Robert Irwin has opened up about the tragic death of his father, saying he enjoys hearing anecdotes about the “Crocodile Hunter” because each story is like “getting little pieces of him back”.
Robert was a few months shy of his third birthday when his dad Steve Irwin was pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming at the Great Barrier Reef in September 2006.
Now 20, Robert said he enjoyed hearing from people who knew the conservationist best, and those who were simply impacted by his passion.
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“Some people might not want any reminder of that person they’ve lost. For me personally, every time someone comes up to me in the street, it happens every single day, ‘Oh here’s this story about your dad’… I welcome that. I love it,” he told the Mental as Anyone podcast.
“When I see a picture of Dad or footage I actually love having his presence around and living in Australia Zoo, he’s everywhere. The images and the pictures, the video and the sound, he’s still part of every day for me.
“Having lost someone at a very young age, I love getting little pieces of him back. That’s what it feels like.”
Steve wore many hats — zookeeper, educator, conservationist and television personality — and his unbridled passion and dedication for wildlife garnered him an adoring global following that endures today.
He was filming for the documentary Ocean’s Deadliest when he died, aged 44.
Robert, his older sister Bindi and their mother Terri continue to honour Steve’s legacy through their work at Queensland’s Australia Zoo.
Robert said the pain of his dad’s death will always remain but he is comforted by the almost three years he had with “the most amazing, loyal, dedicated involved father figure that anyone could ever have”.
“Everything he did was at 110 per cent with such precision and care and intelligence,” Robert said.
“The building blocks of my life were… saturated by dad’s passion and enthusiasm.
“That’s something I carry with me forever.”
Bearing the Irwin family name may have been a burden for some, but not for Robert, even if there is an “extra element of odd, an extra element of weird” that comes with fame and being in the public eye.
He said he did not take his platform for granted and saw it as an opportunity to make change.
Robert also lifted the lid on what he said was a “low-key” family life.
“What we do is absolutely nuts. Like you’re jumping on crocs, you’re saving wildlife, you’re doing this, you’re doing that but in terms of the Irwin family dynamic we’re… just vanilla ice cream,” he said.
“We are so boring. But it’s great. It’s the way to be. There’s nothing wrong with having a boring family dynamic. In fact, that’s what you’re shooting for.
“For us, there’s never a dull moment but there’s never this sense of drama, there’s never like the fighting and the bickering and this and that, it’s just this tight-knit family unit.”