CRIKEY! Steve Irwin’s Most Dangerous Encounters

It may be almost 13 years since “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin died, but his legacy as a passionate conservationist and the crazy risks he and his colleagues took to capture and relocate dangerous animals lives on.

In a video of some of his most dangerous adventures, you can see and hear Irwin’s appreciation for the threat the animals he’s working with pose while at the same time, exuding fascination with them.

The video features the rescue of one juvenile crocodile from a cement-lined waterway. Once the croc is isolated, it takes eight people to straddle and lie on top of the modern-day dinosaur. Then, Irwin’s father Bob, who passed on his love of conservation and crocodiles to his son, secures the crocodile’s powerful jaws.

“The Crocodile Hunter” television show lasted from 1996 until 2006.

The crocodile, which Irwin named Charlie, is transferred to Australia Zoo, where a year later, “The Crocodile Hunter” encourages him out of the water with a piece of meat to show how much he’s grown since being rescued.

“He’s grown a heck of a lot in the last 12 months,” Irwin explains. “He’s put on nearly a foot and probably around 100 kilos in weight.”

The action isn’t over for Charlie, however. Not content just to save Charlie, Irwin has plans to match Charlie with a female, called a “sheila,” named Angel.

Moving Angel from her own enclosure into Charlies doesn’t go smoothly and the crew has to work fast to get Angel unroped from the bindings they used to transport her before Charlie can attack.

Thankfully, all goes well, and Charlie and Angel hit it off without anyone getting harmed in the process.

Since Steve Irwin’s untimely death by a stingray in 2006, his widow Terri, daughter Bind, and son Robert have taken on his mission of conservation and working with the animals at Australia Zoo.