PENINSULA WEEKLY (Mornington, Australia) 09 December 13 Terri Irwin linked to snake handler's DEPI investigation (Bridget Fitzgerald)

Steve Irwin’s widow, Terri, may have played a part in a Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) investigation into Park Orchards snake handler Raymond Hoser.

DEPI will prosecute Mr Hoser at a four-day hearing scheduled to begin on March 31 for alleged breaches to the Wildlife Act.

Mr Hoser was conducting a demonstration at a Melton shopping centre in July, 2011, when he allowed a “de-venomised” taipan and death adder to bite his 12-year-old daughter.

In an August 2011 email, seen by The Weekly Review, Terri Irwin wrote to Mr Hoser to express her “shock” at his treatment of his animals and children.

But Mr Hoser said the charges should be dropped and there was “no basis to close him down”.

“We were closed down at the instruction of Terri Irwin,” he said.

In a separate matter, Mr Hoser is preparing an appeal against a 2012 Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision to strip him of his wildlife demonstrator and controller licences.

He has been allowed to continue operating while he prepares the appeal.
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