Bob Irwin is a celebrated Australian naturalist, animal conservationist, and a pioneering herpetologist who is also famous for his conservation and husbandry work with apex predators and reptiles. He was the original founder of Australia Zoo, which he and his wife opened as the small, family run Beerwah Reptile Park in 1973, with the intention of increasing public knowledge of native wildlife. (Source: Allen and Unwin)