Moneypenny was a secretray bord, discovered on te hMaasai Mara with a mutilated leg in October 2014. Beyong treatment, due to delay sin her discovery, the leg was amputated when she got to Kenya Bird of Prey Trust in Naivasha. Simon Thomsett, one of KBoP’s founders created a bamboo prosthesis, which Moneypenny (named after James Bond’s secretary), adapted to quite well. Unfortunately on a very cold night Moneypenny got tangled up with her prosthetic limb and ended up sprawled on the cold ground, dying of hyperthermia overnight.
Range Map of Secretary Birds
About the painting
I never got the chance to meet Moneypenny, so this painting is characterized as “inspired by stories of” rather than a traditional portrait.
I found the image I wanted to paint, which was coincidentally taken by my friend Simon Thomsett, the co-founder (along with Shiv Kapila) of Kenya Bird of Prey Trust. He kindly, if after the fact, gave me his permission to use it as a reference.