Speaker A
I would much rather be next to a shark in the water than a crocodile in the water.
Robert Irwin answers tough wildlife questions, sharing insights on crocodiles, koalas, animal behavior, and conservation efforts.
Key Takeaways
- Saltwater crocodiles are intelligent and protective, deserving respect rather than fear.
- Koalas face serious threats from disease and habitat loss, requiring focused conservation efforts.
- Animals can sense human emotions and intentions, responding positively to kindness and respect.
- Avoid risky encounters with wildlife; if bitten, stay calm and seek appropriate medical treatment.
- Treat all living beings with respect, a core value passed down from Robert Irwin's father.
What the video covers
- Robert Irwin discusses his favorite animal, the saltwater crocodile, highlighting its intelligence and role as an Australian icon.
- He explains the differences between crocodiles and alligators, including physical traits and temperament.
- Irwin addresses the serious issue of chlamydia in koalas and the impact on their populations.
- He shares his belief that animals can sense if a person is good or bad based on their behavior toward wildlife.
- Advice is given on what to do if bitten by an animal, emphasizing remaining calm and seeking medical help.
- Irwin reflects on the most important lesson from his father: treating every living being with respect.
- He talks about the dangers of crocodiles compared to sharks and stresses the importance of caution in crocodile territory.
- The video touches on conservation efforts and the effects of climate change on crocodiles and other wildlife.
- Irwin highlights the emotional intelligence of animals through a story about elephants sensing a woman's pregnancy.
- The importance of educating the next generation about wildlife conservation is emphasized.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Favorite Animal
- 01:07Crocodile vs Alligator Differences
- 03:21Koala Chlamydia and Conservation
- 04:29Animals' Emotional Intelligence
- 05:22What to Do If Bitten by an Animal
- 07:13Life Lessons from Dad
- 08:11Crocodiles vs Sharks: Which is Scarier?
- 11:35Conservation and Climate Change Impact
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
'Cause a shark you can work with; you can do your things. Crocodile, you should never end up in the water with a crocodile ever.
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If you are in crocodile territory, do not enter the water, whatever you do. G'day LADbible.
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I'm Robert Irwin. I'm a wildlife conservationist. I'm here to answer questions from the Honesty Box.
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Here we go. Questions from you guys. Alright. What is your absolute favourite animal? Fantastic question.
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My favourite animal is the saltwater crocodile. It is Australia's icon, in my opinion. I mean, we've got koalas, we've got kangaroos, we've got lots of cute animals.
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But for me, the crocodile, they are amazing. We've been involved in world-leading crocodile research for a very long time, learning about this modern-day dinosaur.
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And there's a lot more to them than meets the eye. They're affectionate, they're very protective mothers, very intelligent creatures.
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And they're also just the coolest... I mean, they're a living dinosaur. What a boss!
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Those things are amazing. So yeah, crocodile's my absolute favourite. Oh, I'm so glad you asked the difference between a crocodile and an alligator.
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Where do I begin? How much time do we have? First of all, location. Usually when people refer to an alligator, they refer to an American alligator.
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There's also a Chinese alligator, but the American alligator is found in the Southern states of the United States of America.
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Whereas a crocodile, saltwater crocodile, is an Australian species. Also, the way they look. When a crocodile closes his mouth, you can see top and bottom teeth interlocking.
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Whereas when an alligator closes his mouth, you really only see the top teeth, and the alligator has eyes that are really high up on his head, whereas a crocodile has a lot lower eyes.
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The snout on a crocodile is elongated and triangular. This is a crocodile now, apparently.
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Is long and triangular. However, the snout on an alligator is more blunt and U-shaped.
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Lastly, their temperament. Crocodiles are gonna really try and get you, whereas alligators are adorable.
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I mean, I've got an alligator that I would consider my pet. I mean, I can, like, call him over; his name's Sanchez, and be like, "Hey, Sanchez," and he'll come over.
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You can give him a little pat. If I tried that with one of my crocs, it would be a very brief afternoon.
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Do koalas actually have chlamydia? The koala chlamydia conversation is often one, it's been popularised, and sometimes it's kind of comedic, right?
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But this is a very serious issue. Yes, koalas can contract chlamydia, and it is a very serious thing that is affecting the population and is one of the leading causes of their demise.
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Now, koalas in Australia are fragmented into very small pockets of habitat. There's not much pristine habitat left.
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It's actually really, really sad. And so disease spreads very quickly. Believe it or not, koalas are actually endangered in a lot of their range and, in some of their range, functionally extinct.
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So they're adorable, and they're an absolute icon, but they're disappearing in front of our very eyes, which is sad.
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But I choose to focus on the wins, and we are making great headway with protecting this animal and making sure they're around for the generations to come.
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It's a good question. Holy moly, this is gonna take a while. 'Cause I can really talk the legs off a chair.
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I'm gonna have to come and have to really start locking in. Lock in, Irwin.
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Can animals tell when someone is a bad person? I'd love to say no, but I think they can.
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More so, I think animals can tell if you're a good person. I think if you are the sort of person that hates animals, animals are gonna pick up on that, and they're not gonna want anything to do with you at all.
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But I really believe that people who have a love and respect for wildlife, for nature, animals pick up on that.
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I have seen it firsthand. There is a level of emotional intelligence and connection that animals have that is...
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It's not quantifiable, it's not scientific by any means, but you can really feel it.
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Somebody came into our wildlife sanctuary and was in with some of our elephants. We've been doing elephant conservation for a very long time.
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And there was a whole bunch of elephants. Three of them gathered around this one lady, and they were all so insistent.
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All of their trunks are, like, right here on her torso. She then goes, "Well, I'm pregnant." And she hadn't told anyone that she was pregnant yet.
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Do with that what you will. I think that's pretty incredible. What should you do if an animal bites you?
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First of all, you shouldn't be in a situation where an animal is biting you.
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That is the biggest thing. And even for me, I work with animals, dangerous animals, animals that bite every single day.
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And I take a lot of pride in the fact that my bites are minimal.
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I take no pride in when an animal bites me because I know it's not the animal's fault.
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It's my fault. I've gotten too close; I've done something wrong, and the animal feels a need to defend itself.
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So I know that I've gotten in the wrong spot. So first of all, the biggest thing, if you are anywhere out in nature, don't approach something that can bite.
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Don't try and feed the badger. Don't try and pick up the goose that's sitting there.
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But if you have gotten into that situation, it really depends on where you are.
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If you're in Australia and something has bitten you, there's a good chance it's venomous, and you are going to want to get to a hospital very, very quickly.
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If it's a venomous snake, for example, you're gonna wanna wrap the bite site and immobilise the limb to ensure the venom doesn't course around your body.
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If it's something like a crocodile, you want to exit the crocodile's mouth as quickly as possible.
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You wanna pack the wound and get to a hospital. You know, it depends on what it is that's bitten you.
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But I would say first and foremost, don't get yourself into that situation. But if an animal does bite you, remain calm is the biggest thing.
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Don't try and catch or kill the animal. Let him be. If you can see what it was that bit you, that's a bonus.
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And then just get to medical help as quickly as you can. And if you say, "Hey, a snake bit me," or "A badger bit me," or "A dog bit me," you know, your hospital's gonna know how to deal with that.
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But you just want to remain calm and usually have help come to you. You don't wanna start freaking out and try and sprint to the nearest hospital.
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'Cause if you're bitten by a venomous snake, that's a good way of getting the venom coursing around your body.
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What's the most important lesson your dad taught you? The most important lesson that my dad taught me was this thing he used to always say, which is, "Treat every living being the way you would wish to be treated."
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And, you know, that's that old saying, "Treat every person you come into contact with how you wanna be treated." But he really extended that out to every animal, every plant, every person, every living being that you interact with
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should be met with the same level of care, appreciation, and respect that you would wanna receive.
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And I think that is something that I've kept with me for my whole life.
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I think it's very important. And if you treat everything with a sense of passion, with a sense of respect, and if you treat every living being with respect, I think that's very, very important.
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And I think there's a lot of people that could take that on board. What's your favourite collective noun for an animal?
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Crash of rhinos. So cool! What is scarier, being underwater with a shark or on land with a croc?
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This is not a straightforward answer. The only types of crocodiles that pose a real...
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You know, like, they're big, and they're powerful and all of that, you know, it's, like, your saltwater crocodiles, your Nile crocodiles, really big crocodilians.
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And those ones, actually, first of all, they're really not out to get you. They're not trying to p
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Big predators, sharks, crocodiles, bears, whatever they are, they're not seeking you out. They're not trying to eat you.
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Don't let anyone tell you that they are. 'Cause they're not. But if you come upon them and you're in their territory and you make a mistake, sure, they can bite.
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So I would say most crocodiles on land actually don't pose much of a risk.
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They're a lot slower on land than they are in the water. A shark in the water, obviously, is extremely well-versed, extremely quick.
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But again, I have spent a lot of time with sharks in the water, and I've never had anything close to a problem.
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I've never even felt uneasy. Not once. They are actually very passive, very peaceful creatures.
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And you sort of learn the rules, where to be and where not to be, and how to, you know, keep your eyes on them, your body language, and everything in good stead so that they're not gonna try and approach you.
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They're not gonna be testing you. So really, it's no big deal. If you've got a shark in the water and a crocodile in the water, not on land, that's a whole other story.
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I would much rather be next to a shark in the water than a crocodile in the water.
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'Cause a shark you can work with; you can do your things. Crocodile, you should never end up in the water with a crocodile ever.
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Do not. Stay away from the water. If you are in crocodile territory, do not enter the water, whatever you do.
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Okay, so a crocodile is fast in two places: in the water and directly next to the water.
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In the water, they can go almost the cruising speed of a dolphin. You'll never outswim a croc.
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And from a standing start, they'll actually stalk right up to the edge of the bank.
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They'll strike out of the water using their tail and a really big burst of speed.
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They are so quick. There's a reason why Nile crocodiles bring down zebras and buffalo no worries at all.
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The Australian saltwater crocodile can catch a bird out of midair, midflight in a second, in a millisecond.
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They are lightning fast. So it doesn't matter if you zigzag, if you rub your head and pat your tummy, if you do a backflip; there is nothing you will do.
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A crocodile next to the water's edge, they're just so fast. All you gotta do is take, like, three or four big steps back from the water's edge, and a crocodile is never gonna have a second look at you.
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They honestly don't care. If you're not in strike range, they don't care. They don't pose you any threat.
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And if for some reason you're on land with a crocodile and you are worried, don't zigzag, don't bother.
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Just run. Just go away! Just walk briskly, run. Just wherever the crocodile is, if he's having a look at you, just go the other direction swiftly.
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That's literally all it is. What's the ugliest... I'm not even gonna... What's the ugliest animal?
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All animals are beautiful. What should every child be taught about the natural world? This is a great, great question.
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I think it is absolutely crucial that young people have a connection to nature. I would argue it's probably one of, if not the greatest things that we can do for the future of the planet is to foster a sense of responsibility
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to care for the natural world. And to create that in the next generation, it's so easy.
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All you have to do is have some sort of connection, you know, one holiday to a national park or one experience one-on-one with an animal.
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If you can connect in some way with the natural world, then you're gonna be inspired to save it.
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And I firmly believe that kids in the next generation are certainly the ones who will change the world.
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You know, through our own charity, through Wildlife Warriors we have the Visionary Wildlife Warriors, which is this branch dedicated to kids.
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The Earthshot Prize has so much dedicated to youth climate activism and really trying to mobilise a community of young people to create action for the environment.
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But I think more broadly, the biggest thing I can say that everyone can do that will help the environment right here, right now is to really try and get young people interested in nature.
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And it sounds so simple, but it is the biggest thing. My entire job is an environmental advocate.
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And I'm very grateful that I have a platform to reach a lot of people.
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But I wouldn't be in this position, and I wouldn't do what I do if it wasn't for my parents who created this love and this passion for the natural world.
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And I'm surrounded by so many passionate individuals. What is the deadliest spider? Very good question.
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Well, I can speak to what the deadliest is in Australia, which is certainly the Sydney funnel-web.
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It has an extremely potent venom. And they also often live in and amongst urban areas.
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But the nice thing about them is they are not confrontational, you know? And what I usually do if I'm in an area where they're found is, the only thing you have to make sure you do is you actually take your shoe, and you tap it out.
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You don't just put your foot straight in the shoe. 'Cause they love to hide in shoes.
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So that's the big precaution I would say. But something like a Sydney funnel-web, they like to keep to themselves.
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And generally if you see one, they're gonna be in your shoes. So tap your shoes out.
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But for anyone visiting Australia, don't worry, they're not gonna be in your shoes. They're not just getting around everywhere.
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They're not gonna be riding the train with one, don't worry. But yeah. Sydney funnel-web, not to be messed with.
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Well, if there's a spider in your house, my biggest thing is don't kill it.
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Don't kill the spider because there's no need. This has happened so many times. I saw someone, a mate of mine who didn't like spiders; there was a spider in his house, and he goes to kill the spider.
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And before I could say, "Don't do it," he smacks the spider. Little did he realise it was a female carrying babies.
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And the babies just went and just exploded. So we went from one spider to about, I don't know, 500 that were just all over his house.
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And I said, "That, my friends, is called karma." So now they're gonna grow up, and now you're gonna have 500 spiders in your house.
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So great job. What I would do is I get a cup, and I get a piece of paper like this, right?
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Here's the spider. Cup, paper, move it outside. That's what I do. And if it's a spider that you're worried about that you think, "Hmm, I don't really want this near my house," then take it far away from your house.
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If you could bring back dinosaurs, would you? Yes! Yes! If Jurassic Park was real, I'd be like, "Take my money!" Oh, my gosh!
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I would be the first one in there. And the dinosaurs would get out, and you'd be fine.
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Because I reckon I could talk them down. I reckon I'd be like, "Oi, Velociraptor.
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Mate, you'll be right. Chill out." I can target train a Komodo dragon. I can figure out Velociraptor, easy.
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Australovenator. It's a species of... I'm a nerd. I know. It's been pointed out to me.
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It's called an Australovenator, and it's this species of large theropod found in Australia. And it's, like, a mix of, like, a...
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Imagine the mix between a raptor and a T-Rex. It's, like, larger than a raptor.
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It's got giant claws, but it's fast. It's, like, really accurate hunter and just, like, so cool.
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And they're Australian. And it's called an Australovenator. Like what? That is awesome! What do colours and patterns tell us in the wild?
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Great question. They're usually one of two things. They're usually to blend in or to let you know, "Hey, I'm dangerous." A lot of the most venomous creatures in the world are brightly coloured.
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And some other creatures will be brightly coloured to mimic the venomous things so that things that could eat them think they're venomous.
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The other thing is usually animals are gonna mimic the pattern in their environment. And there's some awesome examples of that, of animals that blend into, particularly, like, moss and tree bark and that sort of thing that are just absolutely uncanny.
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So yeah, colours in the natural world usually tell us, "I'm trying to camouflage," "Hey, just so you know, I'm venomous," or "Look at me." It's usually a, "Hey, look how cool I am." Usually in birds.
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It's like, "S'up ladies?" You know what I mean? That's usually what it is. Usually in birds, when you see those bright colours, it's males that are trying to attract a mate.
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"Birds with Rizz." That's a little series I've started. Done two parts. The bird so far with the most rizz, probably, I think, the bowerbird.
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They build, like, a little mini stadium to perform for a female, and they will collect brightly coloured objects from the local area, and they'll, like, decorate the stage, and the female will come in, and they'll do, like, this dance
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and show the female their decorations. And if the decorations are good and the dance is good enough, the female's like, "Yeah." Cats or dogs?
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Dogs. Sorry. I love cats! I have tigers; they're great. But dogs, man. Kangaroos or koalas?
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Oh, no, this is controversial. Someone's gonna be mad at me whatever I say. I have both kangaroos and koalas.
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Hmm. Kangaroos, if you're listening, cover your ears. No, but I love kangaroos! This is really hard.
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Okay, I will say kangaroos and koalas, I love them both. I genuinely think they both hold a very important place in the environment.
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And they both hold a very special place in my heart. Yeah, I'm gonna say definitely both.
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Kangaroos are my favourite. Sorry, I just had a... Tickle there. How can we protect our oceans?
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This is one of the key questions for environmental preservation. Growing up in Australia, I am on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef, a place that is so celebrated for its biodiversity and hit really hard by climate change.
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So I sort of see both sides of the coin, but for me, the amount of people that I talk to and that I see who are making change for oceanic conservation really inspires me.
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So at our wildlife hospital that we have, we've rescued and rehabilitated thousands upon thousands of sea turtles, released them back out into the wild, which is really, really beneficial.
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I am catching up with this amazing group, which is called Matter, which is a finalist for the Earthshot Prize.
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They have created this filter that goes on your washing machine to filter out microplastic so it doesn't end up in the ocean.
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Like, all of these little solutions that are happening out there on the front line and in our own backyard, I think is very important for oceanic conservation.
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You have to look at it holistically. Climate change is having an effect. Fishing is having an effect.
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Pollution is having an effect. So many different things. But I think when you see initiatives that are creating jobs and benefiting people at the same time, they're also creating environmental headway.
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I think that's where you're gonna really have success. And that's definitely how we're gonna protect the ocean.
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It's gonna be a lot of collaboration across a lot of different sectors, and I think we also need to hold policymakers accountable for that.
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I think when you talk about large-scale habitat preservation, particularly with oceans, we don't see it.
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I mean, every day we can see urbanisation. We can see deforestation. But we don't see bottom trawling every day.
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We don't see all of the atrocities happening in the ocean. And sometimes we don't see the wins that are happening.
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We don't see the people that are out there restoring coral, the people that are out there creating these plastic alternatives, the people who are dedicating their lives to saving our oceans.
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And I think it's also equally important to amplify that message to people. I think it's really, really crucial.
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So I, yeah, try and do that, proudly. What... We've really changed vibes. But I went from this, like, real...
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Like, I was sweating after that last one, right? I'm, like, just whew! Poured out some of the biggest environmental advocacy I ever have.
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And now I've got, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Wow! Chicken. "I'm so scared of slugs!" in all caps and exclamation marks.
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"Help me overcome my phobia!" Wow! This is a cry for help. Oh, my gosh!
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That's hilarious! It's gonna be okay. So I brought in some slugs, and I'm just gonna...
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No, I'm kidding. I would say, honestly, healthy amount of exposure to slugs. Fear from an animal usually comes with a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge for slugs.
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Spend time around slugs, read about slugs. I know, I know. Rip the band-aid, rip the band-aid.
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And come to understand the way of the slug. If I'd known, I would've brought some slugs in, and I could have, like, helped you.
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Yeah, exposure therapy. Genuinely, I know it's hard, but you gotta do it. You gotta do it.
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Because there are slugs in your day-to-day life. I'm sorry. They're gonna be here. Do pigeons get unfair hate?
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Yes. I think pigeons are awesome. There's a lot of animals that get unfair hate.
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I think often animals that are common or that are perceived to be dangerous or scary or slimy or sticky or just, you know, like you see them every day.
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People take them for granted, or they have a fear towards them, so they brand them as just, "Nope, I don't like them." You know, I think that's wrong.
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I don't agree with that. I think pigeons are awesome. I think every single animal, when it is existing in its natural state in the ecosystem, everything holds value.
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Everything has a place in the ecosystem. It is not our job to deem what animal we should love or hate because we all belong to the planet and we all share the planet with every other living being, and they all have a very important role to play.
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So yes, the hate for pigeons is unfair. Okay, this is a great question. What should you do if you find an injured animal in the wild?
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Well, I would say it depends on what it is. If it's, for example, like a snake and you don't really know what species it is, please don't pick it up.
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But if it's a little baby bird, you know, something like that, absolutely pick him up and take him to your nearest vet hospital.
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Reach out. Usually wherever you are in the world, there is some sort of veterinary practise or wildlife rehabilitation practise somewhere in your area.
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Sometimes if it's a little baby bird that's fallen out of the nest, sometimes it's as simple as just, you know, locating where his parents are, making sure he is visible, maybe, you know, putting him up out of harm's way.
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There's little things that you can do. Very, very important. What have you seen firsthand that makes climate change feel real to you?
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Oof. Okay, there's two sides to this. There are things that I've seen all over the world that I think make climate change hit really hard.
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I mean, I speak about places like the Great Barrier Reef, which has been hit really hard.
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You know, I look at some of the alpine and arctic regions that I visited year after year that have certainly changed and become less biodiverse because of climate change.
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We also, as part of the research that we do in crocodilians, in crocodiles in the wild, we've seen for the first time that it's looking like the way in which crocodiles behave and react to an ever-changing climate is scary
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because for something like them, for an ectotherm that cannot regulate their own body temperature, they are gonna feel the effects from climate change badly.
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And also, the temperature can also dictate whether or not a crocodile hatches as a boy or a girl.
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So if you have that skew to one side, that can also be really detrimental to populations of crocodiles.
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So I look at, like, yeah, a lot of reptiles, which is my bread and butter, what I really love, being affected hugely.
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And it's really sad to see. They can't regulate their body temperature like we can, so they're the first to go.
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And they're also kind of the canary in the coal mine for a lot of it as well.
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Amphibians and reptiles are the first indicators to say, "Hang on a minute, something's different here." And I've seen it firsthand.
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I've seen the crocodile, the apex predator, starting to suffer from climate change. And if you lose them, wow, we have got a big problem on our hands.
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On the other side of that, the other thing that makes climate change feel real for me is the real action being taken to combat climate change.
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That is just as important. Equally important. The real and tangible effects of emissions of climate change and the correlation between emission output and warming, very important, but also equally important, the people, the policymakers, the individuals, the businesses, the initiatives
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that are out there trying to combat climate change. Ah, next animal to go extinct.
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That's really sad. There are some animals that I look at that I just go, "This is really...
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This is tough." The one that springs to mind is Sumatran tigers. There's only around four or 500 of them left.
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I look at something like Javan rhinos. You know, we're talking about icons: tigers, rhinos.
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To be talking about animals like that going extinct in my lifetime, that's insane. On the flip side of that though, you know, I look at...
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Again, a prime example of this: Altyn Dala in the steppe in Kazakhstan. This is this Earthshot finalist who I've met.
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I've talked with them a lot. They brought back the saiga antelope from something like less than 20,000 to now somewhere around four million.
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They were almost gone, and now finally they're back to healthy numbers. So even when an animal is on the brink of extinction, there is still hope.
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Do you feel closest to your dad when working with animals? The great one to end on.
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100%. I feel the closest to his legacy, to what he was all about. And I feel like my job is to echo the message that he created and to bring that message, that sense of fun and positivity, conservation,
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all of that to a new audience. And it is such an honour to do that.
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When I'm around people who share that sense of passion, you know, I realise, you know, he would be very proud, I think, of the direction the world is heading and the people who are trying to unify, you know?
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He was a unifying voice more than anything else. He wanted to people to get involved in conservation through the lens of fun and enthusiasm and joy and hope and optimism and all of that.
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And that is very, very important to me. And his legacy and the way he conducted himself is something that will always be like my North Star, for sure.
Speaker A
Thank you for joining me for the Honesty Box. That was a lot of honesty.
Speaker A
Wow. Thank you. That's all she wrote.
Topics:Robert Irwinwildlife conservationsaltwater crocodilekoala chlamydiaanimal behaviorcrocodile vs alligatoranimal biteswildlife educationclimate change impactLADbible Stories
