"NILE CROCODILE"

Is there anything less cuddly than a crocodile? Maybe a few things are but who would have thought that it would make such a stunning picture? Gary obviously did and many of us are glad that he used it as a subject. The detail is phenomenal.

Gary was seen drawing the crocodile in the "Drawn to Wildlife" video and this is the first part of the drawing to be completed. He decided to issue a print of the picture completed to this point; it took around 170 hours to reach this stage. It was produced to exactly the same scale as the original drawing.

Hunting has extensively reduced numbers of Nile Crocodile in the lower Nile but it is abundant in the upper Nile and southward to the tip of Africa. It was revered by some ancient Egyptian sects and is one of the best known of the Crocodile species, regularly seen on safari trips. It can reach some 20 feet in length and is officially listed as Endangered but the lower status of Vulnerable applies to a number of countries.

Gary's drawing is being completed from photographs taken on one of his more recent East African trips, at the Samburu Game Reserve in Kenya (c1995). The Nile Crocodile is apparently quite shy but they are fed at the Lodge where Gary was staying and, therefore, provide fairly close (and safe) opportunities to study/photograph them.

This background information for collectors of Gary's prints was collected from various sources and collated by Tony Belcher. If you have any comments, or can provide information for future features, please