Terri Raines was born in Eugene, Oregon, USA at Sacred Heart Hospital on 20 July, 1964. Her father drove heavy-haul trucks and would bring home wildlife that had been injured on the road. This instilled in Terri a love for wildlife and a desire to help animals from a very early age.

At the age of ten, Terri bought a horse named Princess with her own pocket money. She started her own bank account at the age of six and over the next four years saved $400. This was enough to pay for the horse, saddle, bridle and a ton of hay. A very happy Terri spent the next eight years attending 4H riding club meetings and trail riding. As a young adult she spent summers exploring the Eagle Gap wilderness area in North-east Oregon on horseback. This further convinced Terri of the need to protect wildlife and wild places.

At eighteen, Terri bought a three bedroom home and worked hard to pay it off by the time she was 25-years-old. At this point in her life, it was all about work. She was running the family business, worked part-time at an emergency veterinary hospital and operated a wildlife rehabilitation organisation called ‘Cougar Country’. This left little time for holidays, so when Terri’s friend, Lori, suggested a trip to Australia, Terri took the opportunity to head Down Under.

While visiting Brisbane, Terri and Lori were invited to a barbeque near the Glasshouse Mountains. After the BBQ lunch, while driving back to Brisbane, they passed a small roadside wildlife park. Ever interested in a wildlife experience, Terri and her friends went into the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park where they encountered a most enthusiastic man talking passionately about crocodiles. In a crowd of only ten or fifteen visitors, Terri managed to catch the attention of the man doing the show. After introducing herself, the man said, “G’day mate, my name in Steve…Steve Irwin.” This chance encounter would change their lives forever.

After an international courtship, which meant they had spent less than six weeks actually together, Steve and Terri married on 4 June, 1992, in Eugene, Oregon. Some 400 people attended the wedding, as it was also when all of Terri’s friends, family and colleagues would be saying goodbye. Terri and Steve immediately began their life together in Australia with wildlife documentary filming, a beautiful zoo, and later two incredible children and a stack of adventure.

Today, even after losing Steve, Terri considers herself very blessed. “I found my Prince,” She says. “And if I had my time again, even knowing it would end, I wouldn’t change the 14 amazing years I had with Steve.”

Terri is now looking toward the future and continuing Steve’s legacy. She is determined to dedicate the rest of her life to Bindi, Robert and her husband’s battle for conservation. Like Steve, Terri is truly a Wildlife Warrior.