Steve Irwin's grief-stricken father has faced the world's media to pay tribute to his "best mate" and to thank fans of the Crocodile Hunter for their support following his tragic death.
Bob Irwin also told an emotional news conference outside the family's Australia Zoo, north of Brisbane, that offers of a state funeral were likely to be declined.
Ultimately, he said, it was up to Steve's American-born widow Terri whether to accept offers of a state funeral or memorial service.
"(But) The state funeral would be refused because he is an ordinary guy, he is just an ordinary bloke and he wants to be remembered as an ordinary bloke," Mr Irwin said.
Steve Irwin, 44, died on Monday while filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef.
He was swimming near a stingray when it whipped its tail, fatally puncturing him in the chest.
Seated alongside Steve Irwin's friend and business manager John Stainton, Bob Irwin described his son as his best mate and recalled what he was doing when he heard he had been killed.
"This may sound really, really weird but the moment I heard the news I was about to bury a cow that had died calving," he said.
"Steve and I weren't like father and son, we were good mates.
"I'll remember Steve as my best mate ever.
"I'm a lucky, lucky guy I've had the opportunity to have a son like Steve.
"Over the years Steve and I have a lot of adventures together and there's been many occasions when anything could have gone wrong.
"Steve knew the risks involved with the type of work he was doing and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
"There's never been anybody else that I know of that had the personality Steve had and the strength and the conviction of what he believed in and his message was conservation."
Mr Irwin thanked the thousands who had expressed condolences over the death of his son and to ask for Steve's wife and children Bindi, eight, and Bob, two, to be given some space.
"This is the first media interview that I have ever given and it's not something that I enjoy but I owe it to Steve and I also owe it to Terri and the children," he said.
"All I can do is thank them (the public) sincerely for their thoughts and their wishes.
"Terri's holding up very well considering, she's extremely concerned for her children Bindi and Robert, obviously and that's the reason I ask the media to give them a break, for the children's sake."
Mr Irwin was responsible for Steve's love of animals. A reptile enthusiast himself, he moved the family from Victoria to Beerwah on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in the early 1970s to start the reptile park that would one day become Australia Zoo.
The common interests helped form a close bond between father and son from an early age.
"That was when the mateship started right back when he was six, seven, eight years old, we used to go out into the bush and not doing anything in particular – just go out into the bush and it is something I will never forget."
The love of animals, coupled with Steve's high energy personality, had made him a household name internationally.
"It was amazing. There was never anyone else that I know of with Steve's personality and his strength and courage and conviction."
But regardless of how famous his son got, Mr Irwin said it never went to his head.
Terri Irwin, who was trekking in Tasmania when her husband was killed, has yet to speak publicly about the tragedy.
But Mrs Irwin made a heartfelt announcement to staff at Australia Zoo, as a makeshift shrine at the complex's entrance continued to attract flowers and other mementos from thousands of mourners.
"It was about five o'clock yesterday afternoon, Terri just made an announcement on the internal radio system across the zoo to say how grateful she was for support from the staff and that was about it," said Michael Hornby, executive manager of Wildlife Warriors – the conservation charity set up by Mr Irwin.
"Obviously she was very distraught when she made that message.
"I guess for us as the team here it was just we felt just so appreciative of the fact that she was even thinking about us and she had her own issues to deal with which were so much more important than us.
"But I guess that just shows that the team here felt like part of the family."
Mr Hornby said Mrs Irwin was deeply touched by the floral tributes at the zoo's gates.
"She definitely knows about it, she has seen visions about it," he said.
"She's obviously very touched by it."
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