When most people are faced with an animal double (or triple!) our size, chances are, we’re going to run away screaming like a little kid. Well, like some little kids — but not Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell’s daughter Grace Warrior! The 3-year-old gave a huge creature the sweetest hug in new photos at the Australia Zoo, and her bravery is impressive.
Bindi’s mom Terri Irwin shared a picture of the toddler’s fearlessness on Instagram on Thursday. “Friends come in all shapes and sizes @australiazoo.????” Terri captioned the cute photos of her only granddaughter. In the pictures, Grace is hanging out with her dad who is wearing his khaki zookeeper uniform. He crouches down to admire the giant Aldabra tortoise named Igloo, while Grace reaches over to pet his head. She’s dressed like a Disney princess in a pink dress with ruffle sleeves and purple rainboots.
In the second snap, Grace leans down to give the tortoise a hug with her Donald Duck stuffed animal in one hand. She presses her face to the animal’s shell and smiles as Powell reaches out to scratch the tortoise’s long neck. She is so beautiful!
Bindi commented on the photos. “I love that Chandler, Grace and Igloo are all smiling in these photos. ❤️ Too. Cute,” she wrote. We completely agree! Someone else wrote, “Aww…Grace has the most beautiful, loving, sweet, and gentle heart! ❤️❤️????”
Grace has loved Igloo the tortoise since she was a baby. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in Jan. 2022, Bindi shared that Grace’s best friend is “an Aldabra tortoise.” She explained, “His name is Igloo and, no joke, he comes up to here on me, like up to my waist. He’s massive and the cutest.”
“When he sees Grace, he runs across his paddock, which is huge,” she continued. “If you’re a tortoise, you can’t really run very fast, but he does his best, runs across the paddock to see her and just sits. She tries to pat him, and she just ends up kind of like hitting him on the head.” Bindi added, “They love each other! It’s the funniest thing you’ve ever seen. I love that my daughter’s best friend is a tortoise.”
Now, she even helps take care of this wild creatures. Earlier this week, Powell shared a sweet video of him, Bindi’s brother Robert Irwin, and Grace feeding sea turtles in rehabilitation at the Wildlife Hospital. Grace fearlessly grabs squid with her bare hands and feeds it to the loggerhead turtle and green sea turtles. “I’m an expert. I’m an animal expert!” she told her dad in the clip. “I’m a human that takes care of animals.” Her kind spirit is unmatched!
Before you go, check out all the ways Bindi Irwin’s daughter Grace is following in her mama’s footsteps.
