Terri Irwin

Terri Raines Irwin (née Raines, born July 20, 1964) is an American-Australian conservationist, television personality, author and zookeeper who is the owner of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland. She is the widow of Steve Irwin.

Born in Oregon, she began working for an independent animal rehabilitation center for injured predator mammals at the age of 22 while working for her family's trucking business. She met her husband Steve while touring wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Australia in 1991. The two married in 1992, and went on to co-star in The Crocodile Hunter, their unconventional television nature documentary series and its spin-off series, Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and Crikey! It's the Irwins. They had two children, Bindi and Robert, before Steve's death in 2006 from a stingray injury while filming an underwater documentary.

Following Steve's death, Terri became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. She and her two children continue to operate Australia Zoo.

Early life
Terri Irwin was born Theresa Penelope Raines in Eugene, Oregon, United States, the youngest of three daughters of environmentalist parents, Clarence and Judy Raines. Commenting on her childhood, she said, "My friends and I were truly 'free-range kids.' Summers were spent bicycling around Alton Baker Park or hiking up Spencer Butte in the hopes of catching a glimpse of one of the shy rattlesnakes that sought refuge in the rock escarpments. Winters were spent hoping the Willamette Valley would get snow."

Her family owned a long-haul trucking business and, during her childhood, her father constantly brought home injured animals from the highways on which his trucks traveled; this eventually instilled in her an ongoing commitment to saving and rehabilitating wild animals. While working in the family business in 1986, she started a rehabilitation facility called Cougar Country to re-educate and release predator mammals such as foxes, raccoons, bears, bobcats, and cougars back into the wild. At the facility, she handled up to 300 animals each year.

Career
Terri joined an emergency veterinary hospital in 1989 as a veterinary technician to gain further knowledge on the care and support to all kinds of animals. Her life was very busy, as she was still helping her father run the family business, rehabilitating animals through her Cougar Country, and working at the vet hospital. In addition, she had 15 cats of her own, several birds, and a dog.



In 1991, Terri visited Australia and there met Steve Irwin. They married eight months after their first meeting. Their first television documentary was filmed on their honeymoon. The footage, shot by John Stainton, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which later became successful in the US. The couple settled in Australia shortly after their wedding, with Terri making the decision to leave the Cougar Country project.

In addition to their two popular television programs shown on the Animal Planet television network in the US, in 2002, the Irwins released a feature film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.

In 2018, the series Crikey! It's the Irwins began airing, which focuses on the lives of Terri, Bindi, and Robert at Australia Zoo. It also features Bindi's husband Chandler Powell. The series was renewed for a second season in 2019 and season 2 officially aired on 5 October 2019. After a one year hiatus, the show's third season began airing on 7 February 2021, and ended on 18 April 2021. The series returned for a fourth season in January 2022.

Australia Zoo
During their marriage, Steve and Terri owned and operated Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, as well as filming their TV wildlife documentary series, The Crocodile Hunter. Following Steve's death, Terri became the sole owner of the zoo and continued to operate it with her children.

On March 2, 2008, after Steve's death, it was announced that Steve's father Bob Irwin had resigned from Australia Zoo, which he had founded (as Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park). In a statement, he thanked the staff of the zoo and stated that this decision was in order to "keep his son's dream alive" while he worked on another rescue property with his wife. At that time, the zoo was being sued for $2.5 million by a debt collection agency, but the lawsuit was later dismissed by the court.

In 2019, the zoo announced a new $8 million project "Camp Crocodile," which was originally expected to draw 39,000 visitors each year. In 2022, the Irwin family announced the construction of "The Crocodile Hunter Lodge," a resort style accommodation centre on the grounds of the zoo.

Marriage to Steve Irwin


Terri met Steve Irwin in Australia in 1991. In 1991, Terri went on a tour of Australia, and while visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities, she had a chance meeting with Steve Irwin, whose father had founded Australia Zoo. Steve would later say that "it was love at first sight." They were engaged after four months and on June 4, 1992, they married in Terri's home state of Eugene, Oregon before returning to live in Australia. The Irwins had two children: daughter Bindi on July 24, 1998, and son Robert on December 1, 2003.

In an interview before the birth of their second child, Terri stated about her marriage and working alongside her husband:

"We don't drink, we don't smoke, and we are actually in love and happily married. We love our little girl, we go home to each other at night, and we believe in what we are doing.

Say my husband had a dangerous job and I wasn't with him; I don't know how you go, 'Oh honey, how was it with the police department today? You got all your fingers and toes today?' It would scare me. I'd have to become a police officer and work with him; I couldn't do it."

Terri and her children were reportedly trekking in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, on the morning of September 4, 2006, when Steve died after sustaining heart injuries from a short-tail stingray barb that pierced his chest. He was filming an underwater documentary at the time at Batt Reef near Port Douglas in Queensland.

In her first statement after her husband's death, Irwin announced that the Australian memorial service would be open to the public, and that people who wished to attend should make a donation to Irwin's "Wildlife Warriors" fund. The service was held on September 20, 2006 at Australia Zoo's "Crocoseum," a 5,500-seat open-air amphitheater which Steve had built at the zoo. She also thanked well-wishers for their "overwhelming outpouring of love, support and prayers for [her] family."

Australian TV network Channel 9 screened an interview between Irwin and local presenter Ray Martin, on September 27, 2006. During the interview, she said, "And I'll make Australia Zoo bigger. I'll make it bigger . . . because I promised." On October 31, 2006, Irwin was invited to the Royal Albert Hall to present a Special Recognition Award to Sir David Attenborough at the British National Television Awards. During a short speech, she cited Attenborough as a great inspiration for her husband, saying, "If there's one person, other than his father, who directly inspired my husband, it's the person being honoured tonight... [Steve's] real, true love was conservation – and the influence of tonight's recipient in preserving the natural world has been immense." Attenborough reciprocated by praising her husband for introducing many people to the natural world, saying, "He taught them how wonderful and exciting it was; he was a born communicator."

Irwin published a memoir, My Steve, about her relationship and marriage with Steve Irwin, in 2007.



On January 3, 2007, the only video footage showing the events that led to Steve Irwin's death was handed over to Terri, who said the video would never become public, and noted that her family has not seen the video either. In a January 11, 2007, interview with Access Hollywood, Terri said "all footage has been destroyed."

In a 2018 interview, Terri told People magazine that she had not dated or had a relationship since her husband's death. "There's always the potential to find love again, and that's a beautiful thing . . . but I had my happily ever after," she stated, "[so] I'm doing OK."

Citizenship
American by birth, Terri became an Australian citizen on November 15, 2009. In a tribute to her husband Steve, the citizenship ceremony was held during the Steve Irwin Day celebrations in Australia Zoo's Crocoseum.

Conservation support
Irwin has expressed support for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and was present at the launching of one of the organization's vessels, which was renamed after her husband.

In 2008, she signed on to a three-year research program in correspondence with Australia Zoo supporting the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, funding two US$250,000 research projects on humpback whales. "Learning about whales is part of a bigger picture," she said of the project. "Our oceans are in jeopardy and the more research we gather about whales, the more knowledge we have to help us save, protect and preserve our delicate oceans."

Honours
In 2006, Irwin was made an honorary Member of the Order of Australia for services to wildlife conservation and the tourism industry. (Honorary of the Order of Australia is the appointment rank to non-citizens of Australia; this became a substantive appointment when she became an Australian citizen in 2009.)

Irwin won the 2007 Queensland Telstra Business Women's Award.

She has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Queensland for her work in conservation and support of high-quality research.

In 2014, Irwin was a Queensland finalist for Australian of the Year.

In 2023, Terri Irwin was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in recognition of her exceptional business leadership, her internationally acclaimed contributions to wildlife and habitat conservation, and her significant impact on Australian tourism.