But Mr Irwin provoked outrage in 2004 by holding his then one-month-old son while feeding a snapping crocodile at his zoo.
Queensland Police Superintendent Michael Keating said there was no evidence Irwin threatened or intimidated the stingray, a normally placid species that only deploys its poisonous tail spines as a defense.
He grew up near crocodiles, trapping and removing them from populated areas and releasing them in his parents' park.
There, it soon became clear that Irwin was dying.
We all miss him constantly and can barely even look at sting-rays.
It was only when I panned the camera back that I saw Steve standing in a huge pool of blood.