Robert Clarence Irwin (born 1 December 2003)[1] is an Australian conservationist, television personality, wildlife photographer, and actor. He is the only son of conservationists Steve and Terri Irwin, and is often noted to share similarities with his late father.[2] A zookeeper at Australia Zoo, Irwin is frequently involved in activities that his father originally participated in.
During a public show one month after Irwin was born, his father carried him in his arm while hand feeding a chicken carcass to a 3.8-metre (12ft 6in)saltwater crocodile.[9] Irwin was close to the reptile, and comparisons were made in the press to the singer Michael Jackson dangling his son Prince outside of a German hotel window.[10] The incident prompted the Queensland Government to change its crocodile handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.[11] Special dispensation, however, was granted to a child who met a very strict set of guidelines and training requirements.[11]
When Irwin was two years old, his father was killed by a stingray injury to the heart while filming an underwater documentary.[12] His mother was named the sole owner of Australia Zoo, where he and his sister were homeschooled following their father's death.[13] In 2012, at age 8 years and nine months, and after extensive training and under expert supervision, Irwin was allowed to feed freshwater crocodiles for the first time,[14] whose males max out at about 3 metres (9.8ft).[15]
Irwin was runner-up in the junior category of the 2016 Australian GeographicNature Photographer of the Year competition.[21][22] Irwin is also a photography contributor to the Australia Zoo Crikey magazine.[23] He uses his love for photography to help raise awareness about wildlife conservation. He has also raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Irwins' non-profit organization Crocodile Diaries by auctioning canvas prints of his work at events worldwide. He has also met with world leaders such as His Majesty King Charles III to discuss the protection of natural habitat.[23]
Irwin has embarked upon many photography expeditions around the globe[23]
On 6 April 2017, Irwin was invested as a member and ambassador of Scouts Australia, formalising a partnership between the organisation and Australia Zoo. The partnership aims to encourage Australia's young people to become involved with wilderness and conservation.[27][28] He has also given various interviews to magazines for teenagers as a current reference such as Vanity.[29]
On Australia Zoo TV, Irwin appears on his own channel.[30]
In 2020, he guest starred in the Bluey episode "The Quiet Game",[31] voicing a dingo retail clerk named Alfie.
In February 2022, during filming for an episode of Crikey! It's the Irwins, Irwin had to make an emergency escape from a crocodile enclosure after an overzealous 3.7-metre-long (12ft), 350-kilogram (770lb) saltwater crocodile, named Casper, ignored the food Irwin was offering him and instead made a beeline for Irwin himself. Irwin managed to scale the enclosure walls just in time and avoided injury.[32][33][34]
↑ McIlveen, Luke (4 September 2006). "Irwin's Death was Filmed". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on 20 September 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
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