Donors Honor Crocodile Hunter's Efforts
- From: "Chim" <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 8 Sep 2006 15:24:32 -0700
Updated:2006-09-08 14:21:13
Donors Honor Crocodile Hunter's Efforts
By DENNIS PASSA
AP
BEERWAH, Australia (AP) - Donations have flooded in to Steve Irwin's
environmental charity since the death of the "Crocodile Hunter," who
used much of his wealth to protect wild animals and their habitat, the
head of the charity said Friday.
Donors have pledged about $400,000 to Wildlife Warriors and receiving
twice that amount by Monday, a week after Irwin's death from a stingray
barb to the heart, "was not unrealistic," Michael Hornby said.
The money is a fitting tribute to Irwin, 44, who used his earnings of
millions from his TV career and merchandising to buy land on the
Pacific islands of Fiji and Vanuatu, in the United States and in the
Australian Outback and preserve it as animal habitat, Hornby said.
"When he got his sights set on something, he was very action-oriented,"
said Hornby. "He'd say, 'Why sit around? Let's fix it."'
Closer to home, Irwin bought 83,000 acres in his home state of
Queensland to protect koalas and pythons from development.
"There was a lot of land-clearing, and he wanted to prevent more of it
from happening," Hornby said. "He has kept it untouched, off-limits to
developers, and also uses the site for the release of some native
animals into the wild."
Wildlife Warriors has funded crocodile and koala research in Australia;
tiger conservation programs in India, Bhutan and Sumatra; elephant
programs in Cambodia and Vietnam; and a cheetah program in South
Africa.
The national magazine Business Review Weekly has put Irwin on its
annual list of Australia's 50 highest-earning entertainers since 2002.
The magazine estimated his 2001 income from television sales, a cameo
appearance in the movie "Doctor Dolittle 2," two television ad
campaigns and merchandising at $12.23 million.
The magazine estimated Irwin had earned at least $3.17 million in 2005.
The Irwin family, which owns the Australia Zoo, divulges little
information about its finances and Irwin's management similarly
declined to comment on them.
"He was always very private about that stuff," Hornby said. "He was
almost embarrassed by it."
The magazine estimates did not include potential income from the zoo,
since that was regarded as outside the category of entertainment
revenue.
Wildlife Warriors was founded as a family charity in 2002, and became a
public charity requiring tax filings in April, but it has not yet
released budget figures.
Irwin wanted to make sure no one thought his main charity would be a
tax write-off, and made clear that he paid the administrative bills so
that 100 percent of donated funds went to wildlife programs.
The zoo has been a top destination for international tourists but
little is known about its finances, since it does not make its finances
or visitor numbers public.
The Foreign Affairs Department said that in 2003, the zoo employed more
than 400 people, and Irwin had planned to invest more than $30.27
million in it over the next 10 years.
.
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