Bindi Irwin, the daughter of the late conservationist Steve Irwin, along with her brother Robert are honouring their late father 20 years after his death.
Irwin was 44 years old when he was killed in 2006, after a stingray pierced his heart with its barb while he was diving near the Great Barrier Reef.
His daughter, now 28, who was eight years old when her father died, called him her family’s “superhero” in a tribute on Instagram.
“In the last 20 years, I have watched the world mourn my dad with our family. I always thought that my dad’s legacy was wildlife conservation; it turns out, his legacy is love. For our planet and for each other,” she wrote.
“I have a 5-year-old daughter who watches his documentaries every morning. She feels utterly loved by her ‘grandpa crocodile’ without ever having met him,” she added.
She said the impact of her father’s death had left her mother, Terri Irwin, without the “love of her life,” and her and her 22-year-old brother to grow up missing “the greatest dad.”
Since Irwin’s death, the family has continued to run the Australia Zoo in Queensland, which was founded by his parents in the 1970s.
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“My dad left a lasting impact so poignant that it will ripple out for generations to come,” his daughter wrote.
She called her late father “our guardian angel,” and thanked him for “watching over” her daughter.
Steve’s widow also took to social media to commemorate her late husband.
“After 20 years, grief still walks with me like my shadow,” she wrote in an Instagram post, writing of her lasting memories of their love.
“We were together…on our crocodile research expedition, for what was to be our final six weeks together,” she wrote. “Ours was to be a long and sweet goodbye,” Irwin added, referencing the trip they were on when her husband was fatally injured.
“Hold every moment dear with the ones you love. Until we meet again,” she concluded.
Robert also remembered his dad on social media, posting a picture of him as a baby gazing lovingly up at his father while perched on his knee.
“Your legacy is forever,” he wrote.
In a second post, Robert shared a video of his father articulating what he hoped his legacy would be, intercut with footage of him playing with his children and interacting with numerous animals.
“One thing that I, Steve Irwin, would want to be remembered for is…passion and enthusiasm,” he says in the video.
His son, who was two years old when Irwin died, credited his father for sending a lasting message: “Thank you, Dad, for showing me and the entire world what it is to truly live,” Robert wrote.
“To lead with empathy, to treat every living being how you’d wish to be treated, and to be passionate in everything you do. Your mission and light lives on always.”
The Irwin family run several conservation projects in Australia, including a crocodile research and telemetry tracking project in Queensland, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, which treats, rehabilitates, and releases injured and orphaned animals back into their natural habitats and a dedicated wildlife rescue unit, among others.
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