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John Varty & Tiger Canyon
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Tiger Canyons:
First, JV and his brother Dave Varty, both varties were selected for Save south Chinas project and Laohu valley reserve is created in 2002 out of 17 defunct sheep farms to a 350 km^2 (140 sq mi) private wild life reserve by Li-quan and her husband, investment banker Stuart Bray near Tiger canyons, Philippolis city, Northern Cape and Free State province in South Africa and efforts to return the overgrazed land to natural status are ongoing. But, they were sited to mislead the project for their benefits to gain fame in media and their personal life. So they were removed but JV bought Tiger canyons near Laohu with the money collected secretly from south China tiger project and started with 2 captive bred Bengal-Siberian tiger hybrids Ron and Julie from Canada and Seatao and Shadow are two tigers bred in South Africa. *This image is copyright of its original author Save South china Tiger Project:   *This image is copyright of its original author Project 20/20: embracing natural changeWRITTEN BY CONNOR THOMPSON ON 11 DECEMBER 2018. Tiger Canyon recently launched its innovative 20/20 project, a pledge to plant 20 000 trees in 20 years on the reserve. The project seeks to sustainably transform the reserve terrain with the holistic implementation of bio-mimicry. An increasingly popular system employed the world over, bio-mimicry functions by imitating natural ecological processes in order to work in synergy with the environment. Because these processes are constantly self-improving, bio-mimicry works with inherent adaptiveness to natural habitats. The 20/20 project was first conceptualized by Tiger Canyon founder John Varty (JV), who recognised that the land needed to be adapted to the needs of its growing tiger population - stalk and pounce predators that rely on sheltered areas in order to hunt; these areas will also support tiger breeding and allow tigresses to better capture new territory. Added to this, the introduction of trees to the reserve will establish separated grazing areas for prey species, resulting in swathes of placid herds interrupted by the sudden and enthralling appearance of a stalking tiger. In keeping with the concept of bio-mimicry, the trees will be planted in a so-called “system of three”, a process that occurs in nature and which allows for three tree species to grow close to each other in a grouping of mutual protection throughout the seasons. This system will make use of three indigenous tree species, namely the Acacia karoo (Sweet Thorn), Rhus lancea (Karee) and Ziziphus mucronata (Buffalo Thorn). The Karee will work to protect the trees against frost in the winter, the Acacia will provide abundant amounts of browse in the summer (particularly beneficial to large browsers), while the Buffalo Thorn will provide browse throughout the rest of the year, particularly in the winter period. Buffalo Thorn and Sweet Thorn, as suggested in the name, are both thorny trees that may further protect the system from overbrowsing during the early growth period during early summer, when young trees and new growth are particularly attractive for their sweeter quality.  *This image is copyright of its original author Acacia Karoo and Karee trees already grow alongside each other naturally on the reserveThe trees will also be supported by means of subtle land manipulation.The False Karoo region in which Tiger Canyon is located consists of vast open grasslands speckled with rocky hills (or koppies) and knuckled by deep gorges and ravines. While our tiger population does benefit from the shelter provided by these picturesque gullies, the reserve's potential will be more fully utilized with the introduction of water furrows and drainage lines, allowing for surface water to run off during the heavy summer rainfall period and trapped in open wetlands. These form easily due to the regional heavy clay soils on shallow shale banks that afford excellent water retention. The drainage lines will be supplied with added rocks and soil, contributing to the holistic development of the land. The trees will be planted along the embankments and drainage lines in order to be protected from strong winds and frost, and in turn their roots will prevent soil erosion during the run-off period. As the trees grow they will drop seeds that will be dispersed throughout these lines and across the lower lying areas of the reserve, causing a flourishing tree succession. In planting 1000 trees per year, we will prevent overbrowsing from our resident antelope, while improving the grazing conditions. This will also serve to restore an area previously degraded by overgrazing from livestock, and will work to enhance rainfall and surface cooling, in an area that once supported massive migrations of antelope. By adopting this holistic means of bio-mimicry, we will not only be improving the wellbeing of our tiger population but the habitat itself. The Karoo region of South Africa is in an early phase of soil development, steadily evolving from a rock-based terrain to verdant grassland, and therefore still has a shallow layer of organic soil (between 15cm and 40cm): by introducing water to the area we are feeding the existing grasslands which in turn stabilize the soil and prevent excessive run-off, again strengthening the grass; an increased tree population will introduce new nutrients to the soil, improving the nutrient cycle of the area. The Karoo is an ancient canvas, having passed from a prehistoric ocean to a vast semi-desert scrub-land with sub-regional grasslands, a basis for the establishment of natural oases that may support a myriad of local wildlife. Over this twenty year period we envision the development of a seasonal wetland Savannah facilitated by flourishing trees with roots that penetrate the harder shale banks, a naturally enhanced terrain that will sustain the wild Bengal tiger population as it continues to thrive in symbioses with its African sanctuary.  *This image is copyright of its original author Sidney Salakupa, Connor Thompson and Lebo Mokgatla, from the 20/20 team, with a small batch of the first 1000 trees TURN UP THE VOLUME ☝️ Moments after catching a porcupine, a large male tiger approaches and attempts to rob these cubs and their mother of the meal..unluckily for him there was not much more than spines left behind..   (01-07-2019, 04:32 PM)Sanju Wrote: A little more info on this interesting Tiger Dynamic they have here nickkleer @analambrus no he is a rare condition that doesn't allow him to mate. He has become rather passive because of the lack of testosterone in his body and won't fight with other tigers. Here he is just attempting to get food but does no harm to the cub. nickkleer @joey.becker.90475 no the father is another tiger that lives in the same area. Very very rare situation but this particular male cannot father cubs. 
Everything looks good in Tiger Canyon, Their tigers are muscular big and lives in great habitat but I have yet to see a complete video in which tiger hunt down its prey from beginning to end.
 (01-12-2019, 12:20 PM)sanjay Wrote: Everything looks good in Tiger Canyon, Their tigers are muscular big and lives in great habitat but I have yet to see a complete video in which tiger hunt down its prey from beginning to end. Pretty sure they can't. In an open scrubland like that & with near 24/7 camera presence in the place, we'd be having hundreds of hunting videos now. Unique stuff that we haven't got to see in forests, like that only available video of two make in death-duel! But we don't. So the only explanation is that they can't hunt & are either baited or worse... fed. I think this guy might have been right after all. (01-31-2017, 09:26 PM)Vinay Wrote:(01-31-2017, 06:48 PM)Rishi Wrote:(01-31-2017, 05:10 PM)Vinay Wrote: Don't know how any one can deny these marvelous pictures?? ......No doubt they are 100% WILD tigers ...
Completely agreeing with @Lycaon about the futility of it.
Just look at these videos! (12-11-2018, 03:57 PM)Sanju Wrote: Save South china Tiger Project:The adult tigers have zero clue about stealth & stalking prey using vegetation cover. The antelopes detected them from hundreds of metres away & took off. Then the next scene shows an animal in its grasp! Completely doctored videos... Plus the so-called reintroduction project haven't made any signification progress in years, just hogwash & eyewash. It doesn't take TWENTY YEARS to prepare a release site! The apathy as well as lack of political will of the Chinese govt. is unfortunate. But at this point Save Chinese Tigers is indeed a joke... not a funny one. 
Plus all these resources could be used to help west african lions, leopards , and other centeral west african wildlife instead!
These places are just glorified zoo's anyway @marselvanoosten • • • The are two ways of thinking: inside the box and outside the box. Most people think inside the box, which explains why they always come up with the same obvious solutions for a problem. But what if those obvious solutions barely work or not at all? Then you need to look beyond the obvious, free from conventions and traditions. At the start of the 20th century, it was estimated there were over 100,000 tigers in the wild, but the population has dwindled outside of captivity to between 1,500 and 3,900. In 1969 the tiger was declared an endangered species and nothing has changed since. Well, except that there are currently more tigers held privately as pets in Texas than there are in the wild. The threats that are driving tigers closer to extinction all stem from, surprise surprise, man. Tigers are threatened by habitat loss, conflict with humans, and poaching to feed to the illegal trade in tiger parts and products for Vietnam and China. The vast majority of all wild tigers live in India, a country with 1.3 billion people and counting. With approximately 456 people per square kilometre and no fences around their national parks, habitat loss will become an even bigger problem in the near future. And according to the World Bank, the percentage of the population living in poverty in India was 60% in 2011, equalling 763 million people living below the poverty line. With the price of tiger parts on the black market rising to astronomical levels (up to 20,000 USD just for the pelt), tiger poaching is not going to end anytime soon either. With all this in mind, John Varty started Tiger Canyon in 2000, an ex-situ tiger conservation experiment in South Africa aiming to protect a growing population of free-roaming tigers. Like most game reserves in South Africa it is fenced, to keep the tigers in and the people out. Critics say that tigers don’t belong in Africa, but they don’t realize that tigers, lions, leopard and cheetah all roamed the same continent once before. It’s a controversial idea, but in the end that may be exactly what we need. Think wide. A true privilege to spend time with these magnificent cats @tigercanyon_sa !! The back drop is not to shabby either!! :) Looking forward to my next visit. @nickkleer |
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