Chapter 9
A Terrible Accident
In 2005, the Discovery Kids channel wanted Bindi to have her own show. Like Steve, she had grown up in a zoo. She knew almost as much about animals as Steve did.
Bindi wanted to do it. She was excited to teach kids to love animals. Steve and Terri agreed.
Bindi: The Jungle Girl began filming in 2006. Bindi was eight years old. On the show, she lived in a jungle tree house filled with snakes and birds and all kinds of Australian animals. Sometimes Steve and Terri came to visit. Sometimes her little brother, Robert, joined her.
Bindi and Steve took viewers to the United States to meet some American animals. They went to Africa to learn about lions. When they weren’t traveling, Bindi explored the zoo. Wes was the manager now. He became part of the show, too. Bindi introduced the zoo animals. She pointed out all the gorgeous changes that were taking place. Viewers watched hundreds of birds in the rain forest aviary. They attended croc shows in the new 5,500-seat Crocoseum. They learned about crocodiles, birds, snakes, and other animals. They visited Steve’s beloved new Wildlife Hospital, built in honor of his mother, Lyn. Bindi explained that volunteer wildlife ambulances pick up injured or orphaned wildlife. Vets at the hospital work to save them all.
When Steve wasn’t helping Bindi, he was working on a new TV documentary. Ocean’s Deadliest starred Steve and Philippe Cousteau Jr. Steve and Philippe introduced viewers to the great white shark, the blue-ringed octopus, the box jellyfish, and other dangerous creatures in the South Pacific Ocean.
On September 4, 2006, Steve and Philippe were filming on Steve’s boat around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The weather turned too dark to film in deep water. Steve decided to do some shallow-water filming.
Steve got into a blow-up dinghy. Justin Lyons, one of the cameramen, went with him. Near the shore, they noticed a huge, eight-foot-wide stingray fish. They decided to film it.
Stingrays are usually very calm creatures. But if a ray feels threatened, it will attack with the stinger on its tail. Some massive stingrays have stingers up to fourteen inches long.
Steve and Justin got into the water. Steve was behind the stingray. Justin was filming from the front. Suddenly the ray raised its tail and started stabbing at Steve with its stinger. One of the strikes pierced Steve’s heart. At first, Justin didn’t realize how badly hurt Steve was. He placed him in the dinghy and raced for help. But there was nothing anyone could do. Steve Irwin died quickly. He was forty-four years old.
The next day, newspapers all over the world announced that the Crocodile Hunter had died. Fans everywhere mourned their hero. People in Australia lowered flags in his honor. Australian officials suggested they hold a state funeral. The Irwin family talked it over and politely declined. Steve would want to be remembered as an “ordinary bloke,” his father, Bob, said. Instead, a memorial service was held in the Australia Zoo’s Crocoseum. All 5,500 seats were filled.
