Steve Irwin is the director of the Australia Zoo in Queensland, Australia, and host of Animal Planet's series The Crocodile Hunter.

The son of naturalists Bob and Lyn Irwin, Steve has spent his entire life studying, living and working with animals. He grew up at the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where he took part in the daily feeding, care and maintenance of the park's many animal inhabitants.

He soon became an expert on local wildlife, particularly reptiles. And (as anyone who has ever seen Steve will easily believe), by the time he was 9, his dad had taught him to jump in and catch crocodiles in the rivers in North Queensland.

Together, this father-and-son team can boast that every crocodile at the Australia Zoo (numbering over 150) was either caught with their own hands, or bred and raised at the zoo.

Steve made his name in the Queensland government's rogue crocodile relocation program, where he was one of the most successful participants in this government-sponsored program, safely catching and relocating dozens of troublesome crocodiles without harm to them (or him, for the most part).

Irwin's unique talents first came to the attention of the world television audience with the premiere of the first installment of The Crocodile Hunter. Before long, a star was born ... or "hatched" to be more reptilian about it. Today Steve has an international following.

In 1992, Steve married Terri Raines, a young American whom he met when she visited the zoo. Terri co-stars with Steve in The Crocodile Hunter, and travels with him to help educate the public about the care and responsibility we all have to the natural world.

For those fans who followed another of Steve and Terri's co-productions ... it was a girl! Bindi Sue Irwin was born July 24, 1998. Our guess is that she's unlikely to be the squeamish type.

Read about Steve's better half, Terri.