Croc hunter’s son, 9, gets own TV show

Nine-year-old Robert Irwin will co-host Wild But True on Discovery Kids Asia, exploring parallels between nature and science.

He called it a “really, really cool concept” for a TV show. “It’s about how science has gotten ideas and built from inventions from the natural world,” he said.

The siblings appeared regularly on their father’s show before he died from a stingray injury in 2006 while shooting a documentary.

Bindi also has TV shows of her own and a few film credits. She said Robert does not need any tips about being in front of the camera, but if she had one piece of advice, it would be something from their father.

“I think that the greatest tip that dad gave myself when we started filming is that he said ‘When you talk to the camera, just talk to it like you’re talking to a person, because that’s what you’re doing, you’re speaking to people in their living rooms’,” she said.

Robert said that, although he was only three when his father died, he has vivid memories.

“He was really, really passionate in every single thing that he did. I think it’s really important to carry on for what he did, so I’m really glad that that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

His mother, Terri, said: “I think we’re really lucky too because so much of our lives together were filmed.

“We’ve got that family opportunity of always filming together, so we can look back on good times anytime we want.”

Robert was embroiled in controversy in January 2004 at the age of one month when his father carried him while hand-feeding a 3.8-metre (12 ft 6 in) saltwater crocodile. Comparisons were made to Michael Jackson dangling his son outside a German hotel window and Irwin was criticised by child welfare groups, animal rights groups, and some viewers.

Wild But True is set to premiere across Asia in the third quarter of 2014.