Zakkie Eloff is beloved for his depictions of wild animals in wide-open landscapes rendered in a multitude of mediums: oil, watercolour, ink, wash, monotype, and etching. Born in 1925, Eloff studied at Pretoria Boys High under Walter Battiss and at Wits Technical College under Maurice van Essche. From 1958 to 1961, he was a lecturer in painting at Pretoria Technical College and he taught at the University of Pretoria from 1961 to 1962. Following this, he moved to Namibia to be a game warden at the Etosha National Park and, after a fire destroyed their house in 1968, the family settled in White River, Mpumalanga.