Robert, Bindi and Terri Irwin pay tribute to Steve Irwin on 14th anniversary of his death

‘I feel that I have a choice: celebrate love or struggle with grief. I choose love,’ Terri Irwin states

Steve Irwin poses with a three-foot long alligator at San Francisco Zoo, 26 June 2002 (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Robert, Bindi and Terri Irwin have paid tribute to the late Steve Irwin on the 14th anniversary of his death.

On 4 September 2006, wildlife expert and conservationist Steve Irwin died at the age of 44 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray.

Irwin, who became widely known as the Crocodile Hunter after his popular documentary series of the same name, had two children with his wife Terri Irwin – Bindi Irwin, born on 24 July 1998, and Robert Irwin, born on 1 December 2003.

14 years after Irwin’s unexpected passing, his family have shared commemorative posts on social media in his honour.

His eldest child Bindi, who recently announced she is pregnant with her first child, shared a photograph online of herself as a child kneeling beside a pile of shells as her father knelt beside her.

“You’re always in my heart,” the former winner of Dancing with the Stars wrote in the caption.

Terri, who married Irwin in 1992 after meeting him the previous year, shared a black-and-white photograph of her and her late husband kissing as a reptile rested on their heads.

“This is a particularly poignant moment in time for me,” the 56-year-old stated.

“Today marks 14 years since I lost Steve, after 14 wonderful years of marriage. I feel that I have a choice: celebrate love or struggle with grief. I choose love.”

16-year-old Robert marked the occasion by explaining how his father’s “mission and passion for croc conservation” has continued, sharing a photograph of himself holding a small crocodile.

“Today marks the end of our annual crocodile research trip to the #SteveIrwinWildlifeReserve,” he said.

“This research was all started by Dad and to this day we still use the same methods of capture that he created.”

The Instagram account for Australia Zoo recently shared a photograph of Irwin holding both his children to mark Father’s Day in Australia on Sunday 6 September, when Robert was a baby and Bindi a young girl.