kids encyclopedia robot

Robert Irwin (television personality) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Robert Irwin
Robert Clarence Irwin with a Koala.png
Irwin in 2022
Born
Robert Clarence Irwin

(2003-12-01) 1 December 2003 (age 20)
Buderim, Queensland, Australia
Citizenship
  • Australia
  • United States
Occupation
Years active 2004–present
Parents
Relatives

Robert Clarence Irwin (born 1 December 2003) is an Australian conservationist, television personality, zookeeper, wildlife photographer and actor. He is the son of Steve Irwin, and is often noted by fans to share similarities with his late father. Irwin hosts Robert's Real Life Adventures, a program on his family zoo's internal television network. He co-hosted the Discovery Kids Channel television series Wild But True and co-created the book series Robert Irwin: Dinosaur Hunter. He starred on the Animal Planet series Crikey! It's the Irwins with his mother, Terri, and sister, Bindi, from 2018–2022.

Irwin works at the Australia Zoo, where he is involved in activities that his late father originally did, such as wrestling crocodiles, handling snakes and feeding the zoo's animals.

Early life

Robert Clarence Irwin was born on 1 December 2003 in Buderim, Queensland, the younger of two children and the only son of Steve and Terri Irwin. His first and middle names are named in honour of both of his paternal and maternal grandfathers, Bob Irwin and Clarence Raines. His father died from a stingray injury to the heart while filming an underwater documentary when Robert was two years old. Robert and his sister, Bindi Irwin, were home-schooled at Australia Zoo following their father's death. He is a dual citizen of Australia (through his birth) and the United States (through his mother). His ancestry is English, with Irish and Swedish on his father's side.

During a public show one month after Robert was born, his father carried him in his arm while hand-feeding a chicken carcass to a 3.8-metre (12 ft 6 in) saltwater crocodile. Robert was close to the crocodile, and the incident sparked comparisons in the press to Michael Jackson dangling of his eldest son, Prince Michael Jackson II, outside a German hotel window. The incident prompted the Queensland Government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures. However, special dispensation is granted to a child who has met a very strict set of guidelines and training requirements. Per The Sydney Morning Herald, "The only time a child will be able to enter an enclosure is under a strict, long-term training program which ensures safety controls." In 2012, at age 8 years and nine months, and after extensive training and under expert supervision, Irwin was allowed to feed freshwater crocodiles for the first time, whose males max out at about 3 metres (9.8 ft).

Career

Bob Irwin (6221785081) (cropped)
Irwin in 2011

In 2009, Irwin had a cameo appearance in Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove. In 2012, Irwin appeared alongside his mother and sister in a television series entitled Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors, which earned him a 2013 Logie Award nomination for Most Popular New Male Talent. In 2014 and 2015, Irwin co-hosted a television series named Wild But True on Discovery Kids Channel. The show was later nominated for an International Emmy Kids Award in the factual category in 2016.

In 2013, Irwin released a series of books, titled Dinosaur Hunter, which he co-authored with Lachlan Creag and Jack Wells.

In 2015, he appeared as a guest on the British wildlife series Ten Deadliest Snakes in the episode focused on Australia's venomous snakes. He guided presenter Nigel Marven in the billabong of Australia Zoo to look for a red-bellied black snake.

Irwin was runner-up in the junior category of the 2016 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Irwin is also a photography contributor to the Australia Zoo Crikey magazine. He uses his love for photography to help raise awareness about wildlife conservation. He has also raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Irwins' non-profit organization Crocodile Diaries by auctioning canvas prints of his work at events worldwide. He has also met with world leaders such as His Majesty King Charles III to discuss the protection of natural habitat.

On 16 February 2017, Irwin made his late-night television debut when he appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He presented an African dwarf crocodile, a screaming armadillo, a red-tailed boa, and a sloth to the host, Jimmy Fallon. Irwin subsequently went back to appear on The Tonight Show on multiple occasions, showcasing a different selection of animals each time. As of April 2019, Irwin has appeared on the show eleven times.

Irwin is also an avid photographer and is also the leading photography contributor to the Australia Zoo Crikey magazine. He has also embarked upon many photography expeditions around the globe, from the savannah of Africa to the mountains of New Zealand, the wilderness of Europe and everywhere in between.

On 6 April 2017, Irwin was invested as a member and ambassador of Scouts Australia, formalising a partnership between the organisation and Australia Zoo. The partnership aims to encourage Australia's young people to become involved with wilderness and conservation. He has also given various interviews to magazines for teenagers as a current reference such as Vanity.

On Australia Zoo TV, Irwin appears on his own channel.

In 2020, he guest starred in the Bluey episode The Quiet Game, voicing a dingo retail clerk named Alfie.

In February 2022, during filming for an episode of Crikey! It's the Irwins, Irwin had to make an emergency escape from a crocodile enclosure after an overzealous 3.7-metre-long (12 ft), 350-kilogram (770 lb) saltwater crocodile, named Casper, ignored the food Irwin was offering him and instead made a beeline for Irwin himself. Irwin managed to scale the enclosure walls just in time and avoided injury.

In October 2023, it was announced that Irwin would replace Dr Chris Brown as the co-host of Network 10's reality television show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! alongside returning host Julia Morris, for the show's tenth season set to premiere in 2024.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove The Pirate Boy Cameo
2015 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Kyle the Seagull Voice; Australian version

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Bindi the Jungle Girl Himself 1 episode
2011 Kate Plus 8 Episode: "Australia Zoo Visit"
2014 Dino Dan: Trek's Adventures Foreign Exchange Student from Australia Episodes: "Dino Pals" and "Dino Mommas"
2015 Ten Deadliest Snakes Himself Episode: "Australia"
2017–2019 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest; 13 episodes
2018–present Crikey! It's the Irwins Series regular
Also co-producer
2019–2022 The Kelly Clarkson Show Guest; 5 episodes
2020 Bluey Alfie Voice; episode: "The Quiet Game"
Earth to Ned Himself Episode "A Ned's Best Friend"
2021 Irwin Family Adventures Also co-producer
2022 RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Guest; season 2 episode 1
Kurt Fearnley's One Plus One Episode: Robert Irwin
Have You Been Paying Attention? Himself Guest quizmaster, episode 25
2024 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Co-host Replacing Chris Brown and alongside Julia Morris
Appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
Date Animals
16 February 2017 African dwarf crocodile, screaming armadillo, red-tailed boa, sloth
20 April 2017 Scorpion, two baby black bears, two legless lizards, binturong, green aracari toucan
7 June 2017 Baby North American badger, 100-year-old alligator snapping turtle and a baby one, baby red kangaroo (joey), three baby warthogs
23 November 2017 Tamandua anteater, two leopard cubs, prehensile-tailed porcupine, albino Burmese python
25 January 2018 Beaver, tarantula, baby muntjac, hyacinth macaw
2 May 2018 Six African pygmy goats, kookaburra, capybara, American alligator
19 September 2018 Baby ostrich, two kingsnakes, tarantula, lanner falcon (with Kevin Hart)
22 November 2018 Two baby Asian small-clawed otters, two baby African crested porcupines, aardvark, baby zebra
23 January 2019 Sugar glider, peppered cockroaches, three baby servals, dromedary camel
25 February 2019 Asian water monitor, owl, American Shorthair
30 April 2019 Giant African millipede, miniature horse, mandrill

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Robert Irwin para niños

kids search engine
Robert Irwin (television personality) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.