Bindi Sue Irwin was born on July 24. 1998. As Bindi grew, so did her exposure to the great outdoors. By the time she reached preschool age, her involvement in the family business had grown from staying behind in the car to helping the team wrangle crocodiles. She enjoyed a life of travel and the wonderment of the animal world. If she wasn’t getting off to a distant jungle with her parents, she was playing in her won backyard, the Australia zoo. This was a novel yet stable environment that supported Bindi’s identity development as a conservationist.
Bindi was homeschooled after a year of formal preschool. This meant she could study at home and anywhere else she was. “Her school day always includes extra-curricular things like swimming, mixed martial arts, cooking lessons, piano lessons, surfing, horseback riding.” Terri Irwin told Australian talk show host Andrew Denton in 2007.
Source: crocodilehunter.com.au
Steve and Terri encouraged Bindi’s interest in crocodiles and snakes by letting her be a part of their work. They taught her a great deal from the moment she was old enough to be able to be exposed to wildlife. Just like how their own parents had raised them, Steve and Terri provided positive experiences with nature throughout Bindi’s childhood, and were her role models for respecting the natural environment. By being parents who encouraged care and concern for wildlife, just like their own parents had done, Steve and Terri helped Bindi and Robert overcome common negative reactions to creatures such as snakes, lizards and crocodiles.
Discovery Kids on June 9 aired an hour-long program hosted by Bindi called My Daddy the Crocodile Hunter, where viewers saw Steve impart to his daughter his love for wildlife through specially selected footage. In the following clip, we can see how the way Bindi was brought up and how her parents played a crucial role in developing her love for animals.
Bindi had as strong an affiliation with wildlife as her parents did, and she now had more TV experience than most children. At the age of eight, she wanted to make television shows to teach other children about wildlife. Her parents saw this and fully supported the production of Bindi’s own educational television show, Bindi the Jungle Girl. Attached below is a short clip of what an episode of her show involved.
Bindi Irwin is now 14 years old and an international award-winning celebrity. She has co-created a range of books called Bindi Wildlife Adventures which have been launched in Australia, New Zealand in 2010 and the US in 2011. She also starred in her first full-length feature film, Free Willy: Escape from Pirate’s Cove. She continues to be passionate about spreading the important message of conservation and sharing her love for wildlife.
Source: Huffington Post UK