The Untold Truth Of Steve Irwin's Son

It's been over a decade since Australia mourned the loss of national treasure Steve Irwin, but the 2006 death of the self-styled Crocodile Hunter still remains at the forefront of his only son's mind. Irwin passed away in the arms of his cameraman after getting stabbed in the heart by the barbed tail of a stingray (a notoriously passive sea creature that rarely does fatal damage to humans) while the pair were filming a documentary off the coast of Queensland. Despite the circumstances of his father's demise, Robert Irwin (named after his grandfather Bob Irwin, founder of Australia Zoo) hasn't shied away from wild animals. Far from it, in fact.

The confident teenager began following in his father's footsteps from a very young age and is now a TV personality and famous conservationist in his own right, though he's turned out to be much more than just a clone of his old man. This is the untold truth of Robert Irwin.

For the majority of kids, the words "school" and "cool" don't go together very often, but for Robert Irwin and his older sister Bindi (an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "little girl" or "little spear"), education has always been one big adventure. The pair have both been homeschooled at Australia Zoo, where they learned all about their country's native animals on top of the regular curriculum. "Every day is different because, obviously, we live at a zoo," a nine-year-old Robert told Perth Now in 2013. "We're the luckiest people in the world. We have two teachers, one for Bindi and one for me. When we're travelling, we have one who teaches both of us."

Bindi (who is five years her brother's elder) echoed Robert's thoughts on their education, telling the Australian outlet that getting educated on the road has plenty of perks. "Mum came up with a plan for when we go on research trips—If we don't catch any crocs, it's school all day; if we catch one, it's half a day of school; if we catch two or more crocodiles, we don't have any school," she said. "We pray every night that we catch five crocs the next day," Robert added. Both Irwin kids were ahead of their state school peers in terms of their level of education at the time of the interview, with Robert a full two years further forward than most kids his age.

While his dad used to go by the nickname the Crocodile Hunter, Robert has always had more of a thing for dinosaurs. At the typically tender age of nine, he co-created his own book series, Robert Irwin: Dinosaur Hunter, which sent the youngest member of the Irwin clan back in time 95 millions years to an age when Australia's wildlife was even more terrifying than it is today. As well as coming up with the story ideas, Irwin also provided accompanying illustrations for all four books (The Discovery, Ambush at Cisco Swamp, Armoured Defence and The Dinosaur Feather), which received generally positive reviews from critics.

"It's tempting to dismiss the series as a clever marketing exercise, latching onto the popularity of young Robert Irwin and the tourism that goes with him, but the books will appeal to young readers, especially boys at that difficult age when they start to abandon reading," Lisa Hill of School Stuff said of the series. "They will like the adventure, the humor, the field guide at the back of the book and the easy reading, and unless they have been under a rock and have missed the hype about the junior Irwins, they will enjoy identifying with the famous young hero as well."

According to Irwin, people have been telling him that he looks like his dad since he was as young as nine, but it wasn't until he had a growth spurt a few years later that the extent of their resemblance started to really show. In 2016, a 12-year-old Irwin shocked reporters from Australia's Today show when he turned up for an interview and towered over his 17-year-old sister, wearing the same blond mop and infectious grin that his father made famous. "Look how tall you are," presenter Karl Stefanovic exclaimed (via Mail Online). "You are like a giraffe!"

The following year Robert appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and people were blown away by the similarity to the late Crocodile Hunter—not only in appearance, but in personality and attitude. With a new haircut to make him look more mature (and another few inches on his height), Irwin came across as an enthusiastic and polite young man who knew exactly what he was doing when it came to handling animals.

"It was such an honor to be on The Tonight Show and follow in my dad's footsteps," Irwin wrote in an Instagram post that showed his dad on the show with the exact same species of snake back when Jay Leno was hosting. "So much fun doing the show with Jimmy Fallon. He is an amazingly kind person and a true Wildlife Warrior!"

Irwin was briefly quizzed about his romantic life during his appearance on Family Feud, though he was quick to shoot down the notion of a girlfriend, telling Steve Harvey that he was "more focused on wildlife at the moment." Instagram tells a different story, however. Pictures of Irwin with fellow wildlife photographer and enthusiast Tess Poyner seemed to indicate that the pair were more than just friends, and insiders confirmed to MSN that young love was indeed in the air at Australia Zoo.

The teens are said to have met at the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards in early 2017, where they got along so well that they decided to stay in touch. In September of that year, Irwin invited Poyner to come and stay with him at the zoo for a week, just like his sister Bindi did with her long-term boyfriend Chandler Powell when they were both kids. MSN also reported that Bindi was "over the moon" about the idea of Robert and Tess becoming an item, but zoo reps have been quick to deny that their relationship is anything but innocent fun for now.

With all the attention he's been getting at home and abroad recently, Robert Irwin is well on his way to being as well known as Steve Irwin was in his lifetime, though fame and fortune have never been his reason for following in his father's footsteps. Speaking to The Courier Mail, he explained that he was less interested in filling his dad's boots and more interested in spreading his message. "I don't want be exactly like Dad, I don't want to be Dad, but I do want to continue his legacy," he said (via Mail Online). "I am trying to make him proud. I would like him to be proud."

You don't have to have known Steve Irwin personally to know that he would have been extremely proud of young Robert, not only for being so adept at animal handling (looks like all those croc-dangling sessions paid off after all) and photography, but for putting the Wildlife Warrior cause above all else. "It's in my blood, it's in my DNA, and it's in everything I do," he said. "Dad never cared about being known for himself, he cared about the message, and that's what I'm trying to do, continue that message."