Framed and displayed in his home near Kingaroy is a faded A4 piece of paper that changed how the world viewed Australia and cemented one family name in the nation’s history.
Bob Irwin, the father of the “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, cherishes the item framed on his wall, which eventually made the family name synonymous worldwide.
The piece of paper look like any other innocuous government document.
Speaking with news.com.au in a rare interview, Steve Irwin’s father reveals how this Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service permit to catch and relocate crocodiles launched generations of his family into global conservation prestige.
As Bob prepares for what he thinks will be his last crocodile conservation campaign effort next month, he took time to look back at one of the most pivitol moments in his life of wildlife advocacy.
Already established in wildlife conservation since the early 1970s after moving from Victoria to the Sunshine Coast and starting a small wildlife park – the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park – the document from 1989 marked Steve Iwrin’s first hands-on effort to catch and relocate problem crocs from the wild.
“Steve and I didn’t really agree with the process, but we decided to be one of the contractors because the alternative was that these crocodiles, if they had interaction with humans, were likely to get shot by the government,” he told news.com.au.
From farmers to fishermen around Cattle Creek and the Burdekin River in North Queensland, there was no shortage of problem crocs marked for removal by locals.
Bob has been relocating crocs for over a decade prior but said Steve, who was in his mid-20s at the time, had a knack for the method that would eventually make him a household name across the globe.
The pair became a dynamic duo.
“Steve was really, really good at it,” Bob said.
“On lots of occasions, I’d leave him in a river system on his own to set the traps and catch some crocodiles.”
At the time, there was no instruction manual on taking crocs from wild waterways but the pair soon built a name for themselves with their highly effective but also humane way of removing crocodiles.
“We improved our method as we went along. We got better and better,” Bob said.
“Because not only were we concerned about people’s safety, which is obvious, but we were also concerned about the welfare of the crocodile.
“So we wanted to make our method as humane as we could for the crocodile. So that they didn’t suffer too badly.”
Over the years, the pair honed the process by moving small to medium size crocs to different faraway waterways and taking larger crocodiles, which are not fit for relocation, back to Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park – now known as Australia Zoo.
“We brought the big ones back where we knew they’d have been able to live out their life as long as was necessary and comfort and safety without being destroyed.”
“Steve fell in love with them the same as I did because they’re the closest animals to the dinosaurs – they haven’t changed much,” he said.
“They’re still doing exactly what they did millions of years ago.
“Not only was it was it exciting, but it was quite a pleasure to be out there in the river trying to trap these animals that were very smart in the way they survive in the wild.”
Bob’s last lap for crocs
Bob has tried his very best to retire from public life in recent years, but an odd and disturbing trend has forced him back into the public forum.
He fears there is a trend emerging in croc country, largely spurred on by a lust for social media notoriety, that is the next significant threat to crocodile welfare in Queensland.
“What’s been happening is we’ve had stupid crazy people doing stupid things within crocodile territory – and the unfortunate part about that is a crocodile pays the ultimate price,” he said.
A small but seemingly growing trend of interactions between crocs and humans filmed for social media has sparked a massive campaign in North Queensland to have such blatant acts punished.
One of the catalysts was a February attack on Alister MacPhee in Bloomfield River near Cairns, who was recording himself when a crocodile attacked him and his rottweiler.
Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science later trapped and shot that croc.
Mr MacPhee was never punished for what many who have seen the footage call a deliberate interaction with the crocodile. The department was powerless to question him after he refused to cooperate.
There have been several instances this year alone of people on Instagram and TikTok interacting with crocs, or entering their habitat deliberately.
These acts have prompted Bob to return for what he hints is his last hurrah – even heading to the big smoke next month for a meeting with Queensland’s environment minister Meaghan Scanlon.
“The legislation is lacking. We’d like to see something like what’s working on Frasier Island with the dingoes that if people do reckless things with dingoes, they get on the spot fines,” he said.
“We’d like to see the legislation changed in Queensland for crocodiles, which is really no big deal.”
Bob, many North Queensland wildlife advocates and First Bations elders have teamed up with the lawyers from the Environmental Defenders Office to develop an elaborate proposal for Queensland.
Proposed changes will allow authorities to prosecute people who recklessly use crocodile habitats and disturb crocodiles.
The changes would create new offences, increase penalties for existing offences, and give the Environment and Science Department Chief Executive the power to map crocodile habitat.
One of the four proposed legislation changes to the Nature Conservation Act includes an aggravated offence with a hefty penalty for “recklessly using a crocodile habitat and or disturbing a crocodile for the purposes of social media publication.”
The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) has called for the changes to be paired with a public education campaign to inform people about the penalties for reckless interactions with crocodiles.
“As time goes along, we’re gonna get more and more of these idiot blokes that want to prove themselves to somebody,” Bob said.
“I’m really pleased and excited about (meeting Minister Scanlon) because we’ve tried really hard to keep these animals safe.”
For Bob, it’s likely his last charge at improving Australian waterways for crocodiles and humans alike – an endeavour he and his son Steve had dedicated much of their lives to.
“It’ll probably will be my last push,” he said.
“I actually retired from the public arena two years ago, but this issue, my gosh, I just couldn’t let it go.”