“Crikey! We will miss you.”
Scrawled on a condolence note, the message summed up the sense of loss
triggered by the shock death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. It was
one of many tributes left by thousands of stunned and teary mourners
who gathered at a massive floral memorial outside Australia Zoo on
Tuesday.
Tributes have been sent from around the world to his grief-stricken family since the death of Steve Irwin, 44, killed Monday by a stingray barb to the chest while snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. A steady stream of fans laid wreaths of flowers, cards and other Irwin-esque tokens such as stuffed crocodiles, gum boots and Aussie flags at the zoo’s entrance.
“Steve is the bomb”, “you are one of the greatest legends” and “Stevo, ‘wow what a little beauty’ you were to this country and state,” were some of the countless condolence messages left at the colourful memorial. Some signed their condolences on a khaki shirt, typical of the kind worn by Mr Irwin, while others placed flowers in the mouth of a large timber crocodile at the zoo’s gates.
‘Australians are are just realising what they have lost’
| Mourners outside Australia Zoo
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Grieving staff described the naturalist as a “great boss and great friend who treated us like family” as they pledged to keep the theme park stores open indefinitely.
Lynette Johnston, looking up at a massive poster of Mr Irwin holding a crocodile to his face, eyes and mouth wide open with excitement, struggled to come to terms with the icon’s death. “I’ve come here today to let it sink in but it hasn’t,” she said. “I just feel so sorry for (his wife) Terri and the kids, they were all so close.”
Despite not knowing him personally, Ms Johnston said she felt like she had lost a member of her own family. “It’s just the way he dealt with the public, he spoke to people like they were human beings, he was your everyday bloke.” Her five-year-old son Thomas said he was sad because he would no longer see his hero “jump on a croc’s back and swim with the whales”.
Australia Zoo spokeswoman Louise Martin said staff were overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotion. “It’s so nice to see them showing their support even if they didn’t know Steve. “It’s good that they feel like they can connect with him.
It’s just amazing.” She said the intense reaction was triggered by his larrikin nature. “He’s one of these Aussie guys you feel you can have a laugh with,” she said. “I guess we also realise the impact he had, not only in Australia, but the rest of the world.”
Fellow employee Gail Gipp added: “Australians are just realising what they have lost.”
Caloundra Mayor Don Aldous
On behalf of all Caloundra City councillors and staff, our deepest sympathies go out to Steve’s wife Terri, to their children, Bindi and Bob, and to all who knew and loved Steve Irwin. Steve was passionate about life. He was passionate about his zoo and the environment. He put Beerwah,
Caloundra City and the Sunshine Coast on the world map. As an environmentalist, a businessman and as a philanthropist, Steve made an enormous contribution, not only to this community but to the world he lived in. He was certainly one of a kind - an icon. He was a great man. But he will not be forgotten. The Australia Zoo, the work he has done for wildlife, and the positive influence he has had as a role model, will stand in his memory.
| Steve Irwin 1962 - 2006
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Federal Member for Longman Mal Brough
On behalf of my wife Sue and my family I would like to extend to Terri, Bindi and Bob Irwin our deepest condolences on the death of Steve. Steve was a larger than life character who was passionate about his family and passionate about the environment. He was a great Australian and will be remembered around the world for his remarkable achievements in not only preserving our environment but also for educating so many people about the importance of protecting our wildlife and our surroundings. Steve was also a great friend and his passing will leave an enormous hole in the lives of those who had the privilege to have known him. He has left a lasting legacy on the Australian landscape and his family should be proud of his achievements. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Member for Glass House Carolyn Male
I feel like I’ve known Steve Irwin all my life. He had that natural ability to put people at ease in his usual down-to-earth manner. I remember one meeting we were having to discuss some key land for conservation. Dressed in my finery,
I was on my way to a Melbourne Cup luncheon. Steve promptly loaded me into a 4-wheel-drive then made me walk through the bush with him. He said, “You’ve just got to see how beautiful this area is, mate, we have to protect it.”
Environment was his passion. His utter zeal for animal welfare has always extended beyond the boundaries of the Zoo and our own native animals in the wilds of Australia. He has singlehandedly raised the environmental consciousness of the world. I’ll miss his infectious enthusiasm, his generosity of spirit, and his passion for people and the environment. We are all the poorer for his passing.
Divisional Cr Anna Grosskreutz
The tragic and untimely death of Steve Irwin is a loss to the planet. This real-life wildlife crusader touched so many people’s lives in so many ways. Steve’s exuberance and passion for wildlife and conservation knew no bounds. His dedication to his family was an inspiration to us all. Communities around the world benefited from Steve’s personal generosity in so many ways.
| Tributes outside Australia Zoo
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The world now has a new generation of young wildlife warriors in the making that idolised our Crocodile Hunter and through Steve’s work learnt the values and importance of understanding and protecting wildlife.
These very young have grown up with sayings such as “Crikey” or “Isn’t she a little beauty”. They wear khaki uniforms and march through urban and rural backyards in the millions.
I wish to express my deepest sympathy to Terri, Bindi and little Bob, Steve’s dad, his sisters, close mates, Australia Zoo staff and all whose lives Steve’s certain style of magic touched.
When the grieving begins to subside and the future starts to appear there will be so many of his plans to complete and a great deal of work to do. The legacy of Steve Irwin must live on.
"He was my best mate ever'" : Bob Irwin
STEVE Irwin’s father Bob asked the media to be mindful of Terri and the children during a press conference yesterday. In a statement to the media at Australia Zoo Mr Irwin described his son as a good mate. He said Steve died doing something that he loved “but there’s no comfort for me in that”.
| Bob Irwin yesterday.
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“Terri’s holding up very well considering. She’s extremely concerned for her children Bindi and Bob – obviously – and that’s the reason I ask the media to please give them a break. “I’d like to thank all the people for the wonderful tributes that have come in. It’s absolutely amazing.”
Mr Irwin said Terri would decide where Steve was buried. Asked whether he thought Steve should have a State Funeral Mr Irwin said dryly: “No. Because he’s just an ordinary bloke”. “Over the years Steve and I have had a lot of adventures together and there’s been many occasions where anything could have gone wrong and Steve knew the risks involved with the type of work he was doing and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
Did you expect such a public outpouring? “Yes I did. There’s never been anybody else that I know of that had the personality of Steve, the strength and the conviction of what he believed in – and his message was conservation. “I’m going to help Terri wherever I can to help carry on the c o n s e r v a t i o n work.”
How would you like Steve to be remembered? “Just as he was. He was an ordinary guy.
He was just like a guy in the street.” How will you cope with the loss? “It’s tough. Steve and I weren’t like father and son. We never were. We were good mates. He was my best mate ever.” What do you think he would have made of all this? “Both of us, over the years, have had some very close shaves and we both approached it the same way. In that we made jokes. That’s not to say we were careless. But it was part of the job.”
Film Footage “shocking”
The freakish death of the Crocodile Hunter was captured on camera as he snorkelled above a large bull stingray in shallow water on the Great Barrier Reef on Monday. A cameraman captured the incident during filming for Mr Irwin’s new TV project with Bindi, eight, that was to debut in the United States next year.
“I did see the footage and it’s shocking”, said John Stainton, a friend of Mr Irwin’s and a producer and director of his popular television shows. “It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and the next minute he’s gone. That was it. The cameraman had to shut down.”
Experts believe Mr Irwin would have died from the traumatic injuries caused by the serrated, dagger-like stingray barb, rather than from the creature’s painful venom. While passive, stingrays are known to strike out if threatened, but police said Mr Irwin was doing nothing to threaten the animal.
Mr Irwin’s body was flown home to the Sunshine coast on Tuesday.
Fans of all ages, some too distressed to speak, laid flowers and other mementoes outside Australia Zoo, including khaki shirts of the type made famous by the naturalist.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has offered the Irwin family a state funeral and said a national park may be named after Steve. However the decision on his funeral will be left to Mr Irwin’s widow Terri, who was with her two children, Bindi, and two year old Bob at their home Tuesday.
A visibly distraught Mr Stainton said those closest to Mr Irwin always feared the ocean would claim the internationally recognised naturalist.
Mr Irwin was filming a documentary, called Oceans Deadliest, when the tragedy occurred. “If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be the ocean, because there is another element,” Mr Stainton said. “On land he was agile, quick thinking, quick moving and the ocean puts another element there that you have no control over.”
Tributes continued to pour in for the Crocodile Hunter, as his death made headlines around the world. In the United States, where Mr Irwin was arguably more famous than in Australia, TV bulletins led with the news and cable channel Animal Planet ran a marathon of Irwin documentaries.
Prime Minister John Howard described Mr Irwin as a talented showman and praised his contributions to tourism and to customs efforts.
“He was a stunningly effective ambassador for Australia: he really did Australia proud,” added Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
Mr Stainton said Mr Irwin told him last week that the month leading up to the reef trip had been the “best month of my life”.
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Range News 2005 - ON 
