Coulter is father figure to Irwin kids

An Australia Zoo employee called Brian Coulter has reportedly been spending a lot of time with the late Steve Irwin's children.

The 'Crocodile Hunter', who died in 2006 when he was pierced in the chest with a stingray barb while filming one of his wildlife shows, left behind 12-year-old daughter Bindi and 7-year-old son Robert with wife Terri.

Coulter, known to his friends as "Briano", still works for the Irwin family zoo and was apparently a great friend of Steve when he was alive.

A friend of the family told Woman's Day magazine: "It's great to see Briano take little Robert under his wing... he is almost like a father figure to him. All the staff at Australia Zoo love to fuss over Robert and Bindi, but Briano's relationship with Robert is just that little extra special.

"Robert has a special relationship with a lot of the men at the zoo, but none more so than Briano. Robert probably sees a lot of his dad in him."