Skip to main content

Science Quote by Steve Irwin

"My field is with apex predators, hence your crocodiles, your snakes, your spiders"

About this Quote

A flex that doubles as a mission statement: Steve Irwin draws a bright line around his work by naming the animals most people flinch from. “My field is with apex predators” isn’t just taxonomy; it’s a declaration that he operates where risk, fear, and public misunderstanding cluster. He’s not talking about cute conservation mascots. He’s talking about the creatures we’ve been trained to treat as villains.

The phrasing is slyly conversational, almost casual, which is exactly the point. By saying “hence your crocodiles, your snakes, your spiders,” Irwin pulls the audience into the sentence with that possessive “your” - as if these animals already belong to us, whether we like it or not. It reframes terror as responsibility. The list itself is a cultural greatest-hits reel of phobias, spanning water, land, and the domestic corners of our imagination (spiders are the intruder in the bedroom, not the jungle). He’s mapping a geography of dread and then planting his flag in it.

Context matters: Irwin built a media persona that turned adrenaline into empathy. Behind the stunt energy was a serious conservation logic: apex predators anchor ecosystems, and the species we demonize are often the ones most imperiled by habitat loss, culling, and myth. The subtext is an invitation to trade recoil for curiosity - not by softening the animals, but by meeting them on their own terms.

Quote Details

TopicNature
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Irwin, Steve. (2026, January 17). My field is with apex predators, hence your crocodiles, your snakes, your spiders. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-field-is-with-apex-predators-hence-your-73980/

Chicago Style
Irwin, Steve. "My field is with apex predators, hence your crocodiles, your snakes, your spiders." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-field-is-with-apex-predators-hence-your-73980/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My field is with apex predators, hence your crocodiles, your snakes, your spiders." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-field-is-with-apex-predators-hence-your-73980/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Steve Add to List
Steve Irwin on apex predators and conservation
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Australia Flag

Steve Irwin (February 22, 1962 - September 4, 2006) was a Scientist from Australia.

34 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes