Terri Irwin

Terri Raines Irwin (née Raines, born July 20, 1964) is an American-Australian conservationist, television personality, author and zookeeper who is the owner of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland.

She is the widow of Steve Irwin.

Born in Oregon, she began working for an independent animal rehabilitation center for injured predator mammals at the age of 22 while working for her family's trucking business.

While working in the family business in 1986, she started a rehabilitation facility called Cougar Country to re-educate and release predator mammals such as foxes, raccoons, bears, bobcats, and cougars back into the wild.

At the facility, she handled up to 300 animals each year.

Terri joined an emergency veterinary hospital in 1989 as a veterinary technician to gain further knowledge on the care and support to all kinds of animals.

Her life was very busy, as she was still helping her father run the family business, rehabilitating animals through her Cougar Country, and working at the vet hospital.

In addition, she had 15 cats of her own, several birds, and a dog.

She met her husband Steve while touring wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Australia in 1991.

In 1991, Terri visited Australia and there met Steve Irwin.

They married eight months after their first meeting.

Their first television documentary was filmed on their honeymoon.

The footage, shot by John Stainton, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which later became successful in the US.

The couple settled in Australia shortly after their wedding, with Terri making the decision to leave the Cougar Country project.

Terri met Steve Irwin in Australia in 1991.

In 1991, Terri went on a tour of Australia, and while visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities, she had a chance meeting with Steve Irwin, whose father had founded Australia Zoo.

Steve would later say that "it was love at first sight."

The two married in 1992, and went on to co-star in The Crocodile Hunter, their unconventional television nature documentary series and its spin-off series, Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and Crikey! It's the Irwins.

They were engaged after four months and on June 4, 1992, they married in Terri's home state of Eugene, Oregon before returning to live in Australia.

The Irwins had two children: daughter Bindi on July 24, 1998, and son Robert on December 1, 2003.

In an interview before the birth of their second child, Terri stated about her marriage and working alongside her husband:

"We don't drink, we don't smoke, and we are actually in love and happily married. We love our little girl, we go home to each other at night, and we believe in what we are doing.

In addition to their two popular television programs shown on the Animal Planet television network in the US, in 2002, the Irwins released a feature film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.

They had two children, Bindi and Robert, before Steve's death in 2006 from a stingray injury while filming an underwater documentary.

On March 2, 2008, after Steve's death, it was announced that Steve's father Bob Irwin had resigned from Australia Zoo, which he had founded (as Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park).

In a statement, he thanked the staff of the zoo and stated that this decision was in order to "keep his son's dream alive" while he worked on another rescue property with his wife.

At that time, the zoo was being sued for $2.5 million by a debt collection agency, but the lawsuit was later dismissed by the court.

Following Steve's death, Terri became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009.

She and her two children continue to operate Australia Zoo.

Terri Irwin was born Theresa Penelope Raines in Eugene, Oregon, United States, the youngest of three daughters of environmentalist parents, Clarence and Judy Raines.

Commenting on her childhood, she said, "My friends and I were truly 'free-range kids.' Summers were spent bicycling around Alton Baker Park or hiking up Spencer Butte in the hopes of catching a glimpse of one of the shy rattlesnakes that sought refuge in the rock escarpments. Winters were spent hoping the Willamette Valley would get snow."

Her family owned a long-haul trucking business and, during her childhood, her father constantly brought home injured animals from the highways on which his trucks traveled; this eventually instilled in her an ongoing commitment to saving and rehabilitating wild animals.

In 2018, the series Crikey! It's the Irwins began airing, which focuses on the lives of Terri, Bindi, and Robert at Australia Zoo.

It also features Bindi's husband Chandler Powell.

The series was renewed for a second season in 2019 and season 2 officially aired on 5 October 2019.

After a one year hiatus, the show's third season began airing on 7 February 2021, and ended on 18 April 2021.

The series returned for a fourth season in January 2022.

During their marriage, Steve and Terri owned and operated Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, as well as filming their TV wildlife documentary series, The Crocodile Hunter. Following Steve's death, Terri became the sole owner of the zoo and continued to operate it with her children.

In 2019, the zoo announced a new $8 million project "Camp Crocodile," which was originally expected to draw 39,000 visitors each year.

In 2022, the Irwin family announced the construction of "The Crocodile Hunter Lodge," a resort style accommodation centre on the grounds of the zoo.