Bindi Sue Irwin And Millions of Others Bid Steve Irwin Goodbye

Her father loved animals. Steve Irwin loved them so much he named his first child, daughter Bindi, who was born in 1998, after his most beloved croc and his staffordshire mix dog (actual name Sui).

And while Steve Irwin's shoes may be hard to fill, and expectations very high, Bindi, 8, demonstrated an amazing amount of confidence and poise as she delivered a speech celebrating her father at his memorial service at the family home/business, the Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland.

The memorial, held on 20 September 2006, may have been attended by 5500 people, but estimates put the viewing audience at 300 million, worldwide. The shouts of love and encouragement as Bindi took the stage might have intimiated the boldest of children, but this daughter of Irwin, took to the stage, prepared and smiling. When she finished, there was a nearly deafening roar and she instantly received a standing ovation.

BeansTalk hears from a well-informed Australian journalist who knew Steve Irwin (our new friend Jenny Cooney Carrillo) that Bindi will go back to work in two weeks, to complete the series her father was working on when he died -- it was always planned for the two of them, and she will continue. Bindi and the Croc Men was just one of the shows in which she participated. At the Zoo, the daily storytime at 10 a.m. includes stories of Bindi's Animal Adventures.

When BeansTalk first saw them, in person, it was at the Hollywood premiere and party for Steve and Terri's 2002 feature film, Crocodile Collision Course.

Most exciting for BeansTalk was when the chairman of the board, not-quite-yet five-years-old got to stand next to Steve Irwin (in the men's loo at Hollywood's Cinerama Dome!) Bindi and her folks were riding high atop an elephant, not unlike the one she's patting in the photo above (that photo was taken during her dad's memorial, too).

Hopefully, it will be Irwin's legacy of conservation and wildlife preservation that people will remember -- and continue. www.wildlifewarriors.org.au.