Grace Warrior grows up surrounded by animals, but even i experiencing new wildlife every day with her parents Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell. The CEO of Australia Zoo shared her “first” with her 3-year-old daughter – and the amazing photos will leave you in awe.
“The most amazing day,” Irwin told a new post on Instagramsharing photos of when the zoo released a sea turtle named Aurora back into the wild. “This beautiful old sea turtle was in our care at the #AustraliaZooHospitalWildlife for a long time and finally she got away home. It was so big that we had to make a beach release. She weighed over 160kgs (360 pounds)!” Irwin explained. And the big turtle has a big part of Grace's heart.
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CLICK! THE IRWINS, (aka THE IRWINS), from left: Terri Irwin, Bindi Irwin, Robert Irwin, (Season 1, premiered on October 28, 2018. photo: ©Animal Planet / Courtesy: The Everett Collection
“Grace had spent a lot of time feeding her in the rehabilitation pool at the Wildlife Hospital,” Irwin wrote. She was thrilled to see Aurora go home and then became very emotional because she wanted to go with her to the ocean. She turned to us and said, 'Is everyone sad?'” We are crying right now because her little heart is so big!
Irwin continued to reflect on Grace's heart in the caption. “I am in awe of Grace's big heart and compassion for all animals,” she wrote. “It made me cry to see how much she loved that old sea turtle. It was the first time Grace saw a real connection to the wildlife work we do.”
Oh, she's growing up! And although she has always seen how cool animals are, she now sees the bitter truth about helping animals and sending them back home, where they will be happy (even though she miss them!). In the pictures, Grace looks so small standing next to the giant sea turtle with her mother, hugging the animal and laughing. At the end, Irwin holds Grace close to her as the little girl snuggles into her mother's neck, looking at the ocean beyond.
“Awww my heart I'm crying too 😢 what a beautiful example you set 💗 after seeing the first picture I immediately thought of your father 💙 oh how proud he would be the legacy continues 🐢 💚 #graciares” wrote one person, referring to Irwin's father, Steve Irwin. Someone else wrote, “The love and compassion you all have for wildlife is so amazing and beautiful 😍”
Last month, the Crikey! It is the Irwins a star video section of this special moment with Grace, explaining how it was a “very emotional moment” for everyone there. “You know, when you take care of an animal for so long, bring it back to full health… It's exciting and special, but it's also very hard to let it go and say goodbye after so long,” she says in the clip. Irwin said, “And for Grace especially, her emotion when she said goodbye to Aurora was so overwhelming, and she's only three. And it's going to make me cry. She became very emotional saying goodbye to Aurora.
“She's dealing with the fact that we let her go back to the wild,” Irwin continues. “And she turned to all of us and said, 'Are we all sad?' And it's true. We're all sad to say goodbye to such a beautiful sea turtle, not being able to protect it out in the wild. But we're all doing the best we can until the second to give her a chance in life, and I'm so proud of our team. And I'm so proud of Grace. Her compassion, her love and her care for every animal is beyond me beautiful. And I'm so glad you I, as her mother, got to share this moment with her.”
Before you go, check all the ways Bindi Irwin's daughter Grace following in her mother's footsteps.
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