When it comes to managing crocodiles, we are learning that it is actually more important to manage people. Learning how to keep people safe from crocodiles will ultimately protect visitors to croc territory as well as the crocodilians themselves.
— Terri Irwin
Australia and New Zealand have traditionally shared very close links, yet there are things that set us apart and make us unique - Australia's wildlife experience being one of them.
You can't just go and collect animals from the wild. It's totally illegal.
Steve was so wonderful to bring wildlife into our living rooms and let us see that animals we used to be afraid of are so important.
I am someone who tunes into more ethical journalism, and I'm not someone who dwells a lot on the negative, so I think I'd rather focus on the positive and forge ahead.
I live in Australia Zoo. I have a very private home. We've got three bedrooms, one bathroom... The carpets are rose-coloured, which grossed Steve out, but I love it. He let me do everything the way I wanted. The house is just warm and cozy and small.
Steve was such an immense person in so many ways. I never realized how much I depended on him until he was gone.
We've got that family opportunity of always filming together, so we can look back on good times anytime we want.
I've grown up with an active outdoor lifestyle. Before I lived in Australia, I ran a construction company in Oregon, U.S.A. I also owned horses and would spend several weeks a year exploring Oregon's beautiful wilderness areas on horseback.
Bindi went in with the crocodiles when she was one month old and grew up with the crocodiles.
I have friends who have lost husbands and have gone off and tried different things. Nothing wrong with that.
I think, for other people who have lost someone and have loved again, it's a beautiful thing. But it's just not really on my horizon.
The only way to honor Steve and his legacy and everything he lived for was to try to continue his work and expand on it.
It's a dynamic of grief within any family, and I found, after we lost Steve, his dad just began distancing himself. And I think it's a coping mechanism. I found it very confusing.
My future is about the joy of loving those around me, of being with the people who are still here and not just mourning my loss.
I haven't dated anyone in the ten years since we lost Steve just because I feel a connection still with Steve.
No matter the circumstances are that you lose someone, nobody's truly prepared. Steve's accident was so unexpected - it was extremely challenging.
I'm real adamant that, when we have family time scheduled, that we stick to it.
Steve worked tirelessly to promote conservation, wildlife, and the environment, and his work enabled the plight of endangered species to reach a whole new audience.
Steve always said that he didn't care if anyone remembered him, as long as they remembered his message.
For me, it was two years before I fed a big croc when I came to Australia.
No matter how many shows or how much work we do, we are not going to make a difference. It's only the masses that will make a difference.
The determination I have to try to continue Steve's work and make the world a better place is so important.
Living with Steve was like standing in a cyclone. Then we lost him. It was like the wind stopped.
When we lost Steve, the grief was understandable, but I wasn't prepared for how scary everything became - that fear factor of 'Now I'm doing this on my own.'
Good nutrition and regular exercise definitely help you cope with life's dramas.
I always am astounded at how willing Steve was to share all about himself. And sometimes he got criticized for it. But he was so open and yet so private about some things.
For us, conservation work isn't just what we do. It's who we are. It's really defined us that this is what we've dedicated our lives to.
I still feel immense love and loyalty to Steve. And I've got great kids, I've got a very full life, and while I'm lonely for Steve, I'm not a lonely person.
When we lost Steve, it was a real crossroads of deciding if you're just going to curl up in the corner or try to do something even bigger and better.
When Bindi and Robert have grown, there will probably be another life for me, and I can't anticipate exactly what that will be, but it will involve continuing Steve's work, conservation, being there for my kids, Australia Zoo.
I don't know a single surfer who would say, 'Gee, I wish there were no sharks in the ocean.'
When you take those vows and say, 'We'll be together as long as we both shall live,' I really don't think I would've married if I hadn't met Steve. And he's very special to me and continues to be.
I've already had my happily ever after.
I think that kids who grow up in an environment where they are constantly told that they're wonderful... that is going to change you.
Crocs are apex predators, and as with all apex predators, they are critical to the environment: if you lose the crocs, you'll lose the barramundi, you'll lose the crabs - a catfish can eat 30,000 barramundi fingerlings, and who do you think eats the catfish? Crocs.
Our message, without preaching, is how to treat wildlife and to have empathy for all animals.
Steve was such an example as one man doing what he could to change the world.
Parenthood is a great equalizer. It doesn't matter how famous you are - once you become a parent, you are just like everyone else.
After losing Steve, it does kind of feel like I'm free-falling.
We need to stand as a nation, a state, a community to protect wildlife and wild places for our children.
I discovered on my own that I could cope better with the crippling effects of grief by taking care of myself, eating right, and working out.
It pays to be in the best shape possible when you're wrangling the largest reptiles on Earth!
Crocodiles are an apex predator and crucial to the ecosystem, keeping waterways and wetlands healthy. Crocodiles eradicate the weak, sick, and injured wildlife, leaving only the healthy to prosper.
Grief is never something you get over. You don't wake up one morning and say, 'I've conquered that; now I'm moving on.' It's something that walks beside you every day. And if you can learn how to manage it and honour the person that you miss, you can take something that is incredibly sad and have some form of positivity.
You might not think of 'conservation' immediately when you think of Russell Crowe, but he is a great conservationist in his own right.
Steve said to me how excited he was when Bindi was born. He said, 'Do you think we could have a boy?' And then Robert was born, and they're perfect. They're easy kids. They're wonderful to me; they're such a help.
To me, Steve was my Prince Charming. He was my happily ever after, and we got that. We got 14 years of marriage; we had the best, most fantastic, adventurous, wonderful life that you could imagine. And I was very happy with that.
None of us are immune to grief, and everyone who has suffered loss understands that grief changes, but you never wake up one morning and you've moved on. It stays with you, and, you know, you ebb and flow.
You can't focus on yourself. You need to focus on what you're doing for others, and then you can start to heal.
