Croc Hunter's zoo not for sale

2008-03-20 14:27

Sydney - The widow of Crocodile Hunter documentary maker Steve Irwin has quashed rumours that she was going to sell Australia Zoo and return to the United States with children Bindi, 9, and Robert, 4.

"Australia Zoo is Irwin-family owned and always will be," Terri Irwin said on Thursday when announcing big plans for the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, attraction that included a hotel and a Disney-style theme park.

"We want to be Destination Australia," she told reporters. "It'll be so exciting for people to come here and be able to see the wildlife, spend the night, stay as long as they want, have the spa treatments and the guided tours and the experience and then to be able to lash out and see the rest of Australia."

She also denied a rift in the Irwin family, saying it was simply old age that prompted father-in-law Bob Irwin to sever ties with the zoo he started 32 years ago.

"I just can assure everyone that I love Bob dearly," she said. "He's gone through so much grief losing his wife and his only son that I will respectfully just leave it at that."

Steve Irwin died in September 2006 after a stingray barb pierced his chest in far north Queensland. Irwin, 44, died on the Great Barrier Reef when he was filming the fish.

Earlier this year Terri Irwin said Bindi had declined an offer to move to Hollywood and star in a feature film. Since her father's death, Bindi - who has vowed to continue his work in wildlife conservation - has launched a clothing line and a children's fitness DVD, appeared in a stage show and become an official Australian tourism ambassador. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA