Steve Irwin’s father Bob recounts the Wildlife Warrior’s early days catching crocodiles
Steve Irwin’s dad Bob talks about the late Wildlife Warrior’s early days catching crocodiles and setting up Australia Zoo: ‘He fell in love with them just like I did’
Bob Irwin reminisces about his late son Steve Irwin’s love for crocodiles.
In the early days of their conservation work, father and son obtained permission to capture crocodiles and move them to their Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, which eventually became the Australia Zoo.
“Steve fell in love with them just like I did, because they’re the closest animals to the dinosaurs — they haven’t changed much,” Bob shared news.com.au this weekend.
“Not only was it exciting, but it was a pleasure to be out there in the river and catch these animals that are very clever in the way they survive in the wild.”
Bob went on to say that Steve had a natural talent for capturing the terrifying reptiles without harming them.
Bob Irwin reminisces about his late son Steve Irwin’s love for crocodiles. Taking a picture together
In the early days of their conservation work, father and son were given permission to capture and relocate crocodiles to their Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, which eventually became the Australia Zoo
“Steve was really, really good at it. On many occasions I left him alone in a river system to set the traps and catch some crocodiles,” he said.
‘We gradually improved our method. We got better and better… we wanted to make our method as humane as possible for the crocodile.”
Steve, known to millions around the world as “the crocodile hunter,” died on September 4, 2006, at the age of 44 after being stabbed in the chest by a stingray while filming a documentary about the Great Barrier Reef.
In recent years, Bob’s relationship with Australia Zoo and his grandchildren, Robert and Bindi Irwin, has become strained.
Last year, it was said that Bob was angry that he had not yet met his great-granddaughter, who is the first child of his estranged granddaughter Bindi.
“Steve fell in love with them as I did because they are the closest animals to the dinosaurs – they haven’t changed much,” Bob told news.com.au over the weekend
In recent years, Bob’s relationship with Australia Zoo and his grandchildren, Robert and Bindi Irwin, has become strained.
Last year, Bob was said to be upset that he had not yet met his great-granddaughter, who is the first child of his estranged granddaughter. Bindi is pictured with husband Chandler Powell and daughter Grace
Bindi, 24, welcomed her daughter, Grace Warrior Irwin Powell in March 2021, and she has yet to meet her 84-year-old grandfather, Women’s Day claimed in a report.
“He still talks about Steve (Irwin) and the kids, but it’s with sadness. I’m sure he’s devastated that he doesn’t know his great-grandchild,” an alleged insider told the magazine.
The report further claims that all of Bob’s photos were stripped from the Irwin family’s Australia Zoo home.
There is “hardly any evidence that Bob ever existed,” the insider claims. There are pictures of Lyn, Steve and the kids all over the place, but it would be hard to find anything on Bob.
It comes after a friend of the Irwin family said that Bob Sr. is “deeply upset” by Bindi’s claims that he has been “ignoring” her since she was a child – leading those close to him to fear the breakup could have tragic consequences.
Amanda French, co-author of Bob’s 2016 autobiography The Last Crocodile Hunter, said family members have tried to protect Bob from “the full extent” of what Bindi has said about him.
The report further claims that all of Bob’s photos were stripped from the Irwin family’s Australia Zoo home. Bob is pictured with Steve’s widow Terri and grandchildren Bindi and Robert Irwin