Today Google is commemorating the life and legacy of Steve Irwin, a conservationist and TV personality — who is known for the series The Crocodile Hunter. Early in his life, Irwin inherited a love of large reptiles and shared it on his TV show while working at the Australia Zoo. And his family carried this tradition forward.
The Google Doodle image features Irwin holding a crocodile, which he was famous for doing on his TV show. And the Google Doodle is animated so users who click on it will be able to see more images with the family.
Steve Irwin was born on February 22, 1962 in Upper Fern Tree Gully, Victoria, Australia. Then the Irwin family moved to Beerwah on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 1970 and opened a roadside wildlife park called Beerwah Reptile Park — which was renamed to Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. Then Steve helped monitor, study, and relocate crocodiles living close to populated areas. Irwin’s wife, Dr. Terri Irwin AM (Order of Australia) visited the roadside park in 1991 while visiting Australia with some friends. About a year later, Steve got married to Terri at her grandmother’s church in Eugene, Oregon.
“Afterward, we received a phone call about a poacher trying to kill a large crocodile in North Queensland, so instead of a honeymoon, Steve and I went to Australia to save the croc before the bad guys got him. We invited a film crew to come along and document our efforts,” wrote Dr. Terri Irwin in a blog post. “Although we didn’t arrive in time to save the crocodile, we did save his mate. She was a beautiful girl, not quite 10 feet long. We didn’t know it at the time, but this would turn out to be the very first episode of ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ and the beginning of a 14-year adventure, filming in locations across Australia and around the world.”
In 1998, their daughter Bindi was born — which is the same year that the zoological park was named to Australia Zoo. And Robert Irwin was born in 2003. Now the Australia Zoo has more than 1,200 animals and nearly 1,000 acres. And Bindi, Robert, and Terri are protecting nearly half a million acres of habitat and run a non-profit organization that supports conservation projects around the world. Plus they run a Wildlife Hospital that has treated over 82,000 sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife.
“As Wildlife Warriors, we continue the battle to protect wilderness areas just like Steve did. Our global conservation programs protect many vulnerable and critically endangered species including rhinos in Kenya, tigers in Sumatra, elephants in Cambodia, crocodiles home in Australia and many more,” added Terri. “We’ve also continued the longest running and most comprehensive crocodile research program in the world aiming to educate people everywhere about the essential role crocodiles play in our eco-system as apex predators and why they deserve to be conserved for future generations. We do this work every day to honor Steve’s memory, and now today’s Doodle honors him, too.”
The Doodle is going to be live in Australia, the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America from February 22nd at 12:01 AM in each country and run for 24 hours.
Google Assistant will also talk about Steve Irwin’s journey when hearing the command “Hey Google, crikey.”
