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Bindi Irwin's Jungle Delayed

Fri., Oct. 20, 2006 12:57 PM PDT by Sarah Hall

Bindi Irwin's Jungle adventure has been put on hold.

The eight-year-old daughter of the late Steve Irwin was slated to star in a 26-part documentary series for Discovery Kids beginning in January 2007, but the project has now been pushed back a year.

John Stainton, the Irwin family's friend and manager, said it was his decision to delay Bindi, The Jungle Girl while he takes a year off in the wake of Irwin's untimely death by stingray.

He denied that the series was held up due to concerns that Bindi was being exploited in the wake of her father's death, and said that he was "fed up" with debate over the issue.

Earlier this week, Australian Upper House Senator Bill Heffernan spoke out on his belief that Bindi was at risk of being used as a pawn by ratings-hungry TV producers.

"Bindi deserves her childhood. She's interested in animals, her daddy's work. If she wants to play with snakes or bandicoots, she should be allowed to do that at home and not on the public stage," Heffernan said.

"There is a risk this little girl, she might look back in 20 or 30 years and ask, 'What happened to me?' "

However, Discovery Channel publicist Annie Howell stressed that the series was something Bindi and her mother, Terri Irwin, were determined to go forward with and that the network had put no pressure on the family.

The series was originally supposed to be a khaki-clad father-daughter collaboration and early episodes will reportedly still feature Irwin in footage shot before his death.

"We'll never refer to the fact that Steve's no longer with us," Stainton told People magazine earlier this month. "The way that it works is that Steve plays costar to Bindi."

In an appearance on Australian Broadcast Company's Australian Story Monday, Bindi explained that her goal on the show was to spread awareness about animals.

"I'm trying to get across the message that don't be afraid of animals, they're just put on this earth to help the environment and everything like that," she said.

At her father's memorial service last month, Bindi delivered a moving eulogy in which she vowed to continue her father's work.

"I don't want Daddy's passion to ever end," she said. "I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did."

For the time being, the budding environmentalist and future TV star will have to settle for just being a kid.