The Crocodile Hunter

American special agents are sent to retrieve an essential U.S. satellite beacon that fell to earth in Australia -- and was accidentally swallowed by a crocodile. Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, believes that they're poachers and tries to save the crocodile. Magda Szubanski (from Babe) plays a farmer who is sick of the crocodile eating her cows and is devising creative but unsuccessful ways to lure it in and kill it.

The Crocodile Hunter

This is basically a 70-minute version of Irwin's TV show, with an additional 20 minutes of an instantly forgettable premise that barely rises to the level of the term "plot." That said, the results are often amusing and make an entertaining family film. The film mainly consists of what the television show's fans want to see -- Steve, his wife Terri and their loyal (and very brave!) dog risking their lives with Gila monsters, venomous snakes, bird-eating spiders, kangaroos, and inevitably, crocodiles.

There are scenes in "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" where Steve Irwin jumps into rivers at night and wrestles crocodiles bare-handed, while his wife Terri helps him tie their jaws shut and haul them onto the boat. In another movie you would question the possibility of such scenes.

But there is something about this one that argues they are true: A certain straightforward, matter-of-fact approach that suggests Steve has been wrestling crocodiles all his life. And he has; according to his bio, Steve's dad Bob, who ran the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park in Australia, "taught the young Steve everything there was to know about reptiles--even teaching his 9-year-old how to jump in and catch crocodiles in the rivers of North Queensland at night!" How, I am wondering, do you teach a 9-year-old to jump in and catch crocodiles in the rivers of North Queensland at night? Is rehearsal possible, or do you just get a lot of theory and then jump in? Is it child abuse to tell your 9-year-old to wrestle crocodiles, or only Tough Love? I urgently await a film titled "Young Steve: The Education of a Croc Hunter." Studying the bio more closely, I realize that many of its sentences end with an exclamation point. In the movie, nearly every sentence uttered by Irwin does, although supporting players are allowed periods and question marks. Half of his sentences have only one word: "Crikey!" He says this frequently while handling the dangerous creatures of the outback, which he likes to get real close to, so they can snap at him during his lectures.

So I became the crocodile girl. I abandoned my dreams of being a veterinarian and decided to become a herpetologist instead. (This declaration was usually met with blank stares by adults and adolescents alike.) I had a crocodile birthday party, a dorky leather hat, and I even signed my name with a little crocodile stick hieroglyph of my own design.

My crocodile days faded with time. I changed schools, got a bit less awkward, and found a new identity in athletics and my love of language and literature. The crocodile girl became the volleyball player and wannabe poet, who later became a rower and lover of southern American literature. I forgot all about Steve Irwin, until I saw his obituary on the news during my first week of college. And then I promptly forgot about him again, until I started working in conservation.

So is this guy just an entertainer with a brazen attitude around wild animals, or is he a committed wildlife conservationist? Scientific American writer Sarah Simpson went to Queensland, Australia, to ask the Crocodile Hunter himself.Image: TIM LYONS CLOSE ENCOUNTER. Steve Irwin's uncanny awareness of a crocodile's reach makes for some hair-raising feeding sessions. Irwin's daughter, Bindi, looks on.INTERVIEW MENUPart 1: Method to His Madness?Part 2: Protecting Wildlife in His Own Backyard

The lower level whirligigs have a higher catch rate and as you go up there is a chance for your crocodile to fail a catch, so it is quickest to catch plain whirligigs for the crocodile upgrades. Scarabs can be obtained at a rate of approximately 1,000 per hour. Actively clicking scarabs is similar to two-tick methods, as your croc goes for a scarab you can quickly click on other scarabs to catch them instantly (up to 3 others); this method works better when stack upgrade is unlocked (up to 5 others).

The Australia Zoo began as the Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park in 1970, owned and operated by Lyn and Bob Irwin, Steve Irwin's parents. Growing up in a zoo meant that Irwin was always close with animals. According to his biography on The Crocodile Hunter website, at the age of 6 he caught his first venomous snake, a Common Brown. He started helping his father catch crocodiles at age 9 by wrestling them in the water. In the 1980s, Irwin spent his time in the remote area of North Queensland, developing techniques now utilized across Australia to capture and manage crocodiles.

In this episode, Irwin travels to Australia's outback and captures an enormous saltwater crocodile. Towards the end of the episode, Irwin and the team are seen battling the 16-foot croc as it performs a death roll to try to escape. He and three other men leap on the reptile's back to restrain it so they can examine it and fit it with a satellite tracker. But the crocodile moves suddenly and Irwin gets a broken rib in the process. "All this information [from the satellite tracker] is just the start. My zest, my passion, my gift, the reason God put me on this Earth is to protect crocodilians and to try and get people to love crocodiles. Because if we don't then the rapid rate of habitat destruction, of species extinction, is gonna catch up."

This episode looks at Irwin and his life. It was released in 2004 and features interviews and footage showing his personal life. It also touches on an incident where Terri and Steve Irwin drew criticism for. In early 2004, Irwin was carrying his then baby son Robert while feeding a chicken carcass to a 12-foot saltwater crocodile. In the episode, both Terri and Steve say Robert was never in danger and they were much farther from the crocodile than was originally thought.

If a crocodile needs to sink in a hurry, it can move its larger internal organs to the back of its body, like a submarine shifting ballast. Franklin and Axelsson proposed that the cogged-teeth valves allow crocs to ration oxygen underwater and stay submerged for hours.

Mr Irwin, 44, died after being struck in the chest by the stingray's barb while he was filming a documentary in Queensland's Great Barrier Reef.Paramedics from Cairns rushed to the scene but were unable to save him. Mr Irwin was known for his television show The Crocodile Hunter and his work with native Australian wildlife.Police in Queensland confirmed the environmentalist's death and said his family had been notified. Mr Irwin was married with two young children. HAVE YOUR SAY His programmes were a joy to watch Graham RodhouseHelmond, Netherlands Send us your reaction Obituary: Wildlife showman Irwin in pictures Mr Irwin's manager John Stainton told the BBC the stingray's barb had pierced the personality's heart."He came over the top of a stingray and a barb, the stingray's barb went up and put a hole into his heart," he said."We got him back within a couple of minutes to Croc 1, which is Steve's research vessel, and by 12 o'clock when the emergency crew arrived they pronounced him dead."The incident happened at Batt Reef, off Port Douglas. It's a huge loss to Australia - he was a wonderful character John Howard,Australian Prime Minister Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had known Mr Irwin well, and that the country had lost a "wonderful and colourful son"."I am quite shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden untimely and freakish death", he said."It's a huge loss to Australia - he was a wonderful character, he was a passionate environmentalist, he brought entertainment and excitement to millions of people."The stingray is a flat, triangular-shaped fish, commonly found in tropical waters. What happened to Steve Irwin is like being stabbed in the heart Dr Geoff IsbisterClinical toxicologist It gets its name from the razor-sharp barb at the end of its tail, coated in toxic venom, which the animal uses to defend itself with when it feels threatened.Attacks on humans are a rarity - only one other person is known to have died in Australia from a stingray attack, at St Kilda, Melbourne in 1945."Stingrays only sting in defence, they're not aggressive animals so the animal must have felt threatened. It didn't sting out of aggression, it stung out of fear," Dr Bryan Fry, Deputy Director of the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne said.Baby stuntExperts say that while painful, stingray venom is rarely lethal and it would have been the wound caused by the barb itself, which could measure up to 20cm long, which proved fatal. STINGRAYS Members of the Dasyatidae family of cartilaginous fish, with about 70 species worldwideMostly found in tropical seas, but exist in freshwater tooFeed primarily on molluscs and crustaceans on sea floorSwim with flying motion using large pectoral wingsUsually docile, not known to attack aggressivelyEquipped with venom-coated razor-sharp barbed or serrated tail, up to 20cm long "What happened to Steve Irwin is like being stabbed in the heart. It has little to do with the venom and all to do with the trauma caused by the barb of the stingray," Dr Geoff Isbister, a clinical toxicologist at the Mater Hospital in Newcastle, Australia, said.Mr Irwin had built up what was a small reptile park in Queensland into what is now Australia Zoo, a major centre for Australian wildlife. He was famous for handling dangerous creatures such as crocodiles, snakes and spiders, and his documentaries on his work with crocodiles drew a worldwide audience. But he also courted controversy with a series of stunts. He sparked outrage across Australia after cradling his one-month-old son a metre away from the reptile during a show at Australia Zoo. An investigation was launched into whether Mr Irwin and his team interacted too closely with penguins and whales while filming in the Antarctic, but no action was taken. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer praised Mr Irwin for his work to promote Australia. E-mail this to a friend Printable version SERVICESNews alertsGet the latest breaking news delivered to your desktop or mobile device SEE ALSO Obituary: Steve Irwin04 Sep 06 Asia-PacificIn pictures: Steve Irwin04 Sep 06 In PicturesIrwin cleared after penguin probe15 Jul 04 EntertainmentCroc star's 'whale swim' probed14 Jun 04 EntertainmentControversial croc hunter up for award06 Jan 04 Asia-PacificNo charges after croc baby stunt03 Jan 04 Asia-PacificInquiry into croc baby stunt03 Jan 04 Asia-Pacific RELATED INTERNET LINKS Australia Zoo The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites MOST POPULAR STORIES NOWfunction liveStatsTabs(newTab,oldTab) if (document.getElementById)document.getElementById(newTab).style.display = "inline";document.getElementById(oldTab).style.display = "none";return false;else if (document.all)document.all[oldTab].style.display = "none";document.all[newTab].style.display = "inline";return false;else return true;MOST SHAREDMOST READ Tourists flock to 'Jesus's tomb' in Kashmir Most popular now, in detailMOST SHAREDMOST READ BBC News BBC News BBC News BBC News BBC News BBC News BBC News BBC News BBC News BBC News Most popular now, in detailliveStatsTabs('livestats1450','livestats1451'); FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS Ghost townHas China's housing bubble burst? 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