Defiant: "I am not an irresponsible parent," said croc hunter Steve Irwin, pictured with his daughter Bindi yesterday.

A DISTRAUGHT Steve Irwin is considering withdrawing from public life, after being condemned across the world for holding his baby boy within reach of a crocodile.

Crikey! Steve Irwin's baby in a . . . CROC SHOCKER

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald Sun last night, the tearful Crocodile Hunter said he and his family were "absolutely devastated". The emotional outburst comes after a roller-coaster two days for Mr Irwin and wife, Terri.

On Friday, Mr Irwin shocked the world by dangling baby Bob inches from the jaws of a 4m crocodile, while feeding the reptile a dead chicken in a live show at his Sunshine Coast park.

The Queensland Families Department said it would examine unedited tapes of Friday's incident for health and safety breaches and Irwin received a dressing down from police.

In an act of defiance, Mr Irwin and wife Terri sparked fresh controversy by sending their daughter into a crocodile enclosure with elephants and calling her "white meat", in a live show yesterday.

Five-year-old Bindi was told to enter a new enclosure next to a crocodile pen, then told to splash around to encourage the reptiles to swim out.

Before a dumbfounded crowd, mum Terri said: "Flail around and look helpless, that's the girl.

"The problem is if the crocodile comes in too quickly then I have to buy new floaties because they always pop."

Bindi was then left alone in the water as three fully-grown elephants entered, and stamped and trumpeted a metre away.

A zoo official said a gate connecting the pool to the croc pen was shut during the show, but patrons were less than impressed.

Queenslander of the Year, Mr Irwin later stormed out of a press conference outside the zoo during questioning over his first stunt with one-month-old Bob.

But last night a visibly upset Mr Irwin poured out his heart, saying he was simply carrying on his family tradition and doing what his father had done for him.

"I am not a bad parent, I am not an irresponsible a parent, I am not a bad father," Mr Irwin said.

"I would lay down my life for Bindi and Bob, so to hear people say that it was a publicity stunt, that I'm just like Michael Jackson dangling his baby over a balcony, well, it just tears me up inside."

Mr Irwin said while he understood the distress the footage may have caused, he also appealed for people to understand that theirs was not "a normal family living with a normal back yard".

"My parents raised me among crocs and snakes and some of the most dangerous creatures in the world, right here at Australia Zoo," he said.

"They exposed me to them from a very early age, not because they were irresponsible, but because they loved me."

"I caught my first brown snake when I was four years old, my first croc at eight.

"Now my kids are just like me, growing up at the zoo," Mr Irwin said.

Terri said she had never seen her husband so upset.

Mr Irwin said he was "not sure" what he would do next, saying he needed time alone with his family to "think things over".

"I know people will say, 'Well you invited us all into your lives, and this is what happens when you do that' and fair enough, I did invite the whole world into our lives, into our family.

"But I do that to spread the word about wildlife, about our passion for wildlife.

"Now I'm really questioning if that's the right way to go."

Opinion - Yet, another attack on fathers and families

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