Grace Warrior is growing up surrounded by animals, but even she has new wildlife experiences every day with her parents Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell. The Australia Zoo CEO shared a new “first” she had with her 3-year-old daughter — and the amazing pictures will leave you stunned.
“The most remarkable day,” Irwin captioned a new post on Instagram, sharing pictures of when the zoo re-released a sea turtle named Aurora back to the wild. “This beautiful old sea turtle was in our care at the #AustraliaZooWildlifeHospital for a long time and she finally got to go home. She was so big that we had to do a beach release. She weighed over 160kgs (360 pounds)!” Irwin explained. And the huge turtle has a huge part of Grace’s heart.
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CRICKEY! IT’S THE IRWINS, (aka THE IRWINS), from left: Terri Irwin, Bindi Irwin, Robert Irwin, (Season 1, premiered Oct. 28, 2018. photo: ©Animal Planet / Courtesy: Everett Collection
“Grace had spent lots of time feeding her in the rehabilitation pool at the Wildlife Hospital,” Irwin wrote. She was thrilled to see Aurora go home and then got super emotional because she wanted to go with her into 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 reflecting on Grace’s heart in the caption. “I am amazed by Grace’s enormous heart and her empathy towards all animals,” she wrote. “It made me cry seeing how much she loved that big old sea turtle. It was a first seeing Grace really connect to the wildlife work we do.”
Aww, she’s growing up! And while she’s always seen how cool animals are, now she gets to see the bittersweet reality of helping animals and sending them back home, where they will be happy (even though she will miss them!). In the photos, Grace looks so small standing next to the huge sea turtle with her mom, hugging and smiling at the animal. At the end, Irwin holds Grace close to her as the little girl snuggles into her mom’s neck, staring at the ocean beyond.
“Awww my heart I’m crying too 😢 what a beautiful example you set 💗 after seein the first pic I immediately thought of your Dad 💙 oh how very proud he would be the legacy continues 🐢💚 #gracewarriors” one person wrote, referring to Irwin’s dad Steve Irwin. Someone else wrote, “The love and empathy you all have for wildlife is so amazing and beautiful 😍”
Last month, the Crikey! It’s the Irwins star shared a video of this special moment with Grace, explaining how it was “a really emotional time” for everyone there. “You know, when you take care of an animal for such a long time, rehabilitating it back to full health … It’s exciting and special, but it’s also really hard to let go and say goodbye after so long,” she says in the clip. Irwin adds, “And for Grace especially, her emotion as she said goodbye to Aurora was so big, and she’s only three. And it’s going to make me cry. She got really emotional saying goodbye to Aurora.”
“She is coming to terms 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 is true. We all are sad saying goodbye to such a beautiful big sea turtle, not being able to protect her out in the wild. But we have all done the best that we can to give her a second chance at life, and I am so proud of our team. And I am so proud of Grace. Seeing her empathy, her emotion, her love and care for all animals is just beyond beautiful. And I’m so glad that as her Mum, I got to share this moment with her.”
Before you go, check out all the ways Bindi Irwin’s daughter Grace is following in her mama’s footsteps.
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