Bindi Irwin Carries on 'Crocodile Hunter' Legacy
Bindi Irwin
June 11 -- Swinging to a small screen near you, it's 'Bindi: The Jungle Girl'! The 8-year-old daughter of the late 'Crocodile Hunter,' Steve Irwin, is, along with mom Terri and little brother Bob, 3, carrying on the animal conservation work her father was so famous for on her new Discovery Kids series.

The Saturday evening show finds the adorable, endearingly precocious Bindi talking to young viewers about her favorite wildlife creatures, answering e-mails from her fans, singing and dancing to songs about animals with the help of her own personal boy band, the Crocmen, and sharing the screen with her dad, who filmed several episodes before his tragic September 2006 death from a stingray pierce to the chest.

Bindi and Terri talked to AOL TV's Kimberly Potts about their commitment to carrying on the family business, about how the beloved Croc Hunter is still a constant presence in their work and personal lives (especially, as Terri says, during family breakfasts), and about how Bindi's enthusiasm for animal conservation is so infectious that she even inspired a classic rock band to pony up cash for the Irwins' Australian Zoo.

What kind of things will you be doing on the show?
Bindi: I will be teaching kids about helping wildlife, and I'm not teaching them in a way that lectures them.
Terri: And all of Bindi's adventures start from her treehouse. We've designed her filming treehouse (based on) a treehouse that Steve built for her, so Bindi's got everything in there, her school desk, her computer, beds, bean bag chairs, all of her animal friends, from iguanas and snakes to cockatoos and wombats ... everything comes to visit her.

What's been your favorite part of filming the show?
Bindi: I think it's that I get to film with my mom and dad and all the animals and my brother. My mom and dad are like my superheroes. They're pretty much the best things that have happened to me in my life. And I especially like having them on my show..

Do you like singing and dancing and making videos with the Crocmen?
Bindi: I love doing that! Singing and dancing is one of my passions. When I'm doing that, it makes me feel like anything I put my mind to, I can do it.

What's the coolest animal you've ever met, Bindi?
Bindi: I would have to say that I really, really do like crocodiles and snakes. They've been my specialty and also my favorite animals since I was hatched.
Terri: Bindi caught her first croc when she was five years old, and it was about as long as she was tall. And I think that's probably why she spent so much time with her dad doing crocodile work.

Bindi, have you ever been afraid of any animal?
Bindi: No, never, I love all animals big and small.
Terri: The only time I ever saw Bindi even hesitate, we were filming an episode of 'Bindi: The Jungle Girl' and we were talking about mealworms. And we had a bucket of mealworms, and she had to reach in with both hands and pick them up, and they were wiggling all around. I said, 'OK, Bindi, just get a big scoop of mealworms out and we'll talk about them.' And she looked at me for just a split second, like, 'Are you serious?' And then she picked them up and looked at the camera and goes, 'Wow, it's like getting nature's massage!'

I know you're surrounded by animals all the time, but do you have personal pets?
Bindi: Well, we live at the Australian Zoo, so pretty much when I step out of the house, the whole backyard is full of them.
Terri: I think you should tell Kim about Candy.
Bindi: Oh yeah! My pet rat, Candy. He's so cute! He's turning 1-year-old on July 8, and he's the sweetest little thing in the world.
Terri: And I think he does feature a bit in 'Bindi: The Jungle Girl.'

Bindi, have you already decided that this, working with animals, is what you want to do for the rest of your life?
Bindi: Definitely. This is what I'm going to be doing until the day I die, exactly like my dad and my mom.

Does it make both of you feel closer to Steve to be continuing the animal conservation work you were all doing as a family before he died?
Bindi: Definitely. My dad was put on this Earth to help wildlife, and he was a big part of helping all of us learn about them.
Terri: Every morning we watch a daddy video while we have breakfast, and for the kids, it's kind of almost like he's still with us. And he's featured throughout the series in 'Bindi: The Jungle Girl.' We've just got so much terrific footage of Steve, that he'll be a part of our conservation work forever. And it's so great to know, for kids particularly, that when your hero dies, everything he stood for lives on.

Bindi, what's the best advice your dad gave you about doing the show?
Bindi: He gave me so much, all the time, and I felt like he was always there for me. But I guess the best was just to always love wildlife.
Terri: He would always say to Bindi, if you're with an animal, and it's doing something incredible, don't talk about the gestation period of the animal at that point, talk about what it's doing. And that was such a great gift. I remember when Steve was filming with the penguins in Antarctica, and he would go along the slippery slope and slide down on his tummy like a penguin; pretty soon, the penguins came over and slid down next to him. They were all just having fun. And Bindi has that same gift, of talking to people about the animals, and getting them excited.

Since this is obviously the family business, will we start seeing Bob joining the adventures, too? Will he pop up on 'Bindi: The Jungle Girl'?
Bindi: He will! He is the best little brother in the world, and I love him very, very, very, very much. And sometimes he comes over (on the show) and sleeps over at the treehouse, and he gets to sleep with his favorite little snake, actually, a very big snake, a boa constrictor named Basil. She's very beautiful.
Terri: Yes, Robert loves it. He often abducts the camera and cameraman and goes off on a tangent to talk about some animal.

Bindi, your name is so unique and pretty; what does it mean?
Bindi: It actually means 'young girl.' And also, my dad called me that after his favorite crocodile, Bindi. And my mom and dad called me 'Sue' after their little dog, Suey, and Irwin because, well, it's our last name!
Terri: Steve was catching crocodiles in one area where the local aborigines had a particular dialect where 'bindi' meant 'young girl.' And so when he caught this crocodile and it was a female, he liked that term and called her Bindi. And then years and years later when our own little Bindi was born, he said, 'She's just a little bindi.'

What's your favorite part of being a TV star, Bindi? Have you gotten to meet your own favorite stars?
Bindi: Well, I have gotten to meet a lot of different people. But I'm not really anything special; I'm just Bindi Irwin, and I want to help animals, and that's why I go on TV.
Terri: Bindi has had the opportunity to meet some people she's really hit it off with ... and she's such a wonderful little advocate for conservation. The band The Eagles came to the (Australian) Zoo one time, and Bindi is not backwards in coming forward. She walked up to the band and said, 'I'm so glad you're here to help me save wildlife,' and the guys all looked at each other and passed a hat and raised $1,100 for the (zoo) hospital.