No Barbie Dolls For Bindi

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

29 Jun 2007 08:15 AM

Forget about Barbie, for 8-year-old Bindi Irwin playtime is all about Blackie--her black-headed python. Would you expect anything less from the daughter of the late crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin?

In addition to Blackie, Bindi recently revealed that she spends quite a bit of time with Corny, her "lovable" corn snake (the one she sleeps with every night). Then there's Jaffa her koala; Ocker, her favorite cockatoo; and Candy, her pet rat. The junior "Crocodile Hunter" is hoping to give her pets some serious airtime on her new TV show so the rest of the world can get to know them better.

My animal loving 3-year-old can't wait. I'm recording the new TV show, "Bindi the Jungle Girl," (it airs Saturdays on the Discovery Kids Channel)for my daughter. The show follows Bindi as she travels the world to see animals in their natural habitats. She also touches on issues such as extinction. For example, the young girl notes that there are only a few thousands tigers and cheetahs left in the wild and they could all be gone "by the time I'm old enough to drive." Bindi spends some time touching on the issue of conservation, a topic near and dear to her father's heart. And as her dad did, Bindi frequently warns viewers not to use products that result in the needless deaths of animals.

The show also features Bindi's two-story tree house in Queensland, Australia, where the little girl interacts with her exotic furry friends. It's also the place Bindi reveals that she comes to watch video footage of her dad. (You'll recall Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray while filming an underwater documentary at Australia's Great Barrier Reef last September.)

"I'm ever so lucky because I have so much footage of my dad in the tree house with me," Bindi says. "Which is very nice to have because some people only have like one or two pictures of their father or the one who died."

When she's not following in her father's footsteps, Bindi says she is "just a typical kid" who enjoys pestering her younger brother and going to school. Only she knows a bit more about animals and saving their lives than the "typical kid."

Related Articles:

Celeb Updates: Bindi and Richie

Crocodile Hunter's Legacy Lives On

Creating The Next Generation Of Crocodile Hunters

Swimmers Target Stingrays To Avenge Steve Irwin's Death

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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