Robert Irwin has opened up about which animal he fears could disappear within his lifetime, while stressing that even the most endangered species are not necessarily beyond saving.
The conservationist said it was an upsetting question to answer when he was asked to consider which species may be closest to vanishing forever.
“Next animal to go extinct, that’s really sad,” Irwin said. “There are some animals that I look at that I just go, this is really, this is tough.”
He said the first species that came to mind was the Sumatran tiger, noting that just 400 to 500 are believed to remain in the wild. He also highlighted the Javan rhino as another animal facing a deeply uncertain future, with the species now surviving only in Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia and estimated at just a few dozen animals.
“We’re talking about icons, tigers, rhinos,” he said. “To be talking about animals like that going extinct in my lifetime, that’s insane.”
Even so, Irwin said conservation work has shown him that seemingly hopeless situations can be reversed. As an example, he pointed to the saiga antelope in Kazakhstan’s Altyn Dala steppe.
“I look at, again, a prime example of this, Altyn Dala in the steppe in Kazakhstan,” Irwin said, referencing the region’s Earthshot Prize-winning conservation project, which he said he has met and spoken with extensively.
He explained that the species once dropped to fewer than 20,000 animals, but has since staged a remarkable comeback, with Kazakhstan reporting 2.8 million saiga in 2024 and officials expecting the population to keep growing.
“They were almost gone, and now finally they’re back to healthy numbers,” he said. “So even when an animal is on the brink of extinction, there is still hope.”
Now 22, Irwin continues the work long associated with his family through Australia Zoo, where he spent his childhood around wildlife and developed a hands-on understanding of animal care and conservation.
Over time, he has earned a reputation for carrying forward the energetic and practical style of education and rescue that made his father, Steve Irwin, so widely admired.
Away from conservation, his profile has grown sharply over the last year thanks to a run of major entertainment appearances, including a win on season 34 of the US version of Dancing with the Stars and stepping into hosting duties on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Australia.
That broader visibility has helped him reach audiences beyond wildlife television, while still keeping endangered species and habitat protection central to what he talks about publicly.
His latest comments underline both sides of that message: animals such as the Sumatran tiger and Javan rhino remain under severe threat, but the recovery of the saiga antelope shows that committed conservation efforts can still make an enormous difference.