While in South Africa, I took a trip to Cape Town via Bloemfontein late in December 2010. To make this more comfortable I decided to break the trip and it was suggested that I visit Tiger Canyons near Philipolis - I was not really that interested until I realized that tigers are actually the focus of this conservation project, albiet on the wrong continent and not their natural range.
This project in lead by none other than John Varty himself, and it was intriguing to hear his story and justification for trying to conserve tigers in South Africa as Asia is failing at this task. It was a very enjoyable morning spent with JV and I learnt a huge amount. It is certainly a very controversial project that has resulted in heated discussions in conservation circles and wider. I certainly have mixed feeling about it but I can see why they are doing it. Regardless of this discussion, JV is doing a great job from a simple start and not without some very large challenges, both predictable and the unexpected. However, to get the details read the website above and then JV's new book called "9 Lives" - I have not read it yet but it does sound interesting!
I thought I would share a few images from this trip:
These 3 cubs are only 13 months old ..........
Father .......
Play time ......
Time to doze ......
"Pity" there is an electric fence between us .... she obviously likes the look of the menu!!
It was really an awesome experience and for a not unreasonable fee, you can experience it too. The next objective is to see them in Asia but given their increasingly rapid decline / demise, that simply may not be possible.
Savannah was a lion that was adopted by the tigers as a cub. She grew up with them and more recently has been assisting with the rearing of the new tiger cubs. This included teaching them hunting skills and generally looking after them. However, early in 2011 she was very unfortunately killed by one of the tigers (full story here). Some pictures of Savannah for you:
This project in lead by none other than John Varty himself, and it was intriguing to hear his story and justification for trying to conserve tigers in South Africa as Asia is failing at this task. It was a very enjoyable morning spent with JV and I learnt a huge amount. It is certainly a very controversial project that has resulted in heated discussions in conservation circles and wider. I certainly have mixed feeling about it but I can see why they are doing it. Regardless of this discussion, JV is doing a great job from a simple start and not without some very large challenges, both predictable and the unexpected. However, to get the details read the website above and then JV's new book called "9 Lives" - I have not read it yet but it does sound interesting!
I thought I would share a few images from this trip:
These 3 cubs are only 13 months old ..........
Time to doze ......
"Pity" there is an electric fence between us .... she obviously likes the look of the menu!!
It was really an awesome experience and for a not unreasonable fee, you can experience it too. The next objective is to see them in Asia but given their increasingly rapid decline / demise, that simply may not be possible.
Savannah was a lion that was adopted by the tigers as a cub. She grew up with them and more recently has been assisting with the rearing of the new tiger cubs. This included teaching them hunting skills and generally looking after them. However, early in 2011 she was very unfortunately killed by one of the tigers (full story here). Some pictures of Savannah for you:
