Bindi Irwin has tragically lost another connection to her late father Steve Irwin after an echidna that had been with the family for almost 40 years died suddenly.
Sharing the sad news on social media on Thursday, the 24-year-old farewelled her beloved “family member of 38 years”.
She posted a series of photos with the echidna through the years, including snaps with daughter Grace and husband Chandler Powell in the early days of their romance.
Up front she shared a photo of her, mum Terri Irwin and brother Robert Irwin in their iconic Australia Zoo outfits.
“Saying goodbye to our beautiful family member of 38 years. The sweetest, kindest, most wonderful echidna you ever did meet. Rest In Peace, angel,” she captioned it.
The wildlife-loving family had the echidna in their care for almost four decades, dating back to before Bindi was even born.
Her late father Steve Irwin was an avid animal lover and Bindi said in a previous video that she first fell in love with echidnas when her dad introduced her to one as a child.
“He had this way with every animal… when he first introduced me to echidnas I just found them so weird and wonderful,” she recalled.
Bindi shared footage from the moment Steve introduced her to echidna.
(Image: YouTube)Bindi was just eight when her father died from an accidental stingray attack while filming on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.
He had been a devoted father and wanted to pass on his love of nature to both his children, once saying of Bindi: “If I’m going jumping on crocs, then by crikey I want her jumping on crocs with me!”
After losing her father, Bindi made it her mission to continue his conservation work through Australia Zoo.
“Daddy made this place his whole life and now it’s our turn to help Daddy,” she said during his funeral at the zoo in 2006.
She’s done just that and is now introducing her own daughter Grace to Steve’s legacy through animals like the echidna the family lost this week.
Bindi has shared countless photos of her daughter with the echidna and other animals at the zoo and recently revealed the sweet name her daughter has for Steve: “Grandpa crocodile”.
Grace even recognises her late grandpa in photos, as shown in the video below.
