LONDON: The family of late Australian conservationist and “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin are following in his footsteps with a new television show dedicated to their wildlife conservation work.
“Crikey! It’s the Irwins” will follow Irwin’s wife Terri and their two children, Bindi and Robert, looking after animals at their Australia Zoo in Queensland as well as heading out on various expeditions.
Irwin, who was watched by audiences around the world in his popular television programs, died in 2006 after a stingray’s serrated barb pierced his heart while filming off Australia’s northern Great Barrier Reef.
“We are continuing on in dad’s footsteps and everything that we do today at Australia Zoo and with our Wildlife Warriors work is exactly what he started,” Bindi Irwin said of the family’s conservation organization in an interview for Reuters.
“In the show we’ll have some amazing moments of reflecting on what he used to do, from feeding crocodiles to cuddling koalas. and then you’ll see us doing the exact same things making sure that everything he loved the most carries on into the future.”
Bindi Irwin, who has previously had her own television show, will be seen working at the zoo’s wildlife hospital. Her brother said the family also takes trips abroad.
“Also we traveled to so many different places all over the globe,” Robert Irwin said.
“We’ll take you to Africa. We’ll take you to the Great Barrier Reef. We’ll take you up north to remote northern Queensland where we do our crocodile research. It’s all about wildlife, it’s all about conservation and fun as a family.”
“Crikey! It’s the Irwins” debuts on Oct. 28 on Animal Planet.
“Crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin’s family launch new show
“Crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin’s family launch new show
- Irwin, who was watched by audiences around the world in his popular television programs, died in 2006 after a stingray’s serrated barb pierced his heart while filming off Australia’s northern Great Barrier Reef
Japan’s beloved last pandas leave for China as ties fray
TOKYO: Two popular pandas are set to leave Tokyo for China Tuesday, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in 50 years as ties between the Asian neighbors fray.
Panda twins Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao are due to be transported by truck out of Ueno Zoological Gardens, their birthplace, disappointing many Japanese fans who have grown attached to the furry four-year-olds.
“Although I can’t see them, I came to share the same air with them and to say, ‘Hope you’ll be OK,’” one woman visiting the zoo told public broadcaster NHK.
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month during a diplomatic spat that began when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hinted that Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The distinctive black-and-white animals, loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy,” have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since they normalized diplomatic ties in 1972.
Their repatriation comes a month before their loan period expires in February, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which operates Ueno Zoo.
Japan has reportedly been seeking the loan of a new pair of pandas.
However, a weekend poll by the liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed that 70 percent of those surveyed do not think the government should negotiate with China on the lease of new pandas, while 26 percent would like them to.
On Sunday, Ueno Zoo invited some 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery to see the pandas for the last time.
Passionate fans without tickets still turned out at the park, sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to demonstrate their love of the animals.
China has discouraged its nationals from traveling to Japan, citing deteriorating public security and criminal acts against Chinese nationals in the country.
Beijing is reportedly also choking off exports to Japan of rare-earth products crucial for making everything from electric cars to missiles.
However, China routinely removes pandas from foreign countries and the latest move may not be politically motivated, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and an expert in East Asian international relations.
“If you talk about (Chinese) politics, the timing of sending pandas is what counts,” and pandas could return to Japan if bilateral ties warm, he said.
Other countries use animals as tools of diplomacy, including Thailand with its elephants and Australia with its koalas, he added.
“But pandas are special,” he said. “They have strong customer-drawing power, and... they can earn money.”
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