Bindi Irwin's Resemblance To Steve Irwin Is Really Turning Heads

Bindi Sue Irwin's now-iconic moniker serves as a reminder that her dad was one of the world's biggest animal lovers. As Steve Irwin explained on an episode of "The Crocodile Hunter," she shares her first name with one of his most beloved crocodiles, while her middle name was inspired by his pet dog, Sui. Bindi's birth was filmed for her family's popular Animal Planet series, and she had quite the burden placed on her tiny shoulders from the moment she was born in 1998. As Steve's wife, Terri Irwin, held their newborn daughter in her arms, she said to the crying infant, "Bindi Sue, you have to run a zoo in a few years. I know — I would be upset, too (via NFSA).

Terri was talking about the family business: the 700-acre Australia Zoo, home to koalas, kangaroos, wombats, several snake species, and, of course, crocodiles. Ensuring the well-being of so many animals is quite the responsibility, but Bindi has proved up to the challenge of assuming her father's khaki mantle — perhaps more so than anyone expected.

After Steve died in 2006, an 8-year-old Bindi delivered the eulogy at his memorial service. "I don't want Daddy's passion to ever end. I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did," she said. If there's anything that slightly softened the blow of the Crocodile Hunter's loss for his millions of admirers around the globe, it's that Bindi did exactly that, and fans of the Irwin clan might not realize just how much she has in common with her father.

Steve Irwin's interest in animals came from his parents, who founded the wildlife park that became Australia Zoo. His mother, Lyn Irwin, was an animal rehabilitator, and his father, Bob Irwin, captured and moved crocodiles to safer environments to reduce their risk of getting killed by humans. The animals that couldn't be relocated wound up at the Irwins' park. Steve started accompanying his father on these croc-hunting trips at a young age, and soon he was perfecting his reptile-wrangling skills. "[W]hen I was 9 years old, he let me jump, restrain, and capture my first crocodile," Steve said on a 2004 episode of "A Current Affair" (via CBS News).

In a 2003 appearance on "Australian Story," Steve revealed that he was eager to teach his then-5-year-old daughter the art of wrestling a crocodile into submission. "If I'm going jumping on crocs, then by crikey, I want her jumping on crocs with me!" he said. Bindi told Us Weekly that her dad got his wish just a few years later. "[H]e decided I was old enough to be able to jump on the head of the crocodile. I was this little 8-year-old girl, and Dad goes, 'I believe in you. You can do this, sweetheart,'" she recalled. The proud moment Bindi covered the croc's head was captured on camera (as seen above). 

Bindi was also eager to share her ever-expanding knowledge about the natural world with others, telling Signs of the Times in 2010, "I am the luckiest kid in the world. I live in a zoo and get to teach other kids about animals in a fun way."

If you ever seek out old clips of Steve Irwin interacting with his daughter on "The Crocodile Hunter," be forewarned: Your face will soon resemble the wetlands of Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve (but at least you'll be smiling through the tears). In one episode of "The Crocodile Hunter Diaries," Steve tasked Bindi Irwin with holding down the tail of a captured croc. "Can you eat your sandwich and hang on to that tail?" he asked Bindi, who had not unhanded the snack she was munching on. In a moment that was pure comedy gold, his totally chill daughter confirmed that yes, she absolutely could.

Bindi started filming her own series, "Bindi, the Jungle Girl," before Steve's heartbreaking death and continued shooting it after he died. Critics praised the little girl's preternatural ease in front of the camera and predicted big things in her future. Just like her dad, she set out to be the best PR rep a croc could ask for by teaching young viewers that the reptiles aren't monsters — just misunderstood. In one episode, she even revealed that she had given a crocodile she helpedcapture the nonthreatening moniker of Lollipop.

Bindi learned a lot about filming a documentary-style series from her father, telling Entertainment Weekly in 2007, "One of the hardest things to learn was, 'Always face the camera' ... My dad was really good at that." Her hard work earned her a Daytime Emmy in 2008, and she continued bringing her important message about animal conservation to television through the 2012 game show "Bindi's Boot Camp" and the reality series "Crikey! It's the Irwins," which premiered in 2018.

While some skeptics were concerned that Bindi Irwin had to meet such heavy expectations from such a young age, she insisted she was willingly walking the path her parents had set out for her. "I've always wanted to teach people about animal conservation," she told The Royal Gazette in 2007. "I want to follow in my father's footsteps. I loved him so very, very much." From a young age, Bindi raised awareness of issues she was concerned about, such as animal abuse and whaling. She also donated 10% of her earnings from her television work to her family's Wildlife Warriors nonprofit.

Among the causes she took up was a campaign against the harvesting of crocodile eggs, but another mission was even more personal for her: the fight to stop strip mining on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Preserve. ”We've got over 400,000 petition signatures,” Bindi told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2013. She won that battle when the Queensland government banned mining on the preserve.

Bindi has also tirelessly promoted the work of the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, writing in a 2020 Instagram post, "Some of my most vivid memories are caring for tiny koala joeys that had lost their mothers." She began participating in live crocodile feedings at Australia Zoo's Crocoseum, and in 2020, she was named CEO of the zoo. In a 2019 appearance on BuzzFeed News' "AM to DM," Bindi revealed that her family was closely following Steve Irwin's plans for the zoo and continuing his mission to protect wildlife worldwide. "Helping rhinos and cheetahs in Africa, tigers in Sumatra," she said. "It's so important for us to continue Dad's legacy and what he loved the most, which was wildlife conservation."

Hopping on crocs and trudging across the rugged Australian Outback call for a high fitness level, so it's not surprising that both Bindi Irwin and Steve Irwin were exceptional athletes. Steve loved to surf — and yes, he did it in his iconic khaki uniform. But his other true passion, aside from wrestling crocodiles, was wrestling human beings. He was such an avid fan of mixed martial arts that he started training with UFC fighter Kyle Noke, who told the Las Vegas Sun in 2010, "If he would have done it when he was younger, he could have been a fighter today." On "The Fair One Podcast," Noke revealed that Steve even dreamed of facing off against actor Vin Diesel in an MMA fight.

If anyone had produced a reality series pitting celebrities against each other in a weekly cage match back then, it sounds like Steve would have signed on for it in a heartbeat. But it was his daughter who had to twist, turn, and occasionally kick her way to victory on Season 21 of "Dancing with the Stars" in 2015.

Bindi had appeared in a series of animal-themed fitness DVDs as a kid, in which she sang and danced with a group called the Crocmen. But professional dancer Derek Hough helped her develop her dance skills to a point that made her "DWTS" journey one fans will never forget. On their way to winning the Mirrorball Trophy, Bindi and Hough received the highest possible score for their freestyle performance: an emotional tribute to Steve. And in a move that would have made her dad even prouder, Bindi donated her "Dancing With the Stars" money to her family's Wildlife Warriors charity.

You never imagine Superman without the "S" on his chest, and the same thing goes for Steve Irwin and his khaki shirt and shorts. His go-to look has been adopted by the entire Irwin family when they're at work, and Bindi Irwin has really taken a shine to her father's favorite earthy fabric. "I am not fond of having to put on makeup and a dress and shave my legs. ... I just want to show up everywhere in my khaki and feel comfy," she confessed on Kylie Kelce's "Not Gonna Lie" podcast. She also said that the Irwins have the perfect argument for their outback-friendly outfits: "Khaki is not just a color, it's an attitude."

The Irwins usually complete their day-to-day casual ensembles with a sturdy pair of practical boots, and Bindi's biggest fashion regret has been not learning to walk in heels before appearing on "Dancing With the Stars." The year she competed on the show, it seemed she was ready to spread her wings and fly, fashion-wise. As she told Us Weekly, "[I]t is really fun to try different styles. I'm kind of stepping away from khaki!" 

But perhaps Bindi got her fill of sequins, strappy heels, and swirling skirts on "DWTS" — in a 2024 Instagram post, she admitted, "My wardrobe consists of 99% khaki and 1% plaid shirts." We have a feeling her dad's closet didn't look much different.

Hallmark couldn't have plotted Steve Irwin and Terri Irwin's romance better: An American woman visits a zoo in Australia and immediately falls for the charismatic conservationist she sees feeding a crocodile during a demonstration. "I thought, 'This man is the most incredible guy I have ever seen,'" Terri recalled on "The Crocodile Hunter." According to Steve, he also noticed Terri in the audience. "It was love at first sight," he said. After the croc show, they posed for a photo together.

A little over two decades after Steve and Terri's fateful 1991 meeting, their daughter, Bindi Irwin, found herself posing for a photo with a competitive wakeboarder from America named Chandler Powell. That snapshot, which was also taken at Australia Zoo, captured the beginning of Bindi's relationship with Powell. "It was so cool seeing the parallels, because it was right next to where Steve and Terri met," Powell recalled to Us Weekly. He even repeated the words Steve used to describe how he felt about Terri: "It was love at first sight."

Just like Terri, Powell enthusiastically embraced his significant other's unusual lifestyle. He earned a khaki uniform of his own, and by 2016, he had proved that he was just as capable of capturing crocodiles as he was at capturing Bindi's heart. "I feel extremely blessed to have someone in my life who is so passionate about wildlife and conservation," Bindi captioned a photo of her and her then-boyfriend on a croc-catching date. Powell proposed at Australia Zoo in 2019, and he and Bindi also tied the knot there the following year.

Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell started their new life together on the Australia Zoo grounds, so after their daughter, Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, was born in 2021, her childhood started to look a lot like Bindi's. On Instagram, her proud mom shares photos of Grace's adventures with her feathered, furry, and scaly friends. And Bindi's followers love watching Grace getting chased by echidnas, cuddling giant tortoises, and feeding lemurs. 

Just like her mother and grandfather, Grace seemed destined to become a "Wildlife Warrior" — Bindi even named her daughter after the phrase coined by Steve Irwin. The Irwin family also believes that Grace is the spitting image of Steve. "I think she's got that determination that Steve had and that connection with wildlife," Terri Irwin told ET in 2022. All of Grace's adorable photo ops serve the same purpose as Bindi's own early encounters with wildlife. "Empathy is a learned behavior, and the more time Grace spends with animals, the more she develops this beautiful empathy for living beings," Bindi explained to SheKnows. 

It's important to Bindi that Grace loves her late grandfather as much as the rest of the family does. Grace has seen videos of Steve, and his presence can be felt throughout the zoo. She even christened him "Grandpa Crocodile" and made his famous "Crikey!" catchphrase part of her early vocabulary. "[T]hat was so important to me that she would grow up knowing him, because it's hard not having him around," Bindi told ET. "I know he would have adored her."

You know your conservation work is appreciated when someone names an entire species after you. In 2009, scientist John Stanisic honored Steve Irwin by giving a tree snail species the scientific name Crikey steveirwini. Stanisic explained to Australia's ABC News that the snails, which were discovered in the mountains of Queensland, had khaki-colored stripes that made him think of Steve. While the critters' slow speed likely made them much easier to catch than the crocodiles their namesake was known for nabbing, it did take researchers a long time to find them. "This is an extremely rare species of snail," John said.

The researcher also named a pinwheel snail found in Carnarvon National Park's eucalyptus forests after Bindi Irwin, giving it the scientific name Bindiropa irwinae. According to Stanisic's wife, this led to yet a third Irwin bagging bragging rights as snail name inspo. Lorelle Stanisic told ABC News that Robert Irwin was present when her husband told Terri about his plan to name a snail after Bindi. "[Y]ou could tell like all brothers he was thinking, 'Oh gosh she's getting a snail,'" she recalled. So that Bindi's little brother wouldn't feel left out, Lorelle promised him that an animal would also bear his name someday. True to her word, Lorelle gave a banded snail the scientific name Figuladra robertirwini in 2024.

Given that he felt a little bit like the real-world spiritual brother of the fictional character Crocodile Dundee, it's not surprising that Steve Irwin got an offer to star in a movie as himself. In the 2002 action-adventure romp "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course," the fictionalized version of Steve sets out to save a crocodile from men he believes are poachers but who are actually CIA agents. 

While Bindi had watched her dad capture many crocodiles on the fly in real life, the magic of movie editing seemingly made the film a tough watch for her. "Even my own daughter was intimidated by the croc stuff," Steve said in a BBC interview. "When we watched it at the premiere a few weeks ago, she ran up and sat on my lap, just to keep in contact because she wasn't sure what was going to happen to me."

Steve also made a cameo as himself in the 2001 movie "Dr. Dolittle 2." But when Bindi decided to give acting a go, she branched out a little more by playing different characters. Still, she did mostly stick to projects with themes that fit her conservationist brand, such as 2010's "Free Willy: Escape From Pirate's Cove" and 2013's "Return to Nim's Island." Of her role in the latter, which is about a girl who goes head to head with unscrupulous developers, she told The Sydney Morning Herald, "Playing someone different to yourself is kind of strange, but I feel like Nim is part of me. ... She is such a passionate and determined being."

Family was important to Steve Irwin, and Bindi Irwin feels the same way: She has maintained the deepest of bonds with her mother and brother, working and living with them at Australia Zoo. Robert Irwin also filled in for their father by walking Bindi down the aisle when she married Chandler Powell.

It warms fans' hearts to see how seamlessly Chandler has integrated into the Irwin family, and they love getting to watch their daughter Grace Powell prepare to lead the next generation of Wildlife Warriors. In 2026, Bindi posted a video of Chandler releasing a carpet python as Grace praised both her dad and her late grandfather's snake-handling skills. "Just imagining how effusively, explosively proud Steve would be to see this," read one reaction to the sweet family moment. "Watching Grace with her Dad is like watching you at that age with your Dad!!" another Instagrammer wrote.

Fans also commend Bindi for continuing to carry the torch her father passed to her, and before his death, Steve let her know how happy he would have been about everything she has accomplished. In 2018, Bindi shared footage of Steve talking about the day his kids would take up his cause by encouraging a new generation to care about animals as much as he did. "I guarantee you it will be the proudest moment of my life," said the emotional dad. And while Steve's millions of fans will always mourn his loss, they can find solace in knowing that his legacy remains in good hands. "[Y]ou can feel Dad's spirit in everything we do," Bindi told The Daily Telegraph. "I've found such comfort in being able to follow in his footsteps."