The reason why Bob Irwin quit Australia Zoo
Days after a shocking feud between the Irwins - previously one of the most wholesome families in the public eye - kicked off on social media, fans are still searching for meaning behind Bindi's claims her grandfather has "ignored" her for years.
Now, looking back to 13 years ago, when Steve Irwin's father Bob left the family business, it's revealed why the alleged animosity occurred.
According to the Daily Mail, Bob stepped away from Australia Zoo - the wildlife park he established in 1970 - amid concerns it was becoming an over commercialised "circus".
The circumstances surrounding Bob's sudden departure in 2008 have resurfaced this week after his granddaughter, Bindi, accused him of "psychological abuse" in an Instagram comment on Sunday.
According to multiple reports cited by the Daily Mail, Bob was worried the zoo would become a tourist attraction and lost focus on the conservation of the animals.
He also feared his then nine-year-old granddaughter Bindi was being thrust into the spotlight at such a young age.
Bob turned his back on the zoo two years after the death of his son — around the same time his daughter-in-law Terri was said to be planning a five-year expansion “to make it Australia’s peak tourist destination with a Disneyland feel”.
The decision didn't sit right with Bob, who by his own admission, felt he'd become an unwelcome presence as the business grew.
“It’s a strange feeling to spend half your lifetime building something up and walking away from it,” he told ABC’s Australian Story in April 2008.
“I was becoming a disrupting influence, not that I meant to be.
Further clues this may have contributed to Bob allegedly shunning the family in the years that followed were in his farewell statement from the zoo, in which he made no mention of his daughter-in-law.
In it, he said he wanted to “continue Steve’s dream” of wildlife conservation at his own reserve in Kingaroy – implying Terri’s vision wasn’t what his son would have wanted.
Responding, Terri denied rumours a personal rift was behind Bob’s decision to leave.
“I just can assure everyone that I love Bob dearly … he’s gone through so much grief losing his (first) wife and his only son that I will respectfully just leave it at that,” she said at the time.
In financial documents unearthed by Daily Mail, Bob received a $1 million package when he left the zoo.
He was also offered a $100,000-per-year pension as part of an existing deal.