I had said, "You know, as long as we're together, we'll always be okay."
05:39 I was traveling, so I couldn't get phone reception.
05:49 So no one could reach me.
05:50 And when I got to the destination for the night, they said, "You have an urgent message."
05:57 And it was my brother-in-law on the phone.
05:59 And he told me what happened.
06:01 And I remember thinking, "Don't say it.
06:06 Don't say it.
06:06 Don't say it."
06:08 He was swimming in shallows above a large stingray.
06:14 It turned quickly and lashed out with its tail.
06:16 The venomous barb pierced Erwin's chest.
06:19 I looked out the window and I thought, "Oh, my children."
06:34 He wouldn't have wanted to leave the children.
06:37 And I told her everything about it.
06:42 And she cried and cried and cried.
06:45 And I said, "We're still a family.
06:48 Daddy still loves you."
06:51 The exuberant conservationist known as the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Erwin, died today,
06:57 killed by one of the dangerous animals that he spent his life protecting.
07:01 People continue to leave floral tributes at Steve's Australia Zoo.
07:05 Steve Erwin will be remembered as a wonderful showman and a passionate conservationist.
07:09 But most of all, he was a husband and a father.
07:12 What will you miss the most?
07:15 You know what I'll miss the most?
07:18 And it's very selfish.
07:20 He was fun.
07:23 Steve was fun.
07:27 He didn't sweat the little stuff.
07:31 He saw the big picture.
07:33 And he had fun.
07:35 Well, I'm going to work really hard at having fun again.
07:41 Oh, I hope you do.
07:43 Well, I'm Mrs. Steve Erwin.
07:47 I've got a lot to live up to.
07:49 It's been less than a year since the Crocodile Hunter tragically passed away,
07:57 but his legacy is already under attack.
08:00 Steve Erwin's family is managing the conservation and research of crocodiles
08:05 at a nature reserve named in his honour.
08:07 But it's also rich in minerals, and now the miners want to move in.
08:12 Paul Messinger heads the mining company that's taking on the Erwins.
08:16 Terry was serious about conservation.
08:18 She should be encouraging us and working with us.
08:21 So this is it.
08:22 This is the bauxite that makes the aluminium.
08:25 That's the ore itself right there.
08:27 And this stuff has locked you in a fight with the mine.
08:30 This is what it's all about.
08:31 Absolutely.
08:31 China has huge demand for aluminium.
08:35 If they don't get it from us, they'll be getting it from rainforests in Borneo.
08:40 So are you saying this is the lesser of two evils?
08:43 This is not an evil.
08:44 This is a good project.
08:46 I've lost so much sleep over this and had such concern over this.
08:54 This stunning rainforest was the last place they were together as a family.
08:58 This was dad's favourite place in the entire world.
09:03 There's a whole host of species that live here.
09:05 I'm hoping to see a few of them.
09:07 More bad news for Steve Erwin's family, just days before the anniversary of his death.
09:18 Paul Messinger won the first round of this battle.
09:21 A court order giving him access to the reserve to carry out an environmental impact study.
09:26 Not only did Terry Erwin lose the court battle against Cape Illumina,
09:31 she's being forced to pay the company's legal fees as well.
09:34 What they don't tell you when you lose someone is that you're afraid.
09:40 And you expect to be sad.
09:48 But it's a bit scary too.
09:49 Tackling things on my own.
09:52 And not having my best friend.
09:56 It's hard now. I'm really trying.
10:03 I know and I appreciate it.
10:04 But I've lost my prince.
10:06 I've lost my prince.
10:10 The opposition's hard and it keeps coming.
10:13 But I ain't stopping until my kids can run it up for me.
10:16 My daddy was my hero.
10:19 He was always there for me when I needed him.
10:22 I know that daddy had an important job.
10:24 He was working to change the world so everyone would love wildlife like he did.
10:29 He built a hospital to help animals and he bought a farm.
10:33 He was a great dad.
10:35 He was a great dad.
10:36 He was a great dad. He was a great dad.
10:40 He was a great dad. He was a great dad.
10:43 I don't want daddy's passion to ever end.
10:45 I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did.
10:49 Daddy made this place his whole life.
10:52 Now it's our turn to help daddy.
10:54 If we do nothing, we're in trouble.
10:58 And he did more than anybody.
11:01 So I think we can all do something.
11:03 We will be wildlife warriors.
11:06 Like Steve Irwin.
11:08 As miners prepare to move in on Steve Irwin's land,
11:13 his young children are joining the fight.
11:15 To get to the bauxite, which is what the mining company wants,
11:19 first they'll take away all of the trees, grasses and other plants.
11:23 And then they'll take away all of the topsoil.
11:26 And then finally they can reach the bauxite.
11:30 There's nothing left.
11:33 There are frogs, crustaceans and fish that live in this water
11:37 and rainforests that are fed by this water.
11:40 So all of that would die.
11:42 We're talking about complex issues and I think it's inappropriate to use
11:46 a 10-year-old child in a public political debate of this nature.
11:49 No one made it more poignant that one person could make a difference than Steve.
11:55 If you've gotten a message and something important to say
11:58 and you have the opportunity to reach a greater audience,
12:02 I think it's important.
12:03 An online petition has been created hoping to get public support
12:08 to help save Steve's place.
12:10 The mining company going against the Irwins is pushing back against
12:13 their online petition claiming that it is emotional manipulation.
12:17 I know I can win. I'm very confident.
12:19 I don't want to look back on this in 20 years and say,
12:22 "What an embarrassment that we let this go."
12:25 I want this to be a global triumph.
12:28 It's cool to actually carry on where our dad left off.
12:33 To keep his memory alive and protect the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve
12:37 for future generations to come.
12:39 After an emotional six-year battle with millions of dollars
12:42 spent on petitions and campaigns,
12:44 the Irwin family's fight has finally come to an end.
12:48 In a shocking turn of events,
12:50 the Queensland government announced that mining will be banned
12:53 on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve,
12:56 giving the reserve more protection than the Great Barrier Reef.
12:59 This incredible wilderness area is the size of the city of Chicago and New York,
13:07 combined 335,000 acres of government protected land.
13:23 I cannot tell you how much just respect and admiration I have for my mum.
13:29 She could see this legacy that he started and she said,
13:33 "You know what? I'm making sure that this is going to continue and grow
13:37 and get bigger and better every single year."
13:39 G'day and welcome to Australia Zoo.
13:42 G'day and welcome to Australia Zoo.
13:45 My mum and dad built the zoo from a tiny little reptile park to what it is today.
13:50 Isn't it incredible?
13:51 (MUSIC)
13:57 We've expanded our conservation properties.
14:01 We've got a wildlife hospital now that's treated over 76,000 animals.
14:05 I'm very proud of being part of something
14:10 that is now even bigger than when Steve was here.
14:13 And, you know, everyone saw dad as this larger than life character,
14:18 which he was in real life.
14:20 120% every single day.
14:22 But, you know, mum's the one who's kept it going.
14:24 Pretty special.
14:26 We want to make sure that everything that dad lived and died for
14:33 continues on forever.
14:34 And we work every single day with our conservation.
14:37 That's my mission.
14:38 I want to really continue his work
14:41 and make sure that his memory and his message is kept alive.
14:45 It's never really been what we do, it's just who we are.
14:48 I know he'd be very proud of his kids today
14:51 and what they are achieving in their lives.
14:54 When they're ready to run up our mission,
14:57 I will gladly step aside.
15:00 Then, and only then, will I know that I have achieved my ultimate goal.
15:07 [Music]
15:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]