1/12/2024 0 Comments Lyn irwin joy irwin![]() ![]() Our house was a giant maternity ward fair smack-dab in the middle of the Beerwah Reptile Park. What a childhood! My mum was the " Mother Teresa" of wildlife rehabilitation. Steve would enlarge the park to 76 acres (31 ha) and rename the park the Australia Zoo. Steve, the couple's son, would not only come to fulfill the roles of curator and director of the Beerwah Reptile Park, but also produced and starred in his highly popular educational documentary series, The Crocodile Hunter. While Irwin made a living as a plumber, and Lyn as a maternity nurse, the family's consuming passion was rescuing and rehabilitating local wildlife. Together, they had three children, a daughter, Joy, son Steve, and a second daughter, Mandy. Irwin married Lyn Hakainsson, a maternity nurse who was killed in a car accident in 2000. Irwin, later aided by son Steve, personally caught and raised every crocodile in the Reptile Park, ultimately tallying over 100 crocodiles. Irwin would also come to strike bargains with the government, catching problematic or intruding crocodiles in Queensland and in return bringing them to the Reptile Park. Irwin was noted in the conservation sector for utilizing non-violent capture techniques which were then largely unemployed, such as proximity lassoing, hooding, trapping, and netting instead of the more common tranquilizers, chains, or other potentially harmful methods. Irwin's foresight and innovation in captive care, breeding, and handling of native Australian animals set a new benchmark for wildlife welfare in Australia. Irwin's memoir, The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy, was released on 25 October 2016. Irwin also resigned from his role as manager of Ironbark Station at Blackbutt where he lived, moving to a new 240-hectare (590-acre) property surrounded by forest and national park between Kingaroy and Murgon where he would continue his son's conservation work. Irwin would build a shed, and then the Irwin house, which the Irwin family and Bob Irwin lived in until Bob gave the wildlife park to his son Steve. Irwin dedicated so much time to constructing the Reptile Park and the enclosures that, for the first years in their new life of exhibiting native fauna, the Irwins lived in an old RV caravan. As a builder, Irwin personally turned his hand to building and designing the Beerwah Reptile Park. I like to think the wildlife expert would have been brilliant at delivering singing telegrams.He had decided to turn his love for animals from a hobby into a career and purchased 4 acres (16,000 m 2) of land to construct a wildlife refuge. Of course, it's entirely possible that Steve Irwin hadn't sent this letter to his parents because he decided to prove his appreciation for them in a completely different and more vocal way. Parents only ever want the best for their children - in the most positive scenarios, anyway - and though it may have taken a long time to have Irwin's thoughts been by their eyes, the joy imbued in this note must have been a sweet relief in some way. It's impossible for anyone to truly understand what would have been going on inside the minds of Bob and Lyn Irwin as they read these words written by their son 12 years ago, but I can only imagine it was a combination of renewed devastation and unabashed pride. If I would have been reading that long-lost letter in public, people would have felt it necessary to see if I needed help removing myself from a crumpled heap on the floor. My love for you is my strength!For the rest of my life I will reflect on the unbelievably GREAT times we've shared and will continue to share. In good times and in bad, you were there your strength and endurance to raise me will not go unrewarded. Dear Dad & Mum,Probably one of the most unfortunate things in a 'Bloke's Life' is that it takes over 30 years to realize how essential you have been to build my character, my ethics and, most importantly, my 'HAPPINESS.'At 32, I am finally starting to figure it out. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |