Steve and Terri Irwin’s ‘Wild’ Honeymoon—and Their Enduring Love and Legacy

Twenty years after Steve Irwin’s death on September 4, 2006, his legacy as the Crocodile Hunter and wildlife conservationist is still top of mind, thanks to the passion of his wife, Terri, and the commitment and talents of his children, Bindi and Robert.

But what almost nobody talks about is this: the raw footage that made him a global star. It was actually filmed on his honeymoon with Terri, who he’d decided was “the one” nearly the second he saw her in a crowd.

The backstory of Steve and Terri Irwin’s love story, an intimate look at their family life on the grounds of Australia Zoo and how they started a global, multi-generational movement is revealed in an exclusive new Parade special print edition, Wild Life: A Legacy of Adventure With the Irwins (available at newsstands and via our online magazine store).

How Steve and Terri Met

In 1991, Terri, who was running a cougar rehabilitation center, took a research trip to Australia. Driving down a local road, she stopped into the tiny family zoo that Steve’s parents started as a reptile park in 1973. There was Steve, running a crocodile feeding demo.

Terri said it was like seeing Tarzan and Indiana Jones wrapped into one. For his part, Steve was so distracted by Terri’s presence that he nearly got eaten by Agro, the park’s giant saltwater crocodile. The two toured the park together, talking wildlife until closing. The following weekend, Terri returned and went to work raking and cleaning stalls before heading back to Oregon.

A month later, Steve booked a flight to Oregon and spent Thanksgiving with Terri and her family. Steve proposed four months later while Terri was visiting him in Australia, and they were married six months after that.

The Honeymoon Pilot

They’d planned a normal honeymoon in Oregon, but a call about a “problem croc” had them flying to Australia instead to capture the animal. A TV producer friend convinced them to film Steve and Terri at work. When the couple arrived, though, they learned that the croc had been shot by poachers. Steve was devastated, but the two made it their mission to find the croc’s mate. When they did, Steve told Terri to throw herself on the 10 foot crocodile—and she did.

That raw, home-movie-style “honeymoon” aired as a TV documentary called The Crocodile Hunter in 1992 in Australia. And the rest, as they say, is history.

An Enduring Legacy

More stories of Steve’s enthusiasm for the natural world, his can-do spirit, his family life and how Terri, Bindi and Robert are carrying his legacy into the future are featured in Parade’s special edition. Get your copy today!

How have Steve and the Irwin family touched your life? Tell us in the comments.