Gidday, I'm Steve Irwin and today is the first day of the new millennium.  It is my aim to start this brand new century with the greatest conservation effort of my life.  Apex predators are right at the top of the food chain – animals like sharks, big cats, bears, snakes and crocodiles.  My aim is to promote the conservation of these magnificent animals from now until the day I die. If I can help the world protect predator populations then all of the species in the food chain and their immediate environments will benefit and flourish.  By conserving apex predators and their wilderness areas, our planet earth will have less polluted water, less ozone depletion, less habitat destruction and more trees.  In essence by securing these goals, we the human race will have oxygen to breathe, water to drink and a greater healthier longevity.  I'm starting with the species I love and know the most – crocodiles.  Crocodiles will be and always have been the love of my life. Considering 17 of the 22 species in our world are endangered, I believe my backyard (Northern Australia) is the best place to start.

The Australian saltwater crocodile was on the verge of extinction in the 1960’s.  By 1970, they were critically endangered and would have been tilted over the point of no return if drastic measures weren't taken.  Finally in the 1970’s, the Australian saltwater crocodile was officially protected.  The Australian government activated legislation which fully protected crocodiles.  Thank God they did.  Crocodile populations, although hanging by a thread, showed signs of recovery.

The Australian saltwater crocodile has an incredibly complex social structure.  They are impossible to study in the wild under the deep dirty water and at night.  Today is the very first day of the year 2000 and I believe that over the next 1000 years, we will still not completely understand the intricacies of their behaviour in the Australian wilderness.  However one trait is blatantly obvious, very easily studied, well documented and I see it every time I enter the wild crocodile habitat.  The Australian saltwater crocodile (Aussie nickname “Salty”) are highly territorial.  The biggest, oldest, wisest dominant male salty, which until recently had the capacity to exceed 20 feet in length, ruled.  These massive old male crocs were the supreme rulers, the kings of their domain.  They are the largest reptiles left on our earth, modern day dinosaurs, the most powerful and awesome animal in the world.  Archosaurs dating back over 100 million years – truly the ruling reptiles.  Imagine the tenacity, the instincts, the sheer pinnacle of evolution that crocodilians possess to see them surviving the extinction of the dinosaurs and still here in our natural world in the year 2000.   They are still here for one and only one reason; they are territorial and the biggest dominant male is the king – he rules!!!  While the Australian wilderness areas contained these huge reptiles, the ecosystems were pristine and balanced.  There was a harmony and tranquillity.  Every single species from the apex predators all the way down to the zooplankton were healthy and flourished.

At the end of World War II, crocodiles were slaughtered on sight.  Its human nature that the biggest is the greatest “Trophy” and that disgusting human trait still exists.  By 1970, “King salties”, those in excess of 18 feet, were decimated.  In fact the next dominant crocs the “Princes”, those over 16 feet, were rare and so scared for their lives they disappeared.  They saw their grandfathers and fathers shot, snared, decapitated and ruthlessly slaughtered.  They witnessed their grandmothers, mothers and sisters wounded, maimed and murdered by men with bright lights, high-powered rifles, boats and snares that cut their heads off.  The natural balance of the Australian wilderness was destroyed.  The kings were dead and what few princes were left fled for their lives.  A genocide had taken place.

Right now, on this first day of the year 2000 here in my backyard in the State of Queensland, the Australian saltwater crocodile is classified as “vulnerable”.  They are one step away from endangered, two steps away from extinction.  In nearly 30 years of protection, Queensland’s salties are still in dire straits.  I travel to the absolute remotest wilderness areas of this state and can count the number of 16 feet plus crocodiles on the entire east coast of Australia on one hand.

The atrocious propaganda established about crocodilians I will now expose.  The PROPAGANDA - here comes the hideous propaganda.  I know this is about to upset a lot of powerful, influential people.  It’s a given that I am about to receive a full tilt attack on every single facit of my life.  From this day on, I will be knifed in the back at every level.  But I’m not scared.  The time has come for me to expose the current “Hitlers of Wildlife”.  My dad and God have prepared me for the immense personal attacks I am about to receive.  “Bring it on wildlife perpetrators” you are about to be exposed.  Historically, it has been easy to see wildlife perpetrators as civilized people who view native animals as nothing but vermin or a means of making money.  They were obvious and perhaps 30 years ago, we the human race didn’t understand the disastrous impact we were having on our only earth.   Now the wildlife perpetrators, the people directly responsible for wildlife genocide and mass endangerment globally, have an incredibly cryptic camouflage.  They are really, really hard to see.   But I see you. Yes!  I see you and every single day more and more people can see you.  Pretty soon hundreds of millions of people will see you.  Your camouflage, your propaganda, will only last a little longer.  We’re on to you and we’re coming for you.  Together we are strong.  “Sustainable Use” of native wildlife is your camouflage, your disguise and your propaganda.  Since when has the slaughter of native animals saved a species?  Never has and never will!  Your argument that farming apex predators like tigers for their penis, bears for their gall bladders, crocodiles for their skins is protecting and conserving the species is easily the greatest lie of the millennium.  Farming apex predators is the most horrendous torture any animal has ever endured.  Tigers, bears, crocs, etc. are territorial and cramming them in like battery chickens is so horrendously cruel on the individual’s mentality that their inevitable death is their only relief.

The TRUTH, the plain and simple truth is the fact that while these so called “Sustainable Use” farms continue to supply native wildlife products then the demand will never cease.  These farms are fuelling the market.  Can you believe these “Wildlife Nazis” want sustainable use of whales?  Oh my God, where will it stop?  Wildlife has been evolving since the dawn of time and so have wildlife perpetrators.  Now, they hide behind the facade called science.  Within their wildlife product industry they employ scientists, young academics and graduates who conduct research designed to support their industry.  It’s there that their science follows funding. Their science and research doesn’t follow fact nor the obvious.  Money and greed is the root of all this evil.  Just look at nations who claim that the slaughter of whales is scientific.

Every single person can help Mother Earth in a very powerful, rewarding manner.  Never purchase native wildlife products.  Always question the legitimacy of slaughtering native wildlife for conservation or science.  I understand that the questions will flood in.  As delicate hard to answer questions crop up, we will continue to evolve and overcome as we humans have done since we first walked the earth.  Questions like: what skins, meat, and animal products should we consume?  My answer would be only those species, which have been domesticated for centuries (e.g. cows, chickens and sheep).  However, there is no excuse for any inhumane cruel or torturous treatment of any animal.  Perhaps free-range chickens are a solution worth researching.

We the human race have evolved beyond cannibalism and slavery.  I’m confident we will continue to evolve beyond “Sustainable Use” and wildlife abuse.  Let’s start this new millennium with foresight and embrace this next 1000 years as our transition. If we consider all our planet’s inhabitants worth saving, ultimately we will save ourselves.

CROCS RULE!