For Robert Irwin, the son of legendary zoologist Steve Irwin, crocodiles, marsupials and deadly snakes are old news. Squirrels, on the other hand, are a thrill.

The 15-year-old Australian was in New York for the Time 100 Next event, and told us, “The cool thing about New York, you got Central Park so you still have a few natural spaces in the city, which is good to see. So it’s nice to see the different forms of wildlife — the pigeons, the squirrels. We don’t have squirrels in Australia, so they are pretty exotic to us.”

He added, “I actually saw [a] giant rat at Central Park, and it was amazing. All animals have their place. I feel for the rats in New York.”

He hosts “Wild but True” on Discovery Kids.