Call of the wild
The indomitable Irwins continue their quest for world domination, taking over Animal Planet for the entire month of February with new episodes of Crikey! It’s the Irwins
Bindi Irwin has followed in her late father Steve’s footsteps in so many ways.
And just like her beloved dad – who tragically died in 2006 at age 44 after being stung by a short-tail stingray – the 23-year-old is just as passionate about being a parent as she is about spreading the message of conservation and caring for the environment.
Bindi welcomed daughter Grace Warrior with her husband Chandler Powell, 25, in March last year.
“Motherhood has been the greatest adventure of my entire life,” Bindi reveals in the season-four premiere of Crikey! It’s the Irwins.
“Grace… is amazing.
She’s so cute because she smiles with her whole body. I love that every day brings a new happy moment, a new challenge.”
Of course, motherhood isn’t all gazing at a newborn and cooing over cuteness, as Bindi has been learning over the past 10 months.
“I’ve never worried so much in my life,” she candidly reveals in the series.
“Because I want her to be absolutely healthy and happy 100 per cent of the time.
“But I’m also happier than ever just being with my family and enjoying time together.”
Crikey! It’s the Irwins follows Bindi and Chandler, her mother Terri, 57, and younger brother Robert, 18, as they strive to continue Steve’s mission to bring people closer to animals at the family-run Australia Zoo on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The six-part series aims to inspire people to become Wildlife Warriors and work together to protect and preserve wildlife and wild places. Their goal is to ensure an abundance of wildlife for generations to come.
“Dad definitely passed on his passion for wildlife,” Bindi tells viewers.
“And for me and Robert, it means so much to us to be able to carry on Dad’s legacy, and I hope to inspire Grace as well.”
And it sounds like little Grace will fit right in with the famously adventurous family.
“I have a feeling she’s going to take on the world,” Bindi says.
“She’s going to be our own little hurricane.”
Crikey! It’s the Irwins began airing in 2018 with cameras capturing the close-knit family’s home life while they care for the zoo’s many and varied animals.
One of this season’s early highlights is Robert and his team trying to capture and relocate 10 alligators from Gator Lake to a new facility at the Australian Reptile Park.
There’s no doubt the family has maintained the momentum kick-started by
Steve when he burst onto the conservation scene in 1996 with his wildlife documentary series The Crocodile Hunter.
As Robert reflects: “I think back to watching all the old footage of Mum and Dad, in the mud, moving gators, and now I get to do the exact same thing. And not just be part of it, but lead it. And fill those boots. They’re big boots to fill but it’s a huge honour, and I reckon he’d be pretty stoked.”
■ Crikey! It’s the Irwins, season four premieres Saturday, 6.30pm, Animal Planet – catch the Irwins at 6.30pm every night throughout February