Steve Irwin's son Robert says he'd rather face dangerous animals in the wild than settle for a desk job
Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin's son says he is more than happy to put his life on the line for his wildlife encounters, despite the tragic demise of his famous father. Robert Irwin even admits that he'd rather spend his entire life facing dangerous animals in the wild than settle for a boring desk job.
The 15-year-old insists that his dangerous TV interactions with wild animals are "his passion" no matter the potential perils, according to the Daily Mail. He further joked that driving in Los Angeles posed more threats than his work as a TV host, wildlife conservationist and zoo advocate.
The young boy added that "there's always, always going to be close calls with wildlife and it's exciting." Robert also admitted that his time on earth must be packed with daredevil animal encounters as "we never know how long we are going to be on this earth for, you've got to make the most of every day."
Robert's mom Terri, whose husband Steve died in 2006, is also quite supportive of her son's stance on wildlife, as well as her son's desires to push boundaries on TV. Robert, Terri, and daughter Bindi spoke about their passion for showing animals in the world through the medium of television despite the dangers it poses.
The trio was speaking at the Paley Center's 'Evening with the Irwins' to promote their second season of 'Crikey! It's the Irwins' on Animal Planet. Robert admitted: 'I definitely get asked a lot about this — is what you do dangerous, this is crazy, jumping on crocodiles and all this crazy stuff. But the thing is, driving to this event was probably 10 times more dangerous than any crocodile I've ever jumped on by far."
Robert added, "So the thing is, we all live dangerous lives to a certain extent, whether we realize it or not. We never know how long we are going to be on this earth for, you've got to make the most of every day. But I think for me, the wildlife work that I get to do, it's what I live for."
The young lad continued, "It's what I love, it's my passion, it's what dad was passionate about, it's what my family is passionate about. It's something that I definitely want to continue for the rest of my life, it's what I've dedicated my life to. That's the thing, there's always, always going to be close calls with wildlife and it's exciting, that's what makes it fun."
And Robert says that this is something he sees himself doing for the rest of his life. "It's the edge of your seat because you don't know what's going to happen. It's completely unpredictable and it's the spice of life, it's great. I'd rather be doing that then a desk job for sure."
His mother Terri also agreed that she cannot quash Robert's passion. "I think it's about learning about wildlife and having those experiences. If you love to ski, you always love that more challenging slope. And if you love mountain biking, you don't want to do the little tiny jumps. So I understand that butterflies are beautiful but bears are kind of awesome so I get that and I share that with him and his passion as well."
Terri further explained that her husband's death was simply a freak accident rather than him playing with death. As fans of the famous crocodile hunter would know, Steve died at 44 after being pierced in the heart by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary called 'Ocean's Deadliest'.
Terri defended the shoot: "Steve would have been as shocked as anybody for an ocean pancake to kill him. I mean think about it, these are beautiful, shy, really special animals. And with this particular ray, it had been interacting with Steve on its own accord for a long time, so I think when Steve did a final ending shot, I think the ray might have forgotten about him and thought he was a shark or something and was acting defensively. So I don't want anyone to not love rays."
"None of us know, when your time is up, you need to reveal in every day," she said. "Every day has to be special, and Steve did that so I really feel no regrets and I'm very proud of the way he lived." Her 20-year-old daughter Bindi, who is famous for winning 'Dancing With The Stars', admitted that her brother's outlook on life mirrors his father.
She said, "He's a lot like dad. Honestly, he is more and more like dad every single day. Where he walks like dad, talks like dad, he likes to deal with more challenging animals like dad. I am so proud of him. And of course being the older sister, I am very protective and worried about him always but he is so good with every animal and in this next season you'll see he's taking on a lot of new challenges."
"Some that are quite large and a little intimidating but he is so kind and patient and really intelligent that we always know that he's going to be safe, and we're always here for him so no matter what at the end of the day we're a family and always going to support each other," Bindi added.
If you have an entertainment scoop or a story for us, please reach out to us on (323) 421-7515