Russell Crowe has helped save the life of an injured kookaburra.

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe

The 57-year-old actor donated an unknown sum of money to Australia Zoo over the weekend to allow them to purchase an endoscope which was needed to save the injured bird after it swallowed a small fishing hook.

News of the kookaburra’s plight was first revealed by the Twitter account for Wildlife Warriors, the charity set up in 2002 by the late Steve Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin as a way to encourage others to support the protection of injured and endangered animals.

In the tweet, the charity wrote: “Archie the kookaburra had swallowed a fishing hook when he arrived at the #AustraliaZoo Wildlife Hospital. An endoscope was used to locate the hook, following which it was safely removed using a protective sleeve. Thankfully, Archie recovered and he has returned back to the wild. (sic)”

And in a follow-up tweet from Terri Irwin herself, it was revealed Russell had donated the funds needed to purchase the life-saving equipment.

She wrote: “Thank you @russellcrowe for donating the funds to purchase this life-saving endoscope. Archie really appreciated it! (sic)”

Russell is a long-time friend of the Irwin family – which includes Steve and Terri’s two children, Bindi and Robert Irwin – and previously gifted Bindi and her husband Chandler Powell a fig tree as a wedding gift ahead of their marriage last year.

Alongside the present was a note which read: “Presented to Bindi and Chandler to commemorate their wedding. Love from Russell Crowe and family.”

And in response, Bindi marked Russell’s 56th birthday in April last year with a sweet reference to the “beautiful” fig tree.

She wrote on social media: "Happy Birthday, @russellcrowe. You'll always be part of our family. Even though we can't see you right now, we're giving the beautiful fig you gifted us a hug and thinking of you. ‪Hope your day is extraordinary."

Tagged in