Grace Warrior Irwin Powell is the daughter of Wildlife Warriors Chandler Powell and Bindi Irwin. She never got to meet her grandfather, the famous Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin, but her family has kept Grace connected to his memory. So, when Grace saw a poster of Steve, she had an adorable – and touching – reaction.
Grace has been busy with her parents at the Australia Zoo, which is a very familiar story for this family. This zoo was created by Bob and Lyn Irwin, who opened its doors back in 1970. Decades ago, Steve himself helped them with the zoo during his own childhood. Grace getting to see posters of Steve is all the more impactful.
Grace sees and reacts to a poster of grandpa Steve Irwin
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Earlier this summer, Bindi shared a video to her Instagram page that stars Grace, who already turned a year old this March. “We have a little construction going on to make our Tasmanian devil habitat @australiazoo even more beautiful,” Bindi explained in the video’s captions. “Grace’s favourite part? Visiting Grandpa Crocodile. All the love.”
RELATED: Bindi Irwin Says Baby Grace Loves Videos Of Grandpa Steve Irwin
In the video, Grace doubles back to a poster of Steve hanging from a series of metal barricades along the road. It shows Steve wearing a construction hat with his held hands up. The sign reads “Crikey We’re Under Construction.” Bindi walks right up to the image and points multiple times, also gesturing excitedly. “Is he over here?” Bindi is heard asking from behind the camera. “Grandpa Crocodile. And he’s in his construction hat! You love Grandpa Crocodile. Yeah, love, love! Good girl. Love for Grandpa Crocodile.”
Keeping the past alive
Wildlife conservation has truly been a family affair for generations. Steve took care of crocodiles and other reptiles when his parents’ facility was still called the Beerwah Reptile Park. When work took them into the field, Steve personally handled some of the wildlife to rehome them. This proactivity can be traced to Steve’s parents, with his mother crafting pouches to care for kangaroos herself, which better helped her to rehabilitate animals in need. Jump ahead to his adult years, and Steve fell in love with Oregon native Terri Raines during her trip to the zoo, bringing to Australia her fascination with predatory mammals.
(c) MGM. Courtesy Everett Collection
The birth of Robert in 1998 and Bindi in 2003 meant a new generation to whom they could encourage this love and respect of wildlife. Robert’s relationship with comparisons to Steve is complex; he is setting off to document wildlife similar to his father and has won awards for his wildlife photography, but comparisons are something he sees on almost every social media post. Grace isn’t globetrotting yet, but she features heavily in her parents’ work around the Australia Zoo, already decked out in themed clothing, which in turn helps to finance care for animals. Time will tell what path Grace walks, but the past was reflected strongly as she gazed lovingly at that poster of her dad, a child active at the zoo with her parents, just as he was.
