Bob Irwin's biographer responds to Bindi Irwin's controversial comments about her granddad: 'Immature to write such words'

Another chapter has been added to the Irwin family feud with author Amanda French speaking out in defence of Bob Irwin, the father of the late Steve Irwin.

The biographer, who co-wrote Bob's 2016 memoir, The Last Crocodile Hunter, has weighed in on the ongoing tension between Bindi Irwin and her grandfather, one day after the 22-year-old criticised him in a Facebook page pertaining to Father's Day in the US over the weekend.

French, who previously worked at Australia Zoo, said she considered Bob family and was in disbelief over Bindi's comments about the 82-year-old. 

"I have sat with him in hospital many times, lived with him, had him walk me down the aisle and he's also our son's Godfather," French commented in reply to Bindi's post. 

READ MORE: Why Bindi and Terri Irwin don't speak to Steve Irwin's father Bob anymore

"He is nothing but kind ... He hasn't seen you since you were 10. He has done all he knows how to do and that is bury his head in the sand because that's how he copes. He's not someone who is out there about reaching out and communicating, he's like your Dad was. An introvert and not someone who can navigate people well."

In her comments, French added that Steve, who died back in 2006, would have looked after his beloved father and kept their private family affairs off Facebook. 

"He loves your Dad, and you guys more than you know," French wrote. "This should be a private matter not written about on Facebook. I'm so disappointed to read this. It's immature to write such words."

The author also pointed out that it was Bob who established the family's popular Australia Zoo back in 1970, before handing the reins over to son Steve and wife Terri when they married in 1992 — a comment which was aimed at Bindi's claim she and Terri have been financially supporting Bob since he retired. 

READ MORE: Bindi Irwin shares adorable tribute to her father on the anniversary of his death

"We could turn this around and say he supported your family financially by handing you the keys to the very property he built with his bare hands," French wrote. "For starters, ... he can't even visit his own son's grave or use any private family video or photographic footage of him. But he doesn't speak up, he has continually asked to be left alone and played down this story.

"He doesn't have long left on this earth, allow him the peace to just move on in his own way without name calling."

READ MORE: Bindi Irwin gets emotional thinking about the relationship her daughter Grace and father Steve would have had

In Bindi's original post shared yesterday on Facebook, she said Terri "still writes to him and sends birthday and Christmas gifts to [Bob] with no response". French confirmed this in her reply but claimed the gifts were "strange" in nature.

"I was with him the year he was sent a strange card from your Mum and a green shower cap. The next year it was a little girl's green purse with $2 inside. So very confusing and strange," French wrote. "He's the kind of person who'd give you the shirt off his back, or an entire zoo. Talk to the people who knew your dad, and him."

Irwin family member, Bob's granddaughter Toni Johnstone, has also spoken out. Like French, she replied to Bindi's post, saying her Uncle Steve would probably be "furious reading [Bindi's] comment if he were here today".

"I honestly cannot believe how she can [say this] and then preach, 'Let's be kind to one another' in the same post," said Johnstone, whose mother Mandy is Steve's sister.

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