Steve Irwin Day Coloring Pages
Welcome to my Steve Irwin Day coloring pages section.
Steve Irwin Day is held every November 15, the birthday of Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise who lived to be about 175. Australia Zoo started it in 2007 to remember Steve Irwin, an Australian wildlife expert who spent his life getting people excited about animals. The idea is still the same today: get curious about the animals around you and help look after them.
Jump to: Harriet | Cute Animals | Unusual Animals | Habitats | Helping Wildlife
Why November 15? Happy Birthday Harriet!
Harriet lived to be about 175, and tortoises like her are some of the longest-lived animals on Earth. She lived at Australia Zoo and was one of Steve Irwin's favourite animals, so her birthday became the date for Steve Irwin Day. Galapagos tortoises come from the Galapagos Islands far out in the Pacific Ocean, and the big males can weigh more than 200 kilograms.
Cute Australian Animals
Most of Australia's mammals live nowhere else in the world. Baby kangaroos, koalas and wombats are all called joeys, and a baby echidna is called a puggle.
Unusual Australian Animals
Some Australian animals look like they were put together from spare parts, but every odd feature has a job. A bilby's huge ears help it hear well and shed heat in the desert. A numbat eats only termites, thousands of them a day with his very long tongue. A thorny devil can drink through its skin, because rain and dew run along tiny grooves between its spikes straight to its mouth.
Where They Live
Australia has red desert in the middle, rainforest in the north and the biggest coral reef in the world off the coast. Each one has its own animals.
Helping Wildlife
You don't have to live near a zoo to look after wildlife. Start with the animals in your own neighbourhood: the birds at a feeder, the bees in the garden, the frogs that sing in spring. Once you know their names it's hard not to care about them.
Small things add up. Flowers that bees and butterflies like give them food, a shallow dish of fresh water helps birds on a hot day, and picking up litter keeps animals from getting tangled in it. A visit to a zoo or wildlife centre is a good way to meet the keepers and ask how they look after the animals every day.