My tribute to the fallen tiger cub » Melbourne Zoo

My tribute to the fallen tiger cub
14-04-2008

Hey everyone, I've been working on this new artwork for the past month as a tribute to Nakal and a reminder of how important breeding programs are in keeping tiger numbers from dwindling rapidly toward extinction.

14-04-2008

That is lovely, hid death has obviously had an effect on you. What medium did you use, paint or pastels?

14-04-2008

Thanks Jo, this one is in oils. It's 3' x 4', making it my largest wildlife work to date. I was very attached to the cubs as they were born not long after my little boy and their birth corresponded with me working with the zoo.
Hearing the news shook me to the core. I felt numb and hollow for days following it. This piece was started just a couple of days after his death, done from a photo taken one week before he passed. It's been a draining and rewarding experience with strange coincidences. It was finished one month to the day since he drowned.

14-04-2008

I have a friend who does the most gorgeous photos at Melbourne Zoo, I'll ask her if she has any photos of him on her site.

14-04-2008

That artwork is just brilliant! Thank you for posting it.
You are very talented.

14-04-2008

Tjat is a beauiful painting. Is it accurate in terms of where the stripes are?

15-04-2008

Well done, I love great animal artwork, and yours is in that category!

15-04-2008

very well executed. well done.

i'm assuming nakal is the obvious?

15-04-2008

Jay - The stripes are very accurate. A couple may have been a bit wider but the placement is right.
Nakal is the one staring at us. It's spooky how I managed to capture this scene just a week prior and that he was the focal point considering he was normally the one who isolated himself from the others.

15-04-2008

i hope the zoo doesn't see nakal's death as anything but an unusual accident. the exhibit is very good and i don't think its due to a design fault that the cub drowned.

whilst the onus is always on zoos to provide their charges with a safe environment, animals will always hold a certain degree of responsibility for their own lives. tigers enjoy swimming, so a zoo is right to provide them with a deep pool for such. its up to them to keep their heads above water.

for the record, i suspect the cubs were playing and one pinned nakal underwater.

15-04-2008

tiger pics

My friend thinks she has some cub pics with him in them, but not 100% sure. Here is her site with the adults pics.

15-04-2008

Wow! She's got a gift behind the lens. Thanks for sharing the link.

I think your theory wouldn't be too far off the mark Patrick. They had been getting a bit more full on with their play so it is plausible.
All the staff at the zoo were devastated when it happened. It shook everyone to their core.

15-04-2008

You're an amazing artist. You know that when i get my own house i'll look for you to paint a giant picture of Bong-Su for me. haha

You know that the first time i read your name i thought it meant wild a tart.

15-04-2008

I'll hold you to that Pat! I tend to pick up a lot of commissions from my wildlife work. I'm currently doing a pair of koalas after the client saw me working at the zoo in Feb.

15-04-2008

That's amusing with the way you read the name... can't say I've been called a tart before!