Little-Known Facts About Steve Irwin’s Life Expose An Even Wilder Side To The Crocodile Hunter

Crikey, mate! We all knew Steve Irwin was a bit of a wild one. You don’t earn the nickname Crocodile Hunter for nothing! But with all that craziness going down on his shows, you may at least have expected him to have a relatively subdued home like. Well, think again. Behind the scenes, Steve and his family were even more complex than they appeared — and arguably even madder than their on-screen personas.

1. Steve never carried antivenom

Rather shockingly, considering what his job entailed, Steve didn’t carry antivenom with him. In 1998 he told Reptiles magazine, “I take great pride in telling you, the world… everyone, I don’t get envenomated. I don’t carry [antivenom], never have, never will.” Instead, he said, “Karma exudes through my fingertips into the animal, and they feel a lot more comfortable, and I don’t get bitten.” But maybe don't try this at home, folks!

2. Steve approved of tiger shows

Long before Tiger King hit our screens, showmen Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn had a tiger show in Las Vegas. It ended in 2003 after a tiger gripped Roy by the neck and mutilated him. The following year Larry King asked Steve about both this incident and tiger shows in general. And Steve said he supported them, saying, “I believe that the time has come where if we don’t get animals into people’s hearts, they’re going to go extinct.” We wonder what he would have thought of Joe Exotic and the gang!

3. Terri Irwin thought people wanted to see Steve get hurt

Steve’s wife, Terri, had an idea about why The Crocodile Hunter shows were so popular. In 2001 she told Scientific American magazine, “[Audiences] tune in because they want to see this guy die or get badly hurt.” But, she added, “Instead, they get a message about wildlife. And they get [to] see a guy who says, ‘Isn’t this rattlesnake beautiful?’ Who else says that?”

4. Steve was slammed for holding his baby near a crocodile

Babies and crocodiles shouldn’t mix, as Steve found out in 2004. That year, some footage of him holding his baby son as he fed a crocodile was circulated around the media — and there was utter outrage. Politicians and audiences alike condemned him. And another crocodile farmer named Keith Cook told the Courier-Mail newspaper, “I think he’s a bloody idiot.”

5. Terri thought meeting Steve was “a fluke”

On a 2020 episode of Crikey! It’s the Irwins, Terri remembered how she met Steve. She said, “It was such a fluke. I mean, visiting Australia… driving past what was then the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and just happening to go in. And on that day, Steve happened to be doing the croc demonstration… I really wanted to get to know him.” The rest is history.

6. Steve always thought he would die young

In 2018 Terri appeared on ABC’s Anh’s Brush With Fame and revealed something about Steve. She said, “You know, he never thought he would have a long life. He just always kind of had this sense that his life would be cut short. I remember him saying to me, ‘I don’t think I am going to film anymore. I think I am just going to spend time with my kids.’”

7. Steve’s father turned down a state funeral for him

After Steve’s tragic death, the Australian government floated the idea of giving him a state funeral. But Bob Irwin, his dad, said it wasn’t what his son would have wanted. Speaking to the media from the Australia Zoo, Bob said, “He was just an ordinary bloke, and he wants to be remembered as an ordinary bloke.”

8. Steve wasn’t a vegetarian

Surprisingly, Steve was all for eating animals. In 2001 he told Scientific American magazine, “I went through a big stage of my life where I thought, you know, maybe it would be better to be a vegetarian, so I researched it. In no uncertain terms did I research it.” But he ultimately concluded it would be better if he ate meat.

9. An Irwin documentary helped to save a child

In 2001 Terri told Scientific American magazine that she’d once gotten mail from a woman who credited an Irwin documentary with helping to save her son from a snakebite. Terri explained, “They put a pressure bandage on, he went to hospital, and he lived to see another day. She said if she hadn’t seen our show, her little boy probably would have died.”

10. Steve was scared of parrots

It seems remarkable that a man who regularly handled crocodiles would be scared of parrots — but Steve was. In 2001 he told Scientific American magazine, “The only animals I’m not comfortable with are parrots. But I’m learning as I go… for some reason parrots have to bite me. That’s their job. I don’t know why that is. They’ve nearly torn my nose off.

11. The Irwins didn’t wear wedding rings

Steve and Terri Irwin were clearly very happy together, but they never seemed to wear their wedding rings. Why? Well, it turns out there was a very simple reason for that — they were worried it would be dangerous if they did. If one of the rings had gotten caught on something or if an animal had managed to eat one, it could have been disastrous.

12. Steve thought Australians found him embarrassing

Steve mused on his image to ABC TV back in 2003. He said the world was “looking at me as this very popular, wildlife warrior Australian bloke.” But, he went on, “Back here in my own country, some people find me a little bit embarrassing… You know, is it a cultural cringe? Is it they actually see a little bit of themselves when they see me and they find that a little embarrassing?”

13. There’s a (dangerous) road bearing Steve’s name

After Steve’s untimely passing, a roadway was named after him in his small Australian hometown of Beerwah. It’s a pretty area with a wonderful view of the stunning Glass House Mountains. But the route is noted for being quite dangerous — just like Steve’s life. There have been a vast amount of traffic-related incidents on it.

14. PETA never approved of him

In February 2019 Google released a Google Doodle of Steve. In response, animal rights group PETA tweeted at them, “Steve Irwin was killed while harassing a ray. He dangled his baby while feeding a crocodile and wrestled wild animals who were minding their own business. Today’s Google Doodle sends a dangerous, fawning message.” He couldn't please everybody...

15. Steve’s mother died in a car crash

The Irwin family had experienced tragedy before Steve’s death, too. In February 2000 the family matriarch Lyn was killed in a car accident, devastating her family. On the official Crocodile Hunter website, there’s still a tribute written from Steve to her. “You are the most beautiful, loving, nurturing, and caring person to have ever blessed this world,” he wrote.

16. Steve was once bitten by a snake live on TV

Back in 1991, Steve went on an Australian TV show to talk about the difference between venomous snakes and non-venomous ones. Luckily, he happened to be unwrapping one of the latter kind from round his neck when it suddenly bit him. Steve remained calm and taught everyone the proper snakebite procedure.

17. Steve sustained many injuries from animals

Over the course of his career, Steve faced a lot of dangerous animals — cassowaries, black mambas, all sorts of things you wouldn’t want to go near. Naturally, he picked up a lot of scars. “I’ve got bites all over me,” he told Larry King in 2004. “I really have, from everything, from non-venomous snakes to big cats to, of course, a lot of croc bites. But nothing serious. I’m a professional.”

18. Steve once saved his friend from a crocodile

Steve’s friend Wes Mannion owes him his life. In 2002 Wes explained what happened to Good Weekend magazine. In his words, “We took our eyes off Graham [the crocodile] for a bit too long, and he came up behind me in waist-deep water and just drilled me into the fence… He was about to grab me on the head when Steve leapt on his tail and hung on.” Wes was left scarred but alive.

19. Steve joked that his dog was his girlfriend

In a 2006 interview with Barbara Walters, Terri discussed her first meeting with her future husband. She got talking to him, and there was clear interest, but then he told her he had a girlfriend. She was “a little bit devastated,” of course, but then Steve introduced her to the lucky lady he’d been referring to — his pet dog.

20. It still saddens Bindi when she sees footage of Steve

Bindi was just eight when her father died, so she missed out on a lot of time with him. That, of course, makes her very sad. In 2019 she told Stellar magazine that once she was “playing the video where [they] petition against harvesting of crocodile eggs. There’s old footage of dad with the crocodiles, and even though I’ve seen the video maybe 50 times, that day I started crying.”

21. Several animal species are named after Steve

Many famous people have species of animals named after them — but Steve has several. First, there’s the Elseya irwini, a kind of turtle that Steve himself discovered. There’s also the Trypanosoma irwini, a microscopic parasite. And we can’t forget the land snail Crikey steveirwini, which not only bears Steve’s name but also his catchphrase.

22. Steve didn’t want to be a dad at first

Like many people, Steve wasn’t sure if he wanted kids. In 2003, after Bindi was born, he told the show Australian Story, “You know what? I never wanted to be a dad. I couldn’t really give a rip, and now I am the proudest father, I gotta tell ya. I can’t dwell on her for too long or I start bawling my eyes out.” Aww.

23. Steve thought crocodiles were easier than people

In Terri’s 2007 book Steve & Me, she revealed one of her husband’s philosophies in life. According to Steve, “Crocodiles are easy. They try to kill and eat you. People are harder. Sometimes they pretend to be your friend first.” And that short quote says an awful lot about the relationship he had with animals.

24. Steve’s controversial actions changed Australian law

The infamous incident where Steve held baby Robert near a crocodile had long-lasting repercussions. It not only went down in Australian history, but it also changed the law. In February 2005 the Australian State Government issued new rules stating that no child and no grown-up without proper training would lawfully be allowed inside a croc enclosure.

25. Steve wanted to cut off a broken finger

In his 2004 interview with Larry King, Steve casually brought up an incident in which one of his fingers “got snapped off behind the knuckle” while catching crocodiles. “I wanted to cut it off,” he said. “But my daughter said ‘Oh please, daddy.’ I said, ‘No, it would be great, Bindi. We’ll have a little pet daddy finger.’ She’s like ‘No, dad.’”

26. A cameraman heard Steve’s last words

Cameraman Justin Lyons was with Steve when he died. And in March 2014 he told Australia’s Channel Ten what he’d witnessed. According to Lyons, “I was saying to him things like, ‘Think of your kids, Steve. Hang on, hang on, hang on.’ And he calmly looked up at me and said, ‘I’m dying,’ and that was the last thing he said.”

27. Steve once saved a diver’s life

In 2003 Steve heard that a scuba diving mission had gone wrong near where he was filming. One of the divers was still missing. So the croc hunter dropped everything and went to see if he could find him — and he succeeded. In 2006 the man, Scott Jones, told The Sydney Morning Herald that Steve had helped to spare his life.

28. Steve always made time for his kids

Steve was by all accounts a very good father. “He put so much time into the kids,” his friend Wes Mannion told the Courier Mail in 2007. “Like, if he was in a meeting and Bindi would come up and go ‘Daddy, daddy’ he wouldn’t go ‘Uh-uh, this is a really important meeting, off you go.’ He would grab her and play with her and love her.”

29. Steve’s father was furious when the cameraman opened up

After Justin Lyons came out and spoke about what he’d witnessed the day Steve died, members of the Irwin family were furious. In May 2015 Steve’s father, Bob, told ABC’s Australian Story, “I personally felt very sad and to a degree angry about what Justin had to say. For a lot of people trying to get on with their lives without Steve — it wasn’t something that helped by any means.”

30. Steve’s death was only the third of its kind in Australia

The way Steve died was incredibly unlikely. Stingrays are usually quite docile and tend not to attack humans. Yet the barb that stung Steve got him right in the chest, and it was a wound he couldn’t survive. The tragedy was reportedly only the third incident on record of a stingray causing death in Australia.

31. Steve was handling dangerous animals from a very young age

Even when he was a child, Steve was allowed to spend time with dangerous animals. In 2004 he told Larry King, “[My parents] started Australia Zoo in 1970, so I was running around in the wilderness since the day I was born… When I was nine years of age, [my dad] allowed me to catch my first croc and I guess I must have made him proud.”

32. Steve was devastated at criticism

After the infamous baby-crocodile incident, Steve was slammed from all sides — and he hated it. In 2004 he told Larry King, “I was absolutely devastated. I was taken to the lowest point of my entire life… The authorities came in, the relevant authorities came in… They did a thorough investigation. There was absolutely no case.”

33. Bindi is named after two animals

Bindi Sue Irwin was born in July 1998. And her parents decided to name her after two of their favorite animals — Bindi, after a female crocodile kept at their zoo, and Sue, after the family pup Sui. Steve also once said that her name means “young girl” in the Nyungar language.

34. The Irwins had an unusual honeymoon

Once they were married, Steve and Terri embarked on their new life together. But they didn’t do any of the stuff that a normal pair of newlyweds would have done. Instead, they headed off to save stricken crocodiles. And the footage that they filmed of this excursion became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter TV show.

35. All footage of Steve’s death was destroyed

After her husband died, Terri was determined that no footage of the accident would ever see the light of day. The Queensland State Police Department viewed the tape as part of their investigation, but then it was destroyed. Sometimes, videos appear online claiming to be the lost footage of Steve’s death, but all of them are fakes.

36. Steve’s children might have been on his last boat ride

Steve’s death was horrible, but it could have been even worse if his kids had been there to witness it. In 2018 Terri told You magazine, “I know how my husband died, and I was relieved that the children weren’t on the boat as they usually would be. It would have been horrendous if they had witnessed it.”

37. There’s reportedly a rift in the Irwin family

Bob Irwin, father of Steve, has reportedly fallen out with the rest of the family. When Bindi got engaged to Chandler Powell in 2019, Bob told the Courier Mail newspaper, “I haven’t had an invite to the wedding. And to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t expect to be invited.” Bindi, for her part, told New Idea magazine in 2015 that her grandfather “chose to distance himself from everything dad loved the most.”

38. Stingrays were found mutilated after his death

Tragically, Steve’s death resulted in something that neither he nor his family would ever have wanted. In the weeks after his death, stingrays were found washed up on beaches, dead and with their tails sliced off — perhaps as an act of revenge from his fans. Steve’s conservation group Wildlife Warriors condemned those actions in the strongest terms.

39. Terri stopped dating after Steve

In 2018 Terri told People magazine that she hadn’t dated since Steve’s death and had no plans to do so. She had, she said, “already had [her] happily ever after.” Rumors have constantly arisen that she’s found romance again — actor Russell Crowe was apparently her new man in 2017. But she’s always rubbished such claims.

40. Terri is relieved a crocodile didn’t kill Steve

Although Steve’s death was a terrible tragedy, Terri thinks there’s a way it could have been more tragic. In October 2018 she told You magazine, with a rueful smile noted by the interviewer, “Steve would be pleased that at least he wasn’t killed by a crocodile. It would have undone all his efforts to change public perceptions about them.”