{"id":116086,"date":"2025-11-05T04:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/116086\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T04:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:11:14","slug":"the-irwin-family-come-under-fire-from-indigenous-and-conservation-groups-after-giant-croc-is-removed-from-the-wild-and-rehomed-at-the-australia-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/116086\/","title":{"rendered":"The Irwin Family come under fire from Indigenous and conservation groups after giant croc is removed from the wild and rehomed at the Australia Zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

A crocodile that was once captured in the 1990s – and later released – by the late conservationist Steve Irwin has been returned to his family’s zoo in Queensland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Known as ‘Old Faithful’, the four-metre reptile has been rehomed to Australia Zoo, after being dubbed ‘unreleasable’ and a ‘danger’ to tourists in Far North Queensland.<\/p>\n

But the decision to host the croc at the famed private preserve, now operated by Steve’s widow, Terri Irwin<\/a>, has upset conservationists and Traditional owners.<\/p>\n

Australia Zoo shared a throwback video from the 1990s of Steve and Terri Irwin finding the croc after it had become entangled in a net<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Footage shows Steve and his team rescuing Old Faithful and releasing him into a waterhole.<\/p>\n

Included in the Instagram share was a statement from Australia Zoo that explained why they decided to take the saltwater crocodile back after Steve and Terri first encountered the fearsome creature in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A crocodile that was once captured in the 1990s – and later released – by the late conservationist Steve Irwin has been returned to his family’s zoo in Queensland. Pictured:\u00a0Australia Zoo shared a throwback video from the 1990s of Steve rescuing the croc<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The decision to host the croc at the famed private preserve, now operated by Steve’s widow, Terri Irwin, has upset conservationists and Traditional owners<\/p>\n

‘After decades ruling his waterhole, in Far North Queensland, people not being Croc Wise sadly meant he was deemed a “problem crocodile” by the government and he was removed’, the statement began.<\/p>\n

After including a message to tourists to ‘respect’ crocs in the wild, the statement explained that Australia Zoo did not want to see Old Faithful live out his days on a crocodile farm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘[So] we brought him to Australia Zoo to give the big guy a forever home,’ it read.<\/p>\n

‘We know Steve would be over the moon that we could have him here, in the sanctuary that he built, safe and sound to live out the rest of his days!’<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Sydney Morning Herald <\/a>reported that Old Faithful had been removed from his home in\u00a0Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park after exhibiting ‘dangerous behaviour towards humans’ in July.<\/p>\n

It was captured and removed by wildlife officers from the\u00a0Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) in September.<\/p>\n

According to reports from the DETSI, tourists had been known to feed Old Faithful, which can lead to dangerous behaviour.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, traditional owners at\u00a0Rinyirru (Lakefield) say they were not consulted over the removal of the creature.<\/p>\n

\"Known <\/p>\n

Known as ‘Old Faithful’, the four-metre creature has been rehomed to Australia Zoo, after being dubbed ‘unreleasable’ and a ‘danger’ to tourists in Far North Queensland. Pictured: Steve Irwin photographed in 2003 at Australia Zoo<\/p>\n

‘Old Faithful is a totemic animal for the Kuku Warra Aboriginal people and some family members have very strong and cultural connections to Old Faithful,’ Rinyirru (Lakefield) Aboriginal Corporation chair Alwyn Lyall told SBS.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from DETSI told the SMH that traditional owners were contacted and a number of options were considered before Australia Zoo was ‘suitable’.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, conservationists, Community Representation of Crocodiles (CROCS), have protested Old Faithful’s rehoming with the Irwins.<\/p>\n

But the move appears to have met with a positive response on social media, with many fans throwing their support behind Australia Zoo.<\/p>\n

‘Steve would be proud, that’s amazing,’ messaged one fan on the post announcing the news.<\/p>\n

Added another: ‘I am so grateful that Old Faithful is safe and sound at Australia Zoo. My heart beams hearing Steve’s voice.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Steve would be proud to see how you guys are carrying on his legacy,’ said another fan.<\/p>\n

‘I always watched Steve growing up and even became my role model, and he’s part of the reason why I’m focusing my career to help wildlife.’<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: Australia Zoo operators Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin<\/p>\n

Steve Irwin became a global household name thanks to his wildly popular series The Crocodile Hunter, Croc Files, and The Crocodile Hunter Diaries.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fans were shocked when he died at age 44, at the peak of his career in 2006, after being pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb while filming in the Great Barrier Reef with Philippe Cousteau Jr.<\/p>\n

Terri, 61, later took over Australia Zoo, established by Steve’s parents in 1970, as the\u00a0Beerwah Reptile Park.<\/p>\n

Their daughter Bindi, 27, is CEO, while their son, Robert Irwin, 21, is also involved in its operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A crocodile that was once captured in the 1990s – and later released – by the late conservationist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2039,85,46,141,12516,386],"class_list":{"0":"post-116086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-tvshowbiz","13":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}