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Case Study #2

Terri Irwin and the Australia Zoo Rhiannon Beunder COM 465

Central Washington University

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When people hear about the man Steve Irwin, they instantly think about the crazy Australian man that wrestled crocodiles. There was a lot more to Steve Irwin than that, he ran Australia Zoo in Queensland, a place of conservation and education.

The Zoo has been running for forty years now and is very famous, thanks to the crocodile television show that was hosted by Steve Irwin that would air mainly on the Animal Planet channel. The “Crocodile Hunter” movie was also a big hit all over the world and it mainly showed the Irwin family’s conservation efforts to do research and save endangered species and their habitats. On September 4th, 2006, an unfortunate diving accident happened with a stingray in the waters of Australia that took Steve Irwin’s life, leaving his wife Terri Irwin and his two children.

Steve Irwin’s death shocked the whole world, it was difficult for even myself to absorb the news of one of my favorite idols. Although this was the one of the worst events that had taken place in the Irwin family’s life, they were able stay strong and remember that Steve died doing what he loved. Terri Irwin, Steve’s wife ended up taking over Australia Zoo, which she still runs successfully today.

Running Australia Zoo has not been an easy job for the single mother over the past years as stated on celebitchy.com, “Terri Irwin has never been particularly liked in Australia, mostly because of her grating accent and now for putting Bindi into the spotlight.” I can personally relate to the first half of the statement as I was born in Australia but grew up all over the world, my accent has become

Americanized. When I returned to Australia to visit some of my childhood friends and have Christmas with my family I was told by young Australian man to “go back 3 to where you came from you bloody American.” The fact that certain “people” did not approve of Terri running the Australia Zoo did not bother her as she proceeded to do so. She did not necessarily put Bindi into the spotlight because her daughter was naturally born into it and she has always looked up to her father as mentioned in several interviews throughout the years.

After Steve Irwin died Terri began having conflicts with Bob Irwin, Steve’s father who ended up leaving the organization. Donna Field stated on ABC’s television network in an Interview that Bob started a reptile park in the 1970s, which is now Australia Zoo. In the 2008 interview it was confirmed that Australia

Zoo was two and a half million dollars in debt and due to poor conservation practices Bob Irwin thought it would just be best if he left because of his and Terri’s disagreements. Celebitchy.com wrote that he left because in the interview he demonstrated that he is “unhappy with the management of Australia Zoo,” mainly

“because it is now less about conservation and more about tourism.” On a media release from Bob Irwin on The Sunday Mail, he says that Steve's ultimate passion, even from a young boy, was always for the conservation of Australian wildlife and its habitat. When Judy and I move to our new property we intend to carry on with wildlife rehabilitation and conservation projects and therefore continue Steve's and my dream.”

While Steve’s father continues to pursue the dream, Terri Irwin remains running Australia Zoo with her two children. The organization may not be the exact same as it was before with the focus on conservation but how much can a single 4 mother do? The popularity of the Australia Zoo still creates a vast amount of awareness for conservation because it is still a large part of the zoo. This includes projects, programs, properties and partnerships with other organizations such as the popular Sea Shepherd Conservation Society which fights against the Japanese whaling fleet as stated on Australia Zoo’s official website. They have saved over 500 whales so far. The Zoo has also recently had their first birth of a baby rhino, a very endangered species. Not only is the Australia Zoo breeding endangered species but recently they have created a lot of animal cruelty awareness due to a koala almost being killed last year because it was shot at. On March 11th this year the zoo was involved in the rescue of the Siamese Crocodile in Cambodia, which is almost extinct. As stated on the Zoo’s website, the Australia Zoo Rescue Unit travelled overseas to try to rescue and relocate the species. This just goes to show what amazing lengths Australia Zoo does go to in order to be successful in their conservation goals.

The Zoo does their part in not only helping animals but also helping other human beings. Australia Zoo works with several other organizations such as the Red

Cross, the make-a-wish foundation, the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Reunite service and several other humanitarian aid companies. There are also education programs at the zoo such as excursions and an education center. The zoo has it’s own magazine called “Crikey!” which keeps children interested, educated and involved. 5

The Australia Zoo is successful when relating it to Katherine Miller’s five criteria. They work with other organizations on a regular basis; the employees have goals and mottos and everyone involved at the zoo has similar beliefs and reasons for why they want to be there. The workers are there to not only earn money but they mostly feel passionate towards their work with animals. Volunteers and employees strive to make a difference with the conservation and care of different animal species in Australia and all around the world.

There are a lot of people involved with Australia Zoo and there is a great organizational structure shown throughout the website. Terri Irwin being the leader and then the rest of the employees. There are employees working for admissions, zoo keepers, security, tour guides which is part of marketing and guest relations, rescue teams, advertisers, the magazine, shops, management and even first aid.

Although Terri Irwin lost the love of her life and became a single mother of two children, I believe that she has done an amazing job with running the Australian

Zoo despite coming across certain problems such as society’s judgments and the conflict with Bob Irwin. The Australia Zoo continues to be a successful organization today, which would without a doubt, make Steve Irwin extremely proud.

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Bibliography Callinan, Rory. (Sep 4, 2006). Death of a Crocodile Hunter. TIME Magazine. Retrieved

from the World Wide Web on May 6, 2011 from http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1531446,00.html

Field, Donna. (April 7, 2008). Bob Irwin discusses Australia Zoo decision. The World Today, ABC Television. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on May 10, 2011 from http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2209777.htm

Helen. (March 3, 2008). Steve Irwin’s family are feuding. Celebitchy. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on May 6, 2011 from http://www.celebitchy.com/category/terri_irwin/

Irwin, Bob. (March 1, 2008). Full text of Bob Irwin’s media statement. The Sunday

Mail. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on on May 10, 2011 from http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/text-of-bob- irwins-statement/story-e6freoof-1111115691207

The Australia Zoo. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on May 6, 2011 from

http://www.australiazoo.com.au/