Bindi the Jungle Girl

July 13, 2007 12:00am
FROM the moment she was born Bindi Irwin has lived in front of a camera.
By the time she was two she was appearing on her famous father Steve's Crocodile Hunter series.
Now, at just 8, the little wildlife warrior is starring in her own show, Bindi: The Jungle Girl. The first episode of the 26-part series airs on the ABC on Wednesday.
The show features footage of Steve Irwin, who was killed by a stingray barb on September 4, last year.
Since his death, there have been concerns that Bindi following in her dad's footsteps could be depriving her of a normal childhood.
Manager John Stainton yesterday said Bindi was not being exploited. "There have been a lot of kids doing TV shows who have been younger than Bindi," he said.
"How old were the Olsen twins when they started?"
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were reportedly nine months old when they started on sitcom Full House.
"We started filming Bindi's show over a year ago. It's not an overnight thing and before that we'd shot a kids fitness video. It's not an abnormal intrusion into her general activities.
"Bindi is incredibly comfortable in front of a crowd. She gets butterflies, but that's normal."
But while some might baulk at Bindi's rigorous TV workload, it seems the star herself couldn't be happier - as long as she is with her beloved animals.
"I've been filmed from the day I was born with animals," she said.
"I love them. The majority of my day when I'm at the zoo I spend with animal friends."
Bindi: The Jungle Girl shows the young Irwin in her tree-house with such animals as Corny the Corn Snake.
While some US critics have labelled Steve's presence in the show "creepy", Bindi's mum Terri, who also appears in the show, said it was always intended to be family affair.
"Steve was becoming more and more interested in helping Bindi achieve what she wanted to with filming. This was very much a family operation and that's how we've kept it."
Bindi says her dad taught her everything she knows about animal welfare. She says he always instilled in her the need "to love animals and not to hate them".
For the past few months Bindi and Terri have divided their time between their home at Australia Zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast and the US.