The black wallaroo is an endemic species to the sandstone country of the Arnhem Plateau. Shy and nocturnal by nature it is not often seen. Wamud Namok’s country of Kabulwarnamyo has the rocky upper reaches of the Liverpool River valley running through it, just the habitat for Barrk. Intimate knowledge of his county has seen Wamud Namok often paint this subject – usually depicted in a prone position ready for the cooking fire.

The plateau no longer has the traditional people that traversed country, who managed customary estates with controlled burning. These burns suppressed fowl quantities building up to dangerous (to the ecology) levels, and also cleared bush, allowing hunters to see further into it.

This work was produced when large-scale burning programs were being undertaken across the plateau. It depicts the burnt landscape, the extent of the fire contained by the (unusual) white painted border. The hunter able to see his mark has speared his prize, a large male Barrk.