Big Five was inspired by my brother Barr, who is currently studying to be a veterinarian. In 2004 he spent a summer working in an animal rehab center and private game reserve near Kruger National Park in South Africa. Barr came home with many pictures and stories of the amazing things that he saw there, such as the Big Five. “Big Five” was coined by African hunters of a bygone era to describe the most difficult and dangerous animals to hunt on foot: the Lion (the most dominant of the pictured animals), the Black Rhinoceros (whose horns are on the top of the lion’s nose), the African Elephant (represented by the trunk and tusks that protrude from the lion’s chin), the Leopard (whose head and paw rest just above and behind the lion’s), and the Cape Buffalo (represented by its horns, one side which curves into the lion’s mouth and the other out like a tongue). Today the Big Five have become synonymous with Africa and are thought to be some of the greatest animals that can be seen in the world.
Big Five
In addition to the animals of the Big Five, a personal element that is only be found in the original can be seen just under the lion’s chin. While working in South Africa one of my brother’s main duties was to care and feed the birds of prey. In one of my mother’s favorite pictures my brother is wearing his cowboy hat with one such bird standing on his head. The brim of his hat and the tail of the bird (highlighted in red) can be seen on the left side of the lion’s mane, a personal touch that can only be found in the original and not any of the Big Five prints or apparel.


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Big Five
Kamea Hadar
2007
12" x 16"
ink on paper

not for sale
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