The Irwin family fires back at Bindi after she claimed her grandfather Bob ...

Bindi Irwin is facing backlash from inside her own camp for accusing her estranged grandfather Bob Irwin Snr of ignoring her as a child. 

The 22-year-old made headlines on Sunday after she posted a scathing Facebook post about her strained relationship with Bob, 83, claiming the ageing conservationalist 'never said a single kind word' to her and 'returned gifts she'd given him after they were opened.' 

While Bob has yet to publicly reply, members of his inner circle have been quick to fire back.    

Amanda French, who co-wrote Bob's autobiography The Last Crocodile Hunter, has since shared a scathing response to Bindi on Facebook, accusing the new mother of assassinating her grandfather's character. 

'To read the sad comments online today has sickened me, and people who are closest to him,' she wrote in a lengthy essay on her own Facebook page.  

French described Bob as 'kind, gentle, generous and extremely f**king introverted,' and warned her readers not to believe everything they read online. 

'It is disappointing to have written what was written. To call a man [what Bindi called him] who has not once retaliated, simply buried his head in the sand and got on with his life in a meaningful way is gaslighting,' she wrote.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Amanda called Bindi's attack 'disappointing' and 'heartbreaking', and insisted Bob loves his family 'more than you know'. 

'He hasn't seen you since you were 10. He's done all he knows how to do and that is bury his head in the sand because that's how he copes,' she said, referring to the tragic death of Bob's son Steve in 2006. 

'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. 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,' she said.  

Meanwhile, Bob's other granddaughter Toni Johnstone has claimed Steve would be 'furious' reading his daughters accusations. 

Commenting beneath Amanda's Facebook response to Bindi, Toni wrote: 'I honestly cannot believe how [Bindi] can.... [accuse Bob of these things] and then preach 'let's be kind to one another' in the same post.' 

Toni, whose mother Mandy is Steve's sister, added: 'Hopefully people will finally see Bindi and Terri for what they really are. Let's hope they remember who built the zoo that made them who they are today.' 

'What was written by Bindi was so far from the truth it's not funny. Poppy is the most caring, loving, beautiful soul and I am so incredibly lucky to have him as my grandfather,' she continued in another comment. 

Toni went on to say she was 'puzzled' why Bindi would make such 'horrible' claims about Bob, and why anyone would believe them. 

'All I hope is that not everyone believes and takes as the only truth what this misguided girl has written about someone that every one should strive to be like in life at some point,' she

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