Exactly. At least Malcolm Douglas did it to protect them (although unlike Irwin he started his career as an actual "Hunter" - he soon grew to love them). I'm pretty sure Irwin's intent to protect wildlife was genuine, but his show was nothing more than grandstanding to raise money for his Zoo.

As for his attitude being closer to an American - that's actually a fairly astute observation - and probably explains why Irwin's shows were never as popular on Australian TV as they were in the US.

Dingo7055 Trivia : I actually was travelling to the US when Irwin died (like, he literally died over the course of my plane flight to LA), and everywhere I went in the US, taxi drivers, anybody I met, the first thing they asked me when I said I was Australian was something to do with if I was sad that Steve Irwin died, and how sad they were. At the time, Peter Brock had died a day later, and I told pretty much every American who asked that most Australians were more upset at Brock's death than Steve Irwin's (who we genuinely believe had it coming - sad but true). Of course, nobody knew who the fk Peter Brock was, so I'd just say "kind of like if Dale Earnhardt Jr. died". Brockie got a State Funeral.