Bindi Irwin Is Making Her Daughter's Childhood As Wild As Possible (Exclusive)

Bindi Irwin has always called Australia Zoo home. From her childhood spent shadowing parents Steve and Terri Irwin, to her current role running the zoo alongside her mom, Terri, and younger brother, Robert Irwin.

“I’m a little bit biased, of course,” Bindi humbly tells SheKnows while gushing about the over 700 acres she shares with 1,200 animals, her mom, her brother, and in recent years, her husband and daughter.

“I actually live right in the middle of Australia Zoo with my family. My neighbors are crocodiles and birds and rhinos,” Bindi giggled in our conversation as the zoo’s greenery swished in the wind behind her.

“Grace is a free-range kid, she just runs around and has so much fun with all of our animals.”

“All of the animals are just running around, living their best lives, having so much fun, and then we get to stop and admire them,” she says. “You get to hand-feed kangaroos and scratch on rhinos, and it’s just so lovely and so fun.”

Bindi moved her now-husband, Chandler Powell, to Australia Zoo in 2018, two years before they married on the zoo’s grounds, where Chandler also works. “We’re really lucky where we work together so closely and have this shared mission. Our whole world revolves around wildlife conservation,” Bindi says. “For us together, it’s not just what we do, it’s who we are. Like we live and breathe this work, and we feel so passionate about it.”

A year after their intimate wedding, Bindi and Chandler welcomed their daughter, Grace Warrior, on March 25, 2021. Like her family, she’s becoming a true Wildlife Warrior.

“She has the best childhood,” Bindi says. “Like we always say, Grace is a free-range kid; she just runs around and has so much fun with all of our animals.”

Grace’s life isn’t a typical childhood, but it’s one Bindi knows well. She’s been an integral part of the Irwin family’s wildlife conservation and environmentalism since she was a baby. Her father, Steve Irwin, dedicated his life to educating and supporting wildlife, as did Terri and Bindi’s grandparents, Bob and Lyn Irwin, who co-founded the zoo in 1970.

When speaking with Bindi, the eternal optimism once associated with her father radiates from her. She’s all about bringing her father’s vision to the next generation.

“My dad spent his whole life trying to educate people on the importance of taking care of our planet and loving our animals.”

“My dad spent his whole life trying to educate people on the importance of taking care of our planet and loving our animals, but he never wanted it to be this negative experience,” she says of her late father who passed away in 2006 when Bindi was just eight years old. “Our lives are already filled with so much negativity with what’s going on in the world. So he really wanted to give people this message of hope and inspiration and say, ‘Hey, you can make a difference. There is hope for the future, and every little thing that you do to help love the earth and protect our wildlife is gonna make a difference for the future generations.”

Bindi’s love of animals was instilled in her from birth, and she’s passing it down to Grace.

“Empathy is a learned behavior, and the more time Grace spends with animals, the more she develops this beautiful empathy for living beings, and I love that so much,” Bindi says. “That’s why, as a family, we always encourage: If you have kids, take them outside, take them somewhere with animals so that they can build and expand on that kindness and empathy because it does make a difference for the rest of your life.”

Life at Australia Zoo is as wild as ever, especially amid the family’s latest venture, a luxury resort aptly named Crocodile Hunter Lodge. “[It] features the most spectacular gardens. We have Kangaroos that run wild. You can eat dinner overlooking emus and koalas. It is so peaceful here,” says Bindi.

The animals in Australia continue to be an extension of Bindi’s family, especially a “giant Aldabra Tortoise named Igloo, [who] is Grace’s buddy. Like they are besties, through and through.”

“He is this huge tortoise, and she has adored him since she was a baby,” she says. “He will be wallowing in his mud wallow, and Grace will hop into his habitat, and he gets so excited to see her that he drags himself out of the mud wallow and walks over to her, looking to see if she’s brought him a hibiscus flower.”

“She cuddles his shell, gives him scratches, and they are the cutest little pair ever. It’s just such an unlikely pair, like this little five-year-old in her princess dresses and then this giant tortoise who adores her. It’s so funny to watch them together, and he’ll just follow her around.”

“You look at wildlife, and a lot of people have this disconnect, and you forget that they all have their own personalities and cute, quirky traits,” she says. “They think that she is the most wonderful little human, and it’s such a test to Grace’s character as well.”

This is the kind of positive outlook that has been synonymous with Bindi and her family for decades, even in the face of tragedy.

“Grief reveals you, and it changes your outlook.”

When the famed Crocodile Hunter died after sustaining an injury from a stingray during the filming of a sealife documentary, it taught the family a painful lesson.

“Early on, losing Dad, it brought us together in ways that I didn’t expect. Grief reveals you, and it changes your outlook,” Bindi says. “It made me realize how precious life is. Life is fleeting.”

“We don’t know how long we are gonna get, and it’s so important to spend time with the people that we love doing things that bring us fulfillment,” she continues. “We take the people that we love for granted, we get so busy in our lives that it’s so important to make that phone call, spend time with the people that you love, and tell them that they mean the world to you.”

Does that mean there isn’t the occasional spat at Australia Zoo? Not quite, but Bindi says disagreements never last long. “People always say to us, ‘Why does it seem like you’re so close? Like, don’t you guys fight and argue? And we’re always like, ‘Well, when we’re spending our day at the Wildlife Hospital, suddenly your perspective changes,'” she says. “[When] we’re trying to save animals, and you realize that this world is so much bigger than just your bubble, and it takes away those little arguments, which are so much less meaningful.”

“You still love each other even if sometimes you get a little grumpy or whatever, you still love each other, and it’s that unconditional love that is the meaning of life. And sometimes we forget that.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length. 

Before you go, click here to see Bindi Irwin’s sweetest mommy milestones!