Tigers in Africa - their future?
Join Daryl & Sharna Balfour with legendary film-maker & conservationist John Varty at a unique tiger sanctuary in South Africa where you will have unheard of opportunities for seeing and photographing Asian tigers living in the wild.
Tigers are the most endangered big cats in the world. Probably the most iconic and recognized animal on earth, tiger numbers in the wild in their home range states in Asia have plummeted from over 100 000 a century ago to perhaps fewer than 3000 today! Despite international efforts to conserve tigers in Asia it appears that the home states neither have the will nor the wherewithal to take positive conservation measures.
John Varty, co-owner of world famous class-leading Londolozi Game Reserve on the western borders of Kruger Park, after visiting India and China on several occasions and getting nothing but disheartening impressions, decided to do something about the situation.
His far-sighted if controversial plans are to “privatise tigers” by establishing privately owned tiger game reserves wherever suitable land and prey is available. To this end he has been engaged for more than a decade in establishing tiger sanctuaries in South Africa. His initial ideas of breeding viable wild, free-ranging, self-sustaining tigers to be returned to Asia in the future, has been set aside in favour of rather turning Africa into the world’s new and premier tiger viewing destination.
“Why send tigers back to places where they are not adequately protected; where dead tigers are worth more than living tigers; where tigers compete for space with more than half of all mankind?” Varty asks.
To this end he has established Tiger Canyons in the heart of South Africa’s Karoo – now home to possibly the only population of wild tigers that is steadily increasing in numbers!
Tigers are the most endangered big cats in the world. Probably the most iconic and recognized animal on earth, tiger numbers in the wild in their home range states in Asia have plummeted from over 100 000 a century ago to perhaps fewer than 3000 today! Despite international efforts to conserve tigers in Asia it appears that the home states neither have the will nor the wherewithal to take positive conservation measures.
John Varty, co-owner of world famous class-leading Londolozi Game Reserve on the western borders of Kruger Park, after visiting India and China on several occasions and getting nothing but disheartening impressions, decided to do something about the situation.
His far-sighted if controversial plans are to “privatise tigers” by establishing privately owned tiger game reserves wherever suitable land and prey is available. To this end he has been engaged for more than a decade in establishing tiger sanctuaries in South Africa. His initial ideas of breeding viable wild, free-ranging, self-sustaining tigers to be returned to Asia in the future, has been set aside in favour of rather turning Africa into the world’s new and premier tiger viewing destination.
“Why send tigers back to places where they are not adequately protected; where dead tigers are worth more than living tigers; where tigers compete for space with more than half of all mankind?” Varty asks.
To this end he has established Tiger Canyons in the heart of South Africa’s Karoo – now home to possibly the only population of wild tigers that is steadily increasing in numbers!
Rare White Tiger
A rare white tiger, caused by a recessive gene and not albinism, enjoys a watery romp in one of the many pools that dot Tiger Canyons. This white tiger cub was the first white tiger born in the wild since 1954.
Daryl & Sharna have been involved with the tiger conservation project at Tiger Canyons since October 2009 and are convinced that sanctuaries such as this - fenced to keep tigers in and people out, and stocked with suitable prey species for tigers to hunt and fend for themselves – are probably the future of the species. We believe that in attempts to save a species it does not matter where this is done. If tigers must be saved in Africa, America, Australia rather than Asia, so be it. In February 2009 the Indian government announced they had only some 1,400 tigers left in all the reserves in that country. Two of their tiger reserves have no tigers left, while in others they are declining steadily, and even that figure of 1,400 is debatable considering it took several years for authorities there to acknowledge that tigers were extinct in the Sariska and Panna reserves. The unheralded and little known Tiger Canyons in South Africa meanwhile has seen its population grow from four to 16 tigers since 2006. John Varty is currently seeking more land, more investment in tigers, so these numbers may continue to grow and prosper.
Tiger Canyons is not currently a “tourist destination” in the true sense of the word. There is no accommodation and little infrastructure. Rather it is a working experiment in saving tigers to which you are invited along with Daryl & Sharna Balfour on an informal safari where you will be virtually guaranteed tiger sightings and opportunities to photograph tigers, including a rare white tiger, unlike anywhere else on earth. The tigers roam free in spectacular Karoo landscapes with everything a tiger needs – dense reed beds, freshwater pools for bathing and swimming, stark rock outcrops that make stunning photo settings, and open grasslands where prey such as springbok, blesbuck, wildebeest, mountain reedbuck and steenbok graze…and tigers hunt!
Our tiger safaris are informal and simply structured. We stay in a luxurious small and intimate luxury lodge in Tiger Canyon, from where tigers may often be seen in the rocks below. All these safaris are customized according to your needs, and start either from Johannesburg or Bloemfontein.
JOIN US at TIGER CANYONS
We offer safaris to Tiger Canyons in close co-operation with John Varty and make sure that he will be on site to entertain and educate our guests about his goals and ambitions in tiger conservation. There is some fossil evidence that tigers in fact could once have roamed Africa…and it is indisputable that lions, leopards and cheetah lived alongside tigers in Asia. Sadly the Asian lions are almost extinct, and cheetah have recently been reintroduced after becoming extinct there in recent years. Our safaris can be tailored to suit your needs and aspirations and are usually best done as an add-on to another southern African safari. We can specifically recommend a combined Big Cats safari utilizing Londolozi Game Reserve, world famous for its superb leopard viewing and great lion sightings. Guests can quite conceivably be photographing lions and leopards in the morning and be sitting with tigers that afternoon!
Tiger Canyons is not currently a “tourist destination” in the true sense of the word. There is no accommodation and little infrastructure. Rather it is a working experiment in saving tigers to which you are invited along with Daryl & Sharna Balfour on an informal safari where you will be virtually guaranteed tiger sightings and opportunities to photograph tigers, including a rare white tiger, unlike anywhere else on earth. The tigers roam free in spectacular Karoo landscapes with everything a tiger needs – dense reed beds, freshwater pools for bathing and swimming, stark rock outcrops that make stunning photo settings, and open grasslands where prey such as springbok, blesbuck, wildebeest, mountain reedbuck and steenbok graze…and tigers hunt!
Our tiger safaris are informal and simply structured. We stay in a luxurious small and intimate luxury lodge in Tiger Canyon, from where tigers may often be seen in the rocks below. All these safaris are customized according to your needs, and start either from Johannesburg or Bloemfontein.
JOIN US at TIGER CANYONS
We offer safaris to Tiger Canyons in close co-operation with John Varty and make sure that he will be on site to entertain and educate our guests about his goals and ambitions in tiger conservation. There is some fossil evidence that tigers in fact could once have roamed Africa…and it is indisputable that lions, leopards and cheetah lived alongside tigers in Asia. Sadly the Asian lions are almost extinct, and cheetah have recently been reintroduced after becoming extinct there in recent years. Our safaris can be tailored to suit your needs and aspirations and are usually best done as an add-on to another southern African safari. We can specifically recommend a combined Big Cats safari utilizing Londolozi Game Reserve, world famous for its superb leopard viewing and great lion sightings. Guests can quite conceivably be photographing lions and leopards in the morning and be sitting with tigers that afternoon!
A drive with Tiger!
At Tiger Canyons the people are in the cages and tigers roam free.
This is possibly the fastest-growing wild tiger population on earth,
and a place where close-up photography of wild free-ranging and
self-sustaining tigers is virtually guaranteed.
This is possibly the fastest-growing wild tiger population on earth,
and a place where close-up photography of wild free-ranging and
self-sustaining tigers is virtually guaranteed.
