'Crocodile Hunter' daughter
to host own TV wildlife show
BEERWAH, Australia (AP) - Bindi Irwin said Friday she wants her
television show to continue the educational and conservation work
of her father, the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.
"I'm proud to be showing kids that conservation and helping
wildlife is a stack of fun," Irwin, eight, said at the Australian
launch of the show, title "Bindi: The Jungle Girl."
"It's just the most amazing thing that we could ever do."
Producers say the show will feature Steve Irwin in scenes shot
before he was killed last September when a stingray's poisonous
barb pierced his chest while he was diving on the Great Barrier
Reef.
Irwin's widow Terri said the TV star would have been very proud of
his daughter's debut. The series will screen on the Discovery
Channel in the United States and the Australian Broadcasting
Corp.
"I think he would have said: 'Crikey mate, I couldn't wait for
Bindi to take over,"' Terri Irwin said.
Irwin's daughter was being groomed as his successor in his
multimillion-dollar television and conservation business, which
includes a family-run animal park at Beerwah in Queensland
state.
"Bindi's been filming with us since she first hatched," Terri Irwin
said.
"It was a natural progression to be doing her own shows and Steve
was involved with the first seven episodes."
"He really enjoyed watching Bindi doing and showcasing the wildlife
that he worked with for so many years," she said.
"It gave him great pleasure."
