Rumours of an offer from Disney are circulating.

When Steve Irwin tragically died on September 4, 2006, Terri Irwin was left with two devastated children, as well as hundreds of staff and animals to consider.

“Everything was reinvested into conservation work. I was in debt… and Steve’s life insurance, I think, was the sum total of $200,000, which didn’t even cover half of one week’s payroll,” she told the Australian Financial Review in 2024.

BUILDING THEIR FUTURE

But Terri, 61, did have two elements on her side. Steve had an “ironclad will”, which stopped any distant relatives from trying to sweep in to “try to take everything” and the pair had worked out a 10-year business plan, which gave the newly widowed Terri a framework on which to work from.

Now, after years of hard slog building the family brand through clever business and TV deals, Terri says she’s “debt-free” and Australia Zoo’s turnover is estimated to be at least $38 million – an appealing prospect for any potential buyer.

“Robert’s impeccable timing to appear on the American Dancing With The Stars is a stroke of genius – whoever his minders are these days, this has to be one of the most significant moves the Irwins have made in years,” a source tells Woman’s Day.
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“There’s mounting speculation that Terri could be readying to put Australia Zoo up for sale on the global market – and who could be more fitting than Disney, the owners of the channel Robert is currently performing on? And the Disney Channel is part of the Disney group, which is in the business of buying and building theme parks and is worth around a staggering $306 billion!

“And the best hint of all they could be selling – they already own and operate Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, which is a large animal theme park and zoo – it could almost be Australia Zoo’s American big brother!”

GLOBAL SENSATION

As if they needed any more convincing of the Irwins’ pulling power, Robert’s series of Dancing With The Stars US is already attracting twice the number of votes from the public than 2024.
“Consider this, on average an eye-watering 5.53 million people tune in every week, and almost unanimously have Robert as the firm favourite and the one to beat!

“There are whispers that the entire family is being put up in luxury digs rumoured to be in the swanky Bel Air district, suggesting that Bindi, her American husband Chandler, their daughter Grace Warrior, US born Terri and Robert might well be eyeing off America as a possible permanent relocation, especially if Robert’s star continues to rise,” the source adds.

“If there is a deal to be done, Terri will no doubt still be driving a lot of the operations – she won’t want all her hard work to keep the zoo’s integrity intact to get into the hands of someone else – so it could be a win-win. Having a buyer like Disney means they can probably get the sort of money they’d be looking for – somewhere around $50 million!”
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