Robert Irwin (conservationist)

Robert Clarence Irwin (born 1 December 2003) is an Australian conservationist, wildlife photographer, and television personality. The son of conservationists Steve and Terri Irwin, he manages Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, and is frequently involved in activities that his father originally participated in.

Irwin starred in and co-produced the Animal Planet television series Crikey! It's the Irwins (2018–2022) with his mother and older sister, Bindi. He currently co-hosts the Network 10 entertainment program I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here alongside Julia Morris, which earned him Logie Award nominations for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television and Most Popular Presenter. Irwin also won the thirty-fourth season of the American competition series Dancing with the Stars alongside Witney Carson.

Early life

Robert Clarence Irwin was born on 1 December 2003 in Buderim, Queensland. His father, Steve Irwin (1962–2006), was an Australian conservationist best known for his wildlife documentary series The Crocodile Hunter (1996–2004). Steve owned and operated Australia Zoo with his wife Terri Irwin (née Raines), an American zoologist from Eugene, Oregon. Irwin was named after his paternal and maternal grandfathers, Bob Irwin and Clarence Raines. He has an older sister, Bindi, who is also a conservationist and television personality. The siblings are dual citizens of Australia and the United States, and are of English, Irish, and Swedish descent.

Irwin was blessed by Tibetan Buddhist nuns during a ceremony held by his parents at Australia Zoo one month after he was born. Moments later, his father carried him in his arm while hand feeding a chicken carcass to a 3.8-metre (12 ft 6 in) saltwater crocodile, named Murray. Irwin was close to the reptile, which sparked international media outrage and brought comparisons to the singer Michael Jackson dangling his son outside of a hotel window one year prior. The incident prompted the Queensland Government to change its crocodile handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures. Special dispensation, however, was granted to a child who met a very strict set of guidelines and training requirements.

When Irwin was two years old, his father was killed by a stingray barb injury to the heart while filming an underwater documentary. He was homeschooled at Australia Zoo for his entire education, allowing flexibility for his wildlife and media commitments. Irwin developed an interest in photography partly through his father; he found it to be an "individual" way of continuing his work. He started taking photographs when he was six years old using a point-and-shoot camera and later received his first DSLR, the Canon EOS 700D. He graduated high school with two TAFE certificates when he was fifteen years old.

Career

2004–2013: Early beginnings

Irwin made his television debut during his parents' appearance on the interview program Enough Rope with Andrew Denton in March 2004. He made two appearances on his sister's television series Bindi the Jungle Girl (2007–2008), and had an uncredited cameo role in the family film Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove. At the age of eight, following extensive training, Irwin was allowed to feed alligators and freshwater crocodiles for the first time under expert supervision.

In March 2013, Irwin earned his first Logie Award nomination for Most Popular New Male Talent for his role on the Network 10 program Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors. He also released a series of children's books titled Dinosaur Hunter, which he provided illustrations and co-authored with Lachlan Creag and Jack Wells. Irwin was involved in a six-year campaign, led by his mother, to prevent bauxite strip mining at the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on the Cape York Peninsula. The Queensland Government passed legislation to protect the reserve from mining in November.

2014–2017: Rise to prominence

On his tenth birthday, Irwin fed his first large saltwater crocodile, named Monty, at the Australia Zoo's Crocoseum. He was supervised and assisted by Wes Mannion, the zoo's director and his late father's best friend. Irwin made his television hosting debut alongside Isabel Yamazaki on the Discovery Asia-Pacific science program Wild But True (2014–2015), which explored biomimetics. The program was nominated for Best Kids: Factual at the 5th International Emmy Kids Awards. Irwin made a guest appearance on the second season of the British documentary series Ten Deadliest Snakes with Nigel Marven. He was named the junior runner-up of Australian Geographic's 2016 Nature Photography of the Year competition for his image of a large male saltwater crocodile resting on a riverbank in Northern Queensland.

Beginning in February 2017, Irwin made regular appearances on the NBC late-night program The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He made eleven appearances on the show in a span of two years and found success with American television viewers by presenting various animals to host Jimmy Fallon and comedian Kevin Hart. Irwin was invested as a member and ambassador of Scouts Australia on 6 April 2017, formalising a partnership between the organisation and Australia Zoo that aimed to encourage Australian youth to get involved with wilderness and conservation. Irwin was a junior finalist for Australian Geographic's 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year competition. His image of a young spotted python slithering in the bushland of the Cape York Peninsula was exhibited at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide and the Australian Museum in Sydney.

2018–2019: Photography recognition and Crikey! It's the Irwins

In April 2018, Irwin and his family unveiled his father's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and met with Charles, Prince of Wales at Lady Elliot Island to discuss the future of the Great Barrier Reef. He was named a junior finalist for Australian Geographic's 2018 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his image of a sunset at the Great Dividing Range. In October, Irwin started running Australia Zoo's daily crocodile feeding demonstrations; a job previously held by his father. He also starred in and co-produced the Animal Planet television program Crikey! It's the Irwins alongside his mother and sister. The series, like The Crocodile Hunter franchise, followed the family and their work at Australia Zoo across four seasons.

For capturing a tundra swan at the Klamath Basin in Oregon, Irwin was highly honoured in the youth category at the 2018 Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards and was exhibited at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. His image of a huntsman spider in mid-air while clutching a dead frog was highly commended in the youth category at the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.

Two of Irwin's photographs, featuring an Eurasian dotterel and an emu, were commended in the youth category at the 2019 BirdLife Australia Photography Awards. He was named a junior finalist for Australian Geographic's 2019 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his image of a bearded dragon camouflaging on a log in Blackbutt, Queensland. Two of his photographs were highly honoured at the 2019 Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards; one image featured one of the last known northern white rhinoceroses in the world at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The Queensland Tourism Industry Council declared Irwin their Young Achiever of the Year, in recognition of his contributions to "the development of a vibrant and professional tourism industry."

2020–2024: I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Annastacia Palaszczuk, the premier of Queensland, recruited Irwin for a domestic tourism campaign encouraging Australians to spend their holiday at the state. He was named the junior runner-up for Australian Geographic's 2020 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his close-up image of an Australian scrub python. Irwin won the People's Choice Award at the 2020 Wildlife Photography of the Year Awards for capturing a large bushfire burning near the border of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve during Australia's Black Summer. The image was exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London.