Four-year old Bob Irwin, son of the late Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, was shown filming scenes for a possible TV pilot on Australian news show 60 Minutes.  Little Bob was featured wrestling a pint-sized crocodile, handling various reptiles and playing up for the cameras.  His mother, Terri Irwin, proudly boasts “He’s a little Steve clone.”  Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray in a freak accident while filming a wildlife show for Discovery.

“I’m mister independence,” Bob says, refusing help from celebrity sister Bindi, 10 – who already has her own wildlife show on the Discovery Kids channel – to climb a tree.

[From New York Post]

And you thought Lynne Spears pushed her kids into show business early.

After Steve Irwins tragic death two years ago, Terri seems to be clinging to TV celebrity, first through her then 8-year old daughter, who has successfully become a brand all her own at the ripe old age of 10, and now through her barely speaking full sentences son, Bob.  I’m not sure if I think this is crappy or just plain sad.  Either Terri is the stage mom from hell, living vicariously through her kids, or she just can’t let go of that part of her life with Steve.

Hearing her description of a typical morning in the Irwin household make me think it might be the latter. 

Terri Irwin insists Bob and Bindi have normal childhoods and doesn’t believe it’s unusual that the family watches a Steve Irwin DVD each morning.

“It’s comforting and familiar,” she says. “It’s nice while we’re having breakfast to hear Steve’s voice in the background. It’s special.”

[From New York Post]

Bindi appears to be a well-adjusted kid with an adultlike dedication to the subject of her show, but there’s a pretty generous gap in marketability between a 10-year old and a 4-year old.  I’m hoping someone steps in and suggests that it might just be a bit premature to throw this kid in front of the cameras.

Bindi, Bob and Terri Irwin are shown promoting Bindi’s line of dolls at FAO Schwartz on 2/18/08. Credit: MLM/Fame Pictures

When a family member dies all sorts of issues can surface amongst the remaining family. It’s been 18 months since Steve Irwin died, and now his family members seem to be in conflict.

Bob Irwin, Steve’s father and the man who started his interest in wildlife, has left his role at Australia Zoo after 36 years. he will be moving to a new property he has purchased in Australia, separate from Australia Zoo, where Steve and Terri Irwin based their work from. Here is his statement.

Bob Irwin

Steve’s ultimate passion, even from a young boy, was always for the conservation of Australian wildlife and its habitat. When Judy and I move to our new property we intend to carry on with wildlife rehabilitation and conservation projects and therefore continue Steve’s and my dream.

I would like to thank Australia Zoo for their valuable assistance in acquiring our new property in SE Queensland. Australia Zoo has kindly offered to assist us in the relocation (to our new property) of animals needing special care.

I would like to sincerely thank all of the dedicated and hardworking staff at Australia Zoo, Wildlife Warriors and the Australian Wildlife Hospital for their kindness and support over many years.

To all of Steve’s friends out there, you may rest assured that Judy and I will continue with Steve’s dream, with the passion and commitment he would expect.

I would appreciate that my privacy be respected at this time. A more in-depth statement may be released at a later date, if necessary.

Courier Mail

Originally, only a brief statement was released by Australia Zoo suggesting that Bob was retiring. You can read the whole statement here – note that it doesn’t mention Terri Irwin, Steve’s wife and manager of his estate.

This follows quickly behind a family feud being reported in the Australian women’s magazines last week, which Terri’s managers were quick to comment on, but didn’t actually deny the reports.

It is a huge shame that Bob Irwin, who is credited by Steve with introducing him to wildlife conservation and who started the Australia Zoo in the 1970s, isn’t on good terms with his son’s wife and children following his son’s death. Bob’s statement seems to suggest that he is unhappy with the management of Australia Zoo, I suspect because it is now less about conservation and more about tourism.

Terri Irwin has never been particularly liked in Australia, mostly because of her grating accent and now for putting Bindi into the spotlight. Which is probably unfair as Bindi’s projects were in the works before her father died. Steve Irwin was never well-liked Down Under either, I think he embarrassed Australians. ‘Oh no, the whole world is going to think we’re like him!’ Which is probably a legitimate claim. I am Australian and when I was overseas I was asked what is was like to wear normal clothes, not khaki. I own no khaki, and never have. I do have a pet kangaroo though. She carries me in her pouch.

Some childhood rites of passage are awesome. Like the first ice cream cone, the first dip in a swimming pool, and the first trip to Disneyland. Some of the traditional rites of passage suck, like the first bee sting, the first broken bone, and the first boa constrictor bite. What? Yeah, I said the first boa constrictor bite. You didn’t have one of those? Then you weren’t a real kid, because that’s totally one of the most important rites of passage. At least if you’re a member of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin’s family. Steve’s four-year-old son Bob just got his first snake bite, and apparently that’s considered a pretty normal event in the life of an Irwin child.

The 4-year-old son of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin wasn’t at all alarmed when he was recently bitten by a baby boa constrictor, according to his mother.

“He picked one of them up and it bit him on the finger, and he was so proud to have copped his first hit,” Irwin’s widow, Terri, said Monday at FAO Schwarz, where she and her two kids promoted a new line of toys.

“He said, ‘I hope it wasn’t venomous,’ so I assured Robert I wouldn’t actually let him play with venomous snakes,” she added.

Irwin said 9-year-old daughter, Bindi, was first bitten by a snake when she was 18 months old.

[From the Associated Press]

Wow, that’s pretty freaking impressive. I faint if I so much as see a boa constrictor, and little Robert was chill when one opened it’s mouth and tried to see if he had a flavor. Thank God it was a baby boa. I’m pretty sure that the big ones eat people. I’m additionally creeped out/awed that Bindi had a snake noshing on her at less than two years old. It must be incredibly hard for the Irwin children’s friends to scare them like most little kids do. Hiding behind a curtain and then yelling boo? Who the hell cares, you were bitten by a snake yesterday. Telling the scariest ghost story you’ve ever heard? No big deal, a crocodile chased you through the outback last week. Then he teamed up with an insane mongoose and an uppity penguin and tried to lure you into a trap. That ghost story just isn’t going to cut it.

I’m glad Terri Irwin is sensible enough to keep her kids from playing with venomous snakes. I guess this is just one of those things that builds character in their family.

Here’s Bindi Irwin, Robert Irwin and Terri Irwin at the unveiling of Bindi’s new toy line at FAO Schwarz in New York City yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.

It’s almost a year since the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin died, and his little girl is wasting no time growing up without him. Now she’s a model for her own range of clothing, Bindi International.

The nine-year-old wildlife warrior was joined on the runway by other young models.

The fashion line is dubbed clothing with a conscience and is designed for newborns to 10-year-olds.

Bindi, whose TV show Bindi the Jungle Girl has been a success in the US, is hoping to help spread her environmental message with the clothes.

The spring/summer 2008 line promotes koala conservation and also features crocodile camouflage prints.

news.com.au

Bindi isn’t the one designing the clothes, and it is nice to see the kid in something that isn’t khaki!

Meanwhile, Bindi is also presenting a documentary on Steve Irwin a year after the death, which is described as an uncomfortable trip through home videos and highlights of the croc-hunter’s life.

Terri Irwin is also rumoured to have found new love in the US tabloids, but this is being denied in Australian tabloids by close family friends.

Here’s what might be the scariest premonition of the future –
Bindi turning into Britney.

This just seems like a recipe for disaster. Terri Irwin received the original copy of the video of her husband dying at the unlikely end of an aggresive stingray. All of copies of the graphic incident have been reportedly destroyed. Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was filming a show called Ocean’s Deadliest when one of the ocean’s most gentle creatures got agitated and whipped it’s tail up into his chest.

Terri was said to be devastated by a cartoon parody of her deceased husband on South Park, so of course this graphic video of his death is going to be the hardest thing she’s ever watched. I personally could not stand to see the video of Saddam Hussein’s execution, and cannot imagine having to watch a video of a loved one’s death. The video seems like the type of thing that would haunt you if you had it in your possession. If you didn’t watch it, you would think about it all the time and wonder if you should take the leap to see it. If you did watch it the images would play over and over again in your mind. If someone gave me a video of my husband dying I don’t think I would watch it and would give it to a trusted friend or put it in a safe deposit box.

A colleague said of the video near the time of Irwin’s death that “I would never want that to get out. It should be destroyed … It’s awful. I saw it but I never want to see it again.”

For his part, Steve Irwin said that if he ever died while filming he would want the public to see the footage.

The rest of us may not be able to see the video of poor Steve Irwin’s death, but the other footage he filmed during his ill-fated ocean stint will be aired shortly. Ocean’s Deadliest premieres on Animal Planet on January 21st at 8:00 PM.

Eight year-old Bindi Irwin has a busy schedule coming up. She just released a children’s exercise DVD that she made with her dad. She also announced that she’s going to tour with the Wiggles next month. Oh and she has a TV show coming out early next year.

Her mom was said to be worried that Bindi was carrying on so well after her famous father, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, died and took her to a therapist. The therapist said that was dealing with the grief in her own way and that she was well adjusted.

Here’s the promo for Bindi’s kid’s exercise DVD with moves inspired by animals. My son loves dancing and would probably jump around to it for a while.

It was announced this weekend that Bindi is going to take to the stage with The Wiggles in their upcoming tour next month. She will appear with them in LA and New York:

The eight-year-old daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, announced on US television overnight that she would perform the concerts in Los Angeles and New York.

The young wildlife warrior promised her high-energy show, called Bindi and The Crocmen, would have Americans on their feet.

The Crocmen are three men who will perform alongside her.

“We’re doing some dances which will be really fun because all the people get to get up and dance along with us,” Bindi told US morning TV show, Good Morning America, today. The concerts are part of the annual G’Day USA: Australia Week 2007 festivities being staged in Los Angeles and New York in January to promote Australia to Americans.

Bindi’s father had been a great supporter of the festival in past years.

With Bindi performing on the same bill as The Wiggles, the tickets, on sale for up to $US65, will be hot property.

Incorporated into Bindi’s act will be an animal show in which she will be joined on stage by her mum Terri and her dad’s “best mate” and Australia Zoo Director Wes Mannion.

Yellow Wiggle Greg is ill with orthostatic intolerance from an unknown disorder, which makes him light-headed and dizzy. He has bowed out of the famous Australian kids’ group, and is being replaced by his understudy.

Bindi also incredibly has a TV show coming out, Bindi the Jungle Girl, that will air in the states early in 2007.

I guess if eight year-old Bindi wants to do all this, more power to her. It just kind of screams cheesy to me for Bindi to put out an exercise video, to tour with the Wiggles, and to star in a TV show. Shouldn’t her mom be trying to balance her performance schedule so it’s not so hard on the elementary student? From what I understand she taped most of this when her dad was alive, but it still seems like too much for a little girl.

Is Steve Irwin fair dinkum game now that he’s been dead over a month? Controversial liberal talkshow host Bill Maher and the creators of South Park think so. Maher donned a tasteless Halloween costume featuring a red wig and sleevless khaki shirt with a stingray’s tail sticking out of his chest complete with fake blood. It’s a clever idea for a costume but it seems like a cruel stunt for a famous person to pull so soon after Irwin’s death.

Meanwhile South Park has parodied Irwin’s accidental death by showing the daredevil crocodile hunter as a Halloween party guest with a stingray’s barb sticking out of his chest. Irwin’s widow Terri is said to be devastated by the episode and hopes her young children never see it:

Terri, 42, is said to be worried that Irwin’s children BINDI, eight, and BOB, two, will see the show, which portrays the late star with a stingray sticking out of his chest less than two months after he died. Last night (27OCT06), Australian TV channel SBS said it is planning to air the episode in Australia next year (07) or in 2008. It has already been shown in the US. A friend of Irwin’s widow says, “Terri is devastated Steve is being mocked in such a cruel way. Her worry is that Bindi and Bob will see it and break down. “Steve had as big a sense of humour as anyone, but this goes too far too soon.” British TV naturalist MARK AMEY, 44, who worked alongside Irwin, backed the sentiments, saying, “My message to people is don’t watch the show. It’s distasteful s**t. Let’s hope none of Steve’s fans who keep poisonous animals happen to find the addresses of those behind the show and leave them a nice surprise.”

[via Fark]

Irwin is shown in South Park as a guy at Satan’s Halloween party who is mistaken for someone wearing a costume. In this clip, which I’m pretty sure is the one that’s referred to in the story, Irwin is chastized by Satan for daring to mock the accident so soon after it happened. He then says he’s the real Steve Irwin and Satan kicks him out for not having a costume. That’s obnoxious, but that’s how South Park is and they’re basically admitting that it’s tasteless.

Irwin was parodied in South Park while he was alive (link leads to video on YouTube) in an episode that aired in the second season.

Before Steve Irwin died at the unlikely end of a stingray he was working on a nature show with his 8 year-old daughter, Bindi. Now Bindi is carrying on her father’s legacy by going through with the series without him. It will feature some pre-shot footage of Bindi and Steve together, and is titled “Bindi, The Jungle Girl.”

The show will air on Discovery Kid’s Network early next year:

That’s sweet and hopefully the series will do well for little Bindi. She will be featured in an interview on Australian television this week, in which she will talk about losing her famous father. Her mother Terri was interviewed by Barbara Walters last month.

It was front page news on Yahoo! yesterday, but according to Steve Irwin’s manager he was misquoted and never said that Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin heroically pulled out the stingray’s poisonous barb before he died:

[via Fark]

In a way, that’s a relief to me, because I kept picturing it in my head, thinking the tape was going to leak onto the Internet and knowing that I’d watch it. My husband also said he thought about it a lot. People die in all sorts of terrible ways, but this has invaded our pop culture consciousness and become legend. RIP Steve. You’re remembered with love.

There are a lot of touching political cartoons about Steve Irwin’s death at Cagle.com.

The cameras were rolling when Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin met his demise at the unlikely end of a stingray, and Britain’s Daily Star speculates that we’ll get to see his horrible last moments, because he always told his crew to keep filming, even if he was in mortal danger:

The footage is said to graphically show Steve pulling out the stingray’s barb before his death:

There are no details about when and if the footage will get shown, and it’s clear that the Daily Star is just basing its conclusion on statements Irwin made. I for one would not want to see the film. I’ve heard of those “Faces of Death” films, and I’ve never watched one as I know the scenes would haunt me. It bothers me just to think about it.