Is Australia Zoo facing extinction?

New reports have surfaced indicating that one of the country’s most loved tourism landmarks, Australia Zoo, is fighting to stay afloat. 

An employee from the internationally-renowned zoo, legacy of the late Steve Irwin, has revealed that redundancies involving key workers had “already taken place in the past few weeks”,  reported the Daily Mail yesterday, Monday 15 November. 

“The zoo relies on international visitors, and with the borders closed, indeed some state borders closed, and even Aussies struggling to get home, that’s a sizable chunk of their income gone,” the source at the Sunshine Coast conservationist sanctuary said.

Ever since the death of the Crocodile Hunter, the Irwin family have worked hard to keep Australia Zoo and his legacy alive, back in February this year, the Irwin’s opened up about their financial struggles to keep alive the zoo after they were forced to shut down for nearly three months due to the prolonged Covid-19 lockdown. 

In a television interview with Sunrise, Terri and her son Robert Irwin revealed that the iconic animal park, founded by Steve’s parents Bob and Lyn Irwin in 1970, was at risk of going under. The pandemic had placed the zoo in dire financial stress, they confessed, with the Irwins losing crucial overseas visitors too. 

While the Zoo was closed during lockdown, the Irwin’s still had to find $400,000 a week to cover staff wages, on top of the $78,914 for the zoo’s 1,200 animals. 

“We were doing whatever we could to get enough money to keep the animals fed and taken care of,” Terri said.

Even her teenage son Robert felt the immense pressure and “sold photography online” to make extra cash, it was revealed. 

After recently expressing her homesickness in a tweet, the Daily Mail also speculates that Terri ‘might soon explore the option of selling’. 

I miss my home town, Eugene Oregon. I miss my family, friends, and the beautiful wildlife. Today I’m thinking of somewhere super special: @VoodooDoughnut!#NationalDonutDay pic.twitter.com/LYjhCr8KKa

— Terri Irwin (@TerriIrwin) November 5, 2021

The family’s financial struggles are also documented in the third season of their reality tv show,  Crikey, It’s the Irwins, currently screening on Foxtel.

Since his death, people all around the Australia continue recognise and commemorate the wildlife warrior.