Against the backdrop of the dwindling tiger populations in the wilds, Tiger
Canyons was established 25 km north west of the town of Philippolis on the
Van der Kloof Lake in the Karoo of South Africa.
Tiger Canyons is the brainchild of John Varty, a South African
conservationist and filmmaker who specializes in Big Cats....read more
Savannah's Safari - lioness raised by
tigress
Tigress Calender
Tiger Canyons is making a calendar called
"Tigresses" which celebrates the beautiful ladies who have done so
much for tiger conservation over many years...read
more
Let your pictures do the talking
Jos & Yvette Van Bommel have produced
the most stunning book called "Chuffing Tigers". The
pictures all taken at Tiger Canyons are breathtaking. Tigers
swimming, play fighting, in rocks and reeds, every page is
an exciting new discovery....read
more
Rhino War
Rhino breeders have appealed to the Government to
allow them to trade the rhino horn, just like a farmer trades the
wool from his sheep. All of this has fallen on deaf ears and
the Government, in my opinion, has shown little or no leadership in
this war against the rhino syndicates...read
more
A Letter to the President
How is it
that provincial officials can simply reject a R50 million project
which will create 60 jobs immediately and later over 100 jobs. A
project that will attract tourists from all over the world and help
countries like India with whom we trade daily and play sport against
to save the endangered tiger....read
more
The Body Parts Scam
I have been given a price of $15,000 for the body
parts of an average size tiger. Therefore, 550 lions at $15,000 amounts
to $8,250,000 or around R58 million.
Information
on Wikipedia is being maliciously changed and altered to cast doubt on
the integrity of John Varty and the Tiger Canyons project...read
more
Tiger
Man of Africa is showing on National
Geographic
John Varty and his tigers at Tiger Canyons
Competition
The best picture of a tiger, or
tigress or lioness Savannah taken at Tiger Canyons, will win a Big
Cat Safari for 2 people sharing. Value R120 000 ....
read more
Just a
reminder to all that Tiger Man of Africa
airs Friday, April 8th at 10PM.
A seemingly impossible dream: to create a
new population of wild tigers outside their
natural habitat. One man, John Varty, did
just that. Starting with two young, zoo-born
tigers, Varty now has more than 15 tigers at
his Tiger Canyons reserve, and has used
ever-present cameras to document two years
of their lives. Whether mating, birthing or
hunting, Varty shows these magnificent
tigers with remarkable, up close and
personal detail.
Corbett rises from the operation, a thin
scar has replaced the gaping wound. Corbett has been
restored to a handsome male tiger...read
more
MEMOIRS OF A MAVERICK
CONSERVATIONIST
JV's Book:
Nine Lives is the fascinating tale of JV's
progression from hunter to filmmaker to conservationist.
It is also the remarkable story of a lifelong affair
with nature...read more
I now have evidence that
suggests Shine was darted by poachers attempting to kill or steal her
and was possibly killed by Corbett as she recovered from or was under
the influence of the unaesthetic. Another male tiger, Sariska,
left Tiger Canyons either dead or alive, on the same night that Shine
died and has not been seen again....read
more
I regret to inform you that
on the 15th of August 2010, the white Tigress Shine was killed by a
young male tiger called Corbett....read more
2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger.
That means nothing in Asia where numbers of these charismatic cats
in the wild are tumbling fast. In the Karoo, though, they are
thriving. . .
The NAC (National Airways Corporation)
visited Tiger Canyons during their Baron en Bonanza fly-away. 28
Planes landed at Philippolis and Tiger Canyons had to gear up to
accommodate 58 guests. We bought extra game vehicles and we added
more seats to existing vehicles...
28 planes - 58 guests
Seatao entertaining the guests
Van Bommel Photography
Tiger Canyons is save haven for wild tigers outside Asia.
To me, It doesn't matter where they live free and protected, can be North
America, Australia, Europe or as it is now at TC in South Africa. The land
they live on is excellent for tigers, it has permanent natural water, reed
lands, forest and cliffs.
Behind rusted bars, a skeletal male tiger lies panting on the filthy
concrete floor of his cage, covered in sores and untreated wounds. His
once-fearsome body is so emaciated it is little more than a pitiful pile of
fur and bones. Death is surely a matter of days away and can only come as a
welcome release. Wardens at the wildlife park in southwest China say,
indifferently, that they do not expect him to see the start of the Year of
the Tiger which began last Sunday. 'What can we do?' a female park official
asks a small huddle of visitors with a sigh and a casual shrug. 'He's dying,
of course, but we have to keep feeding him until he does. It's against the
law to kill tigers.' Instead, it seems, they die slowly of neglect. In row
after row of foul, cramped cages, more tigers lie alone, crippled and dying.
One is hunched up against the side of its cage with its neck grotesquely
deformed. Another, blinded in one eye, lies motionless.
To intervene or not to intervene -
that is the question... read more
Runti, the tiger cub fighting for survival
Pic: Sunette
Savannah apparently understands perfectly well, for she
rather clumsily picks up the cub in her mouth and
returns it to the den...read
more
JV films in Julie's Den
Lioness carries Julie's cub in her mouth
Emotion is running high across the world regarding my
statement that tigress Julie is unlikely to raise her five
cubs to maturity, and if one or two perish along the way
then I will not interfere...read
more
Tiger, tiger, small
and white - A conservation maverick has put his
money where his mouth is in an attempt to save the
tiger from extinction. Words and pictures by Darryl
Balfour
Read more
At Tiger Canyons in South Africa, on the 1st of
November 2009, 5 cubs were born to Tigress Julie. Pictures by Daryl Balfour
10 Month old tiger Surderban, destroys JV's EX1 camera
just before the cubs were born...read more
Sunda tries to rescue Shine from the water
Tiger Intelligence
Tiger Rehabilitation
India's tiger country: Where anger
comes in on giant cat feet
By Mark
Magnier September 8 2009
A century ago, India had about 100,000 tigers, and maharajas and
British sahibs would dispatch dozens of them in a single hunt. The
maharaja of Surguja recorded 1,100 lifetime kills, many from atop an
elephant.
Wildlife experts say they're making progress against poachers.
Notorious kingpin Sansar Chand, 51, who, with family members, is
blamed for wiping out Sariska's last 22 tigers, is serving a
five-year prison sentence.
Chand and his gang reportedly befriended villagers at Sariska's
periphery -- Meena and others in his village of Indok deny they ever
made deals with him -- who then informed the poachers when a tiger
attacked their livestock, providing valuable information on the
animal's whereabouts.
The Chand gang reportedly worked with smugglers in Nepal and Tibet,
who used mules and yaks to ferry the contraband across the mountains
into China.
Chand, who often posed as a mattress salesman, sometimes
transporting the pelts and bones in the bedding, was first arrested
in 1974 at age 16 with tiger and leopard skins and hundreds of body
parts. After serving time, he eluded police for much of the next
three decades.
I
believe the fence at Tiger
Canyons is one of the keys
to tiger conservation. If
Asian countries are serious
about tiger conservation,
they will have to separate
people and domestic stock
from tigers. In Africa we
have done this very
successfully in National and
Private Parks....read
more
Death of a Legend
It is with regret that I have to inform you that the
famous Mother Leopard known as 3:4 has passed away at Londolozi. She
was one month short of her 17th birthday.
Tributes to Manana
Tiger Photo Gallery
I have formed Tiger Photo Gallery and I am inviting all
photographers who have visited Tiger Canyons or any Tiger Sanctuary,
for that matter, to submit 6 of your most interesting pictures to
Tiger Photo Gallery...read more
Tiger Cubs playing on frozen river at
Tiger Canyons
Shine, the
white tiger cub, Shunda and Zaria, the normal cubs, are playing on a
frozen river at Tiger Canyons
Sariska, July 26 (PTI) India, which is
home to 70 per cent of the world's tiger population, does not need any
fund, aid or expertise from the World Bank for conservation of big cats
in the country, Union Minister of Environment Jairam Ramesh has said.
Tiger Canyons is making a calendar called
"Tigresses" which celebrates the beautiful ladies who have done so
much for tiger conservation over many years...read
more
Jos & Yvette Van Bommel have produced the most
stunning book called "Chuffing Tigers"...read
more
Rhino breeders have appealed to the Government to
allow them to trade the rhino horn, just like a farmer trades the
wool from his sheep...read more
How is it that provincial officials
can simply reject a R50 million project which will create 60 jobs
immediately and later over 100 jobs...read more
I have been given a price of $15,000 for the body
parts of an average size tiger. Therefore, 550 lions at $15,000 amounts
to $8,250,000 or around R58 million...read
more
...Jeremy Taylor recorded a song called "The Immorality
Law". It suggested that the first thing that Jan van Riebeeck
and his men did when they landed at the Cape, was to crossbreed
all the black ladies to create the coloured race of South
Africa....read more
Information
on Wikipedia is being maliciously changed and altered to cast doubt on
the integrity of John Varty and the Tiger Canyons project...read
more
Approach your national parks to create protected areas for wild
tigers...read more
The more time I spend in the company of Big
Cats, the more I believe we underestimate their ability to
communicate...read more
The 3.6 metre electrified fence was dwarfed in places by
a surging lake flowing over the canyon...read
more
The male and founding tiger of Tiger Canyons, Ron, has
died at Tiger Canyons aged 11,5 years old....read
more
Corbett rises from the operation, a thin
scar has replaced the gaping wound. Corbett has been
restored to a handsome male tiger...read
more
JV's book, Nine Lives. Memoirs of a Maverick
Conservationist, John Varty...read
more
I now have evidence that
suggests Shine was darted by poachers attempting to kill or steal her
... Another male tiger, Sariska,
left Tiger Canyons either dead or alive, on the same night ....read
more
I regret to inform you that
on the 15th of August 2010, the white Tigress Shine was killed by a
young male tiger called Corbett....read more
..lets presume the South Africa Government took the same money
and recreate a huge national park, a Serengeti of the
South, ... read more
In fact, the animal lives to suffer the side
effects - not once, but repeatedly...read
more
The bankers
gun is rotating wildly, he has a bad attack of "buck fever", there is no
ways he will hit the target. "Rest the gun over my shoulder" I command...read
more
At Tiger Canyons, the tigers continue to thrive
and Julie's four cubs are growing rapidly. We
have observed interesting behavior from Seatao,
the father of the cubs...read
more
Emotions have run high across the world with
many people requesting that I pull Runti out and
hand raise her...read
more
However, to standby and watch the tiny cub fight for
its life, is an incredibly hard emotional
experience...read more
Savannah apparently understands perfectly well, for she
rather clumsily picks up the cub in her mouth and
returns it to the den...read
more
Emotion is running high across the world regarding my
statement that tigress Julie is unlikely to raise her five
cubs to maturity, and if one or two perish along the way
then I will not interfere...read
more
Julie gives birth to 5 tiger
cubs.
I was able to enter the den of Tigress
Julie and film and photograph five tiny new born cubs, one of
which is white...read more
International Tiger Day
If we cannot save the tigers, I assure you we cannot save
ourselves, it is as simple as that....read
more
I have formed Tiger Photo Gallery and
I am inviting all photographers who have visited Tiger
Canyons or any Tiger Sanctuary, for that matter, to
submit 6 of your most interesting pictures to Tiger
Photo Gallery...read more
I found her lying on her back with her paws in the air.
Through the binoculars I could see an ugly gash on the
bottom of her pad on the rear right leg. The bullet must
have deflected off the ground upwards just catching her
across the pad...read more
My worst fears were confirmed when I
discovered a male tiger cub, caught in a strong wire
cable. The cable was tight around his waist and I could
see where he had frantically ripped up the soil in an
attempt to escape...read
more
Shine a White Light.
Three helpless, newly born tiger cubs, lie in the grass.
Their mother has abandoned them and they are at the mercy of
the elements....read more
Tiger burial. t was a solemn, touching ceremony as I and her surviving
cub watched her bury the body parts...read
more
At Londolozi Game Reserve, I am sitting with an 16 year
old leopard who I call "Manana", the mother.
She is probably the most famous and photographed leopard
in the world ...read more
Tiger Birth at Tiger Canyons
Shadow bit the umbilical cord, ate the afterbirth and
cleaned the membrane off the cub with her rough tongue.
For a tigress giving birth to her first litter, she was
doing surprisingly well.... read more
Invest in Tigers
This Newsletter is addressed to the hundreds of Indian
conservationists who have corresponded with me this last year....read
more
Tiger Courting
At Tiger Canyons, the two tigresses Julie and Shadow,
are in separate territories divided by a wire barrier. Each tigress
comes into estrus within hours of the other...read
more
Big Cat Safari
with John Varty
(Tiger Canyons & Londolozi) read more...
Elephant Trust
I see that the minister of environment of South
Africa, has lifted the moratorium on culling of elephant...read
more
Privatizing the Tiger
Thousands of tigers exist in zoos around the world, earning
money for their masters as "displays", while the tigers in the
wild dwindle away as human beings take the last of their prey
and home range...
read more
