" IN HIS PRIME " - MALLARD
Robert Bateman

950 s/n Paper
26" x 13"
$349

" This happens to be a Vancouver mallard… he has just finished preening,
and he’s spreading his perfect plumage, thrusting out his chest in a pose of health,
vigor and pride.  I hope that our wetlands will have a future of health and vigor
and that they will be thought of with pride -not as wastelands-now and in the future.
 Ducks are among the best known and best loved birds. In fact, they are so
associated in our minds with childhood stories and playing in parks that they are
almost more a part of our culture than a part of our wildlife heritage. Of all the
ducks in the world, the Mallard is front and centre the epitome of his tribe.
Mallards occur naturally all over North America from Alaska to Mexico, and across
Europe to China and Japan. Their popular appeal, however, is such that they have
been introduced to many other parts of the world. In fact, our white domestic
duck has been bred from Mallard ancestors. Although Mallards are definitely
not a symbol of the wilderness, they truly are a symbol of our wetlands,
especially wetlands that are threatened by human development and agriculture.
As such, this Mallard is an appropriate choice for the 10th anniversary of Wildlife
Habitat Canada and my painting "Early Winter - Mallard Pair" which inaugurated
the Wildlife Habitat Canada stamp and print program. I unveiled In His Prime
- Mallard at a WHC conference on Stewardship of Private Lands in British
Columbia in March 1994.
 Robert Bateman

- In his Prime - Mallard -

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