The Women Love Tech team love the way Google has fun with its interface and even uses it to pay respect to important events. Take last week, our much loved Steve Irwin was given his own doodle. And, crikey, it was good.
The Doodle ran for 24 hours around the world including Australia, the US, Europe, Asia, Middle East and South America.
LET’S REMEMBER STEVE IRWIN
Steve Irwin inherited a love of large reptiles early on in life and shared it with the world through his work at the Australia Zoo as well as the popular TV series The Crocodile Hunter.
Born in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia on January 22, 1962, Irwin was raised by Lyn and Bob Irwin, who gave him an eleven-foot python for his sixth birthday. He named the snake Fred. During the early 1970s, the Irwins moved to the Sunshine Coast in the Australian State of Queensland and opened Beerwah Reptile Park.
Learning to wrestle crocodiles since the age of nine, Irwin volunteered with Queensland’s East Coast Crocodile Management Program, helping to capture and relocate endangered saltwater crocodiles—the largest of all living reptiles—to protect them from being harmed. He was involved in all aspects of managing his family’s park, which was renamed Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, and eventually the Australia Zoo.
Soon after he took over management of the park, Irwin met his future wife Terri who was visiting the zoo. They spent their honeymoon capturing crocs, and the footage they shot became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which grew into a runaway hit show seen in more than 100 countries by over 500 million people.
Thanks to the show, Irwin’s enthusiasm for saving endangered (and dangerous) animals quickly became as popular as his one-word catchphrase “Crikey!” It was also a family effort— while Steve and Terri hosted the show together, their children Bindi and Robert became fixtures on the show as well.
In 2001, the Australian government awarded Irwin the Centenary Medal for a lifetime of service, and in 2004 he was nominated for Australian of the Year. Among his many accomplishments was the discovery of a new species of snapping turtle, which was named Elseya irwini in his honour. In 2018 he was also posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Irwin’s legacy lives on through his family’s continued animal conservation work and with the celebration of Steve Irwin Day each November 15, an international celebration of wildlife, family, and fun including fundraising events to benefit the Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Warriors program.
Here are some other interesting things to follow on Google:
Global Google Trends page about wildlife and conservation
