The Irwins Thank ‘Family Guy’ Creator Seth MacFarlane for Generous $1 Million Pledge to Wildlife Hospital

Getty Images | Matt Winkelmeyer

The creator of “Family Guy,” Seth MacFarlane, has stepped up to help save the wildlife harmed in the Australian bushfires by donating $1 million of his own money to the Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Hospital.

The hospital, owned and run by the late Steve Irwin’s wife and children—Terri, Bindi, and Robert Irwin—has been a key player in the rescue and rehabilitation of Australia’s vulnerable wildlife since the bushfires first broke out in September 2019. In particular, the hospital has specialized in helping the region’s increasingly endangered koala population.

Seth MacFarlane attends the 2018 Fox Network Upfront at Wollman Rink in New York's City's Central Park on May 14, 2018. ©Getty Images | Roy Rochlin

MacFarlane’s donation will go toward establishing the zoo’s brand-new Koala Intensive Care Ward.

On Jan. 24, 2020, 21-year-old Bindi took to Twitter to share MacFarlane’s incredible donation with her followers. “On behalf of all the wildlife,” Bindi began, “thank you so much for your support @SethMacFarlane. You are an extraordinary Wildlife Warrior.”

Robert, 16, wrote on his own Twitter page:

“Wow, a huge thank you to @SethMacFarlane for your incredible support for Australia’s wildlife, donating 1 million dollars to help save koalas affected by the bushfires.

“You have made a massive positive difference at a time when our animals & natural habitat needs it most.”

Before long, Irwin family matriarch Terri added a heartfelt message of her own. On Jan. 25, 2020, she wrote on Twitter:

“Words cannot begin to express the heartfelt appreciation I have for @SethMacFarlane.

“This donation will enable us to not only treat more koalas, but to also more effectively treat koalas with burns and severe injuries. Seth’s generosity gives me hope for the future of koalas.”

Bindi and Terri’s posts included a statement from the Australia Zoo. The statement explained that MacFarlane’s $1 million donation would help the zoo cope with the still steady “influx of patients affected by drought and bushfire.”

“We’re so pleased to announce that we will be naming our new Koala Intensive Care Ward in recognition of Seth’s generosity,” the statement continued. “Plans for the Perry MacFarlane Intensive Care Ward are well underway and we’ll soon begin construction on this crucial expansion to the hospital.”

Perry was MacFarlane’s late mother’s surname.

(L–R) Terri, Robert, and Bindi Irwin attend as Animal Planet celebrates "Crikey! It's the Irwins" in New York City on Oct. 19, 2018. ©Getty Images | Monica Schipper

Steve and Terri Irwin founded the Australia Zoo and its resident hospital in 2002.

MacFarlane, 46, rose to notoriety as an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera before creating the internationally successful animated TV series “Family Guy.” He has long been a vocal activist for humanitarian causes.

Meanwhile in Australia, according to the World Wildlife Fund, around 1.25 billion animals are estimated to have lost their lives as a result of the bushfire crisis. The experts speculate that thousands more remain injured in the wild or displaced from their habitat.

In early January 2020, Bindi took to Instagram to share with Australia Zoo’s followers that the hospital was “busier than ever.” The 21-year-old then revealed, as per Fox 41, that the wildlife hospital had treated a massive 90,000 patients since its inauguration.

All donations, as well as the large individual sums donated by benevolent celebrities, such as Seth MacFarlane, Ellen DeGeneres, Celeste Barber, and Chris Hemsworth, are making a difference. The funds are allowing the experts to do everything in their power to assuage the crisis for as many victims of the bushfires as possible.

“Dad spent his life working so hard to protect wildlife and wild places, especially in Australia,” Bindi reflected, posting on Facebook. “I wish he was here right now to give advice and strength during this time of devastation with the bushfires.

“I know that his spirit lives on through our conservation work,” Bindi continued, “and I hope together we can make him proud.”