Thousands Expected At Irwin's Service

More than 5,000 people, including the prime minister, are expected to cram the "Crocoseum" at the Irwin's Australia Zoo in Beerwah on Wednesday to say farewell to "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin at a memorial service.

Flags on the Sydney Harbor Bridge were to fly at half-staff, and giant television screens were set up in Irwin's home state of Queensland for people to watch the service.

Animal Planet, the channel on which Irwin's shows "The Crocodile Hunter" and "The Croc Files" aired, will air the memorial service tonight, commercial free, from 9 to10 p.m. ET/PT. With an encore broadcast airing 12-1 a.m. ET/PT.

The memorial service, entitled "Steve Irwin: He Changed Our World," will be a same-day broadcast (with a two-hour delay) of the event Wednesday morning in Australia.

Irwin, 44, was killed Sept. 4 when the barb from a stingray pierced his chest while he was filming a TV show about the Great Barrier Reef. His family held a private funeral service Sept. 9.

His death set off an outpouring of grief. Tens of thousands of people traveled to the 60-acre zoo near Brisbane to drop off flowers and other mementoes, many of them signing Irwin-styled khaki shirts instead of a condolence book.

There has been a surge of donations to the Irwin-instituted charity Wildlife Warriors, and millions of people have visited his Web site to find out more about Irwin and his conservation efforts.

Irwin's widow, Terri Irwin, originally from Eugene, was expected to make her first public appearance since his death at Wednesday's memorial service. The couple's daughter, Bindi, 8, and son Bob, 2, were expected to accompany their mother.

Prime Minister John Howard also was expected to attend the service, and country singer John Williamson planned to sing "True Blue," a song that Irwin loved.

John Stainton, Irwin's manager and close friend, said the service would be a celebration of the naturalist's life.

"There will be one seat alongside of the family for Steve because he loved the Crocoseum, he built it," Stainton said. "And his Australia Zoo cap that he always wore watching all the shows with his daughter will be on the seat."

Stainton said there would be visual tributes to Irwin, with some "memorable film clips" and "funny moments" from his television career. Actor Russell Crowe reportedly will be among those paying tribute by video.

"The one thing I hope everyone will take away from it is what a diverse character he was," Stainton said.

Three of Australia's main television networks planned to carry the ceremony live and provide feeds to U.S. and international networks.

Free tickets for the service were made available on Sept. 15 at Australia Zoo and Brisbane ticket agencies. Many fans lined-up overnight for the tickets.

Stainton said recently that the service would be a "celebration of his life, not a sad funeral — Steve would not have wanted us to have everyone around crying."

At Irwin's private funeral, the croc hunter's family and closest friends told stories around a campfire on the grounds of the zoo, the entertainer's base in eastern Queensland. Irwin was reportedly laid to rest in the grounds of the Australia Zoo; though it's still not clear whether his body was buried or cremated.

Bob Irwin has said the family turned down an offer of a state funeral because his son would not have wanted it. The father said Irwin would, however, have liked a public service for his fans to celebrate his life.

Although larger venues for the public event had been suggested, Terri Irwin said her husband would have wanted the service held at the "Crocoseum."

"I cannot see how a memorial service would work in any other place other than the Crocoseum, which he built here at the zoo and of which he was so proud," she said in a statement. "I would therefore ask that everyone please bear with me in this wish and help me to make this happen."

"I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming outpouring of love, support and prayers for my family," she said in her first public comments since Irwin's death.

Terri Irwin thanked her husband's fans for their kindness and support following the death of her "soul mate."