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John Varty & Tiger Canyon
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Tibo and her cub, Bird enjoying their buffalo lunch
 *This image is copyright of its original author Junior Tiger Bird — at John Varty, Tiger Canyons.  *This image is copyright of its original author Bird stealing moms warthog kill  *This image is copyright of its original author Boss Tiger Mahindra — at John Varty, Tiger Canyons.  *This image is copyright of its original author
A white tiger, interesting... I can't put my finger on what exactly piques my intrigue although.
I can't help but feel this venture is a controlled attempt at recreating nature for these tigers. With its control, it has nonetheless failed to recreate nature. The overseers seem to involved to produce tigers functional in the real wild. Hopefully I am wrong.
You know what is crazy, that is probably the first well documented example of an adult white tiger hunting in the wild, which would answer the question of whether or not white tigers could camouflage well enough in the wild.
The flip side is this: How exactly are the tigers fed? Are they fed captive or wild prey? The prey animals have never seen a tiger and thus never adapted strategies to avoid the tiger. Africa's terrain could benefit a white cat over asia. 
Yep, I feel the afrcian terrain suits the white tiger more than say India which may be a factor. Another question I've always had about white tigers is that, why are they genetically bengal instead of siberian? Surely it would make sense that a white tiger would be siberian and blend into the winter conditions, rather than the lush Indian forests. Very weird nature...
Mahindra is, even with only one canine tooth down, one of the most dominant tiger in Tiger-Canyon
 *This image is copyright of its original author Picture: Jean Christophe Blanc from France Tiger Canyons  *This image is copyright of its original author
Another post by John, Important to note the weight of tigers
Hello Friends On the 22nd of June 2016, the male tiger Seatao was found dead in the bush at Tiger Canyons. There were no visible injuries on Seatao and no signs of a fight. It appears that Seatao died of natural causes, he was 10 years old. Seatao came to me as a 3 weeks old cub. The breeder who bred Seatao, never told me that he was a carrier of the rare white gene. (Seatao’s father was a white tiger and his mother was a normal tigress.) Seatao came with a female cub called Shadow (DNA profiling later proved Seatao and Shadow were not related.) _MG_4351sm I named him by merging my two boys names Sean and Tao = Seatao. As I walked with Seatao and swam in dams, two things became apparent, Seatao had a very nice nature and secondly he was going to be big, very big! One day I took Shadow and Seatao down to the Wilderness to show to the pupils at Hoekwil school. (Sean and Tao went to Hoekwil.) On the way down I was stopped in a roadblock to inspect my vehicle. (The license had expired.) While the traffic inspector was inspecting my truck, Seatao began to give a distress call in the back. The traffic officer asked me what was crying in the truck and I replied “A tiger”. Not believing me, the traffic officer opened the back of the truck and out jumped Seatao. This sent the traffic officers scattering in all directions. Having assured them that he was only a cub, all the traffic officers posed for pictures with Seatao (The traffic officers used their speed camera to take the pictures.) After the photo shoot and having given each officer a DVD copy of “Living with Tigers”, I went on my way (The traffic officers forgot to fine me for having an expired motor vehicle license.) When I arrived in the Wilderness, I put Seatao and Shadow in a box in the bedroom where I was staying. Seatao cried so hard that I took him in to my bed. Here he regained his confidence immediately, took a short cat nap and then he and Shadow proceeded to destroy the bedroom. Unlike Ron and Julie who I had hunted with for 4 years, Seatao and Shadow had their own boma stocked with game. Seatao became a very good hunter, although he mostly pirated the kills from Shadow. One day Shadow killed two blesbuck. The first one Seatao pirated, the second Shadow hid in a pool of water. Seatao followed the drag and then using his feet, located the kill in the water. Seatao dragged the blesbuck to where he had left the first kill. Here he proceeded to eat both blesbuck and never shared with Shadow. On one occasion, I witnessed Seatao and Shadow co-operating in a hunt. The two tigers surrounded a Cape Clawless Otter in a pool. The otter was too quick for the tigers to catch. Seatao walked out of the pool and positioned himself on the top of the bank above the pool. Shadow maneuvered the otter to a position beneath Seatao. With a dramatic leap, Seatao dropped onto the unsuspecting otter, killing it with a bite to the neck. Ron my original tiger who came from Bowmansville Zoo in Canada, was in one large area and Seatao was in another area. Dividing the 2 male tigers, was an electric fence with an automatic gate which worked on remote control. One day the gate opened on the remote and then closed and then reopened. Ron moved through the open gate and into Seatao’s area. I knew I must prepare for the “Rumble in the Jungle”. I have filmed male lions fighting. It is nothing compared to male tigers. Although only 3 years old and up against a more experienced fighter, Seatao eventually had Ron down and was throttling him. Determined not to let Seatao kill Ron, I fired shots into the ground next to the fighting tigers. Fortunately they separated and I was able to get Ron back to his area. (Ron had not been in a vehicle for four years, yet I was able to load him and take him back). Five years later Ron was killed in a territorial fight. Seatao found the body and attacked it for 20 minutes. Seatao picked up Ron clean off the ground and shook him like a rag doll. (I estimated Ron’s weight at 200 kg.) I remember vividly when attempting to weigh Seatao, it took 12 strong men to get him onto the scale. Seatao tipped the scale at 229 kg. Seatao readily jumped onto the bonnet of the Mahindra vehicles. One could physically feel the vehicle sag under Seatao’s weight. DSC_2309sm Many guests at Tiger Canyons were sprayed with marking fluid as Seatao marked his territory. One lady from the USA admitted to me that the highlight of her trip was being sprayed on by Seatao. Seatao was the most productive of all breeding tigers at Tiger Canyons. He fathered Julie's second litter. (This litter consisting of Sundarban, Shine and Zaria was abandoned at birth.) Seatao fathered Julie's third litter which consisted of Indira, Ussuri, Tibo, Mahindra and Runti (Runti died 12 weeks after birth.) _MG_0133sm Shadows second litter consisting of Oria and Ardene, were also fathered by Seatao. Seatao bred the first white tiger, Shine, and the second, Vivienne Tiger Bomb Player(Tibo). Seatao’s death was a shock to me. He was 10 years old, his teeth were in good condition. I suspect, although the vets tell me otherwise, that every time a tiger is darted, it lessens their life. Seatao was darted twice in his life, once when I weighed him and once when I vasectomized him. Seatao’s death opens up opportunities for the young male Khumba, who will be moved into Seatao’s territory (Khumba is not related to any tiger at Tiger Canyons and is therefore extremely valuable.) James Corbett, the "Tiger Maneater Hunter" described a male tiger as a wholehearted gentleman and indeed this is what Seatao was. His size was awesome, his nature was gentle. I estimated that a half a million images decorate the walls of houses in over 50 countries. I myself shot several hard drives of Seatao. seataosm Picture: Yvette van Bommel Seatao's death is as painful as Shingalana and Tigress Julie. I will mourn him deeply, he enriched my life greatly. R.I.P. Seatao. Tread Lightly On The Earth JV 
Varty's orbituary on Saetao, again, underlines that an adult male big cat of 500 pounds is big, even for someone used to seeing big cats all the time. Most adult captive male big cats range between 350-450 pounds. Even adult Indian male tigers seldom exceed 450 pounds in captivity. In one sample (Indian zoos), the heaviest was 436 pounds. In the second (Indian zoos as well), the heaviest was 464. The average of all males (n>50) was 400-410 pounds.
Saetao, 229 kg. (506 pounds) in his prime, had an advantage in that his father was a white tiger. White tigers usually are a bit larger than other tigers. Same for white lions. Varty's orbituary also underlines that wild male Nepal tigers are very large animals. Adjusted, depending on the criteria used, they probably averaged 470-490 pounds in the seventies and eighties of the last century. Unadjusted, they averaged 520. At least two males bottomed a 600-pound scale. One of the two, the Sauraha tiger, was included in the sample mentioned before. The other, as far as I know, wasn't. Varty also confirms that size, all other factors equal, matters in a fight in that large individuals like Saetao usually prevail. I know of a few exceptions, but that's what they are. Good find, Sanjay. Observations on captive big cats are few and far between and, for that reason, interesting. One has, however, to remember that Varty's big cats have an advantage in that they have a (small) territory and hunt themselves. Although captive, they get the chance to be a tiger. To a degree, of course, but it still beats the conditions zoo tigers face.
Your post brings up something I was just asking myself @peter
When looking at the captive cats thread you see a couple of members here posting their first hand expierence's at certain "zoos," my self included, some of these numbers seem to large to be true but apparently they are. When I search for big cat veterinary procedures I usually Find what I consider "reliable weights" and to be honest, those weights rarely surpass the "500lb" range. I have come to a conclusion similar to yours, 200kg is a large cat, 220kg is a massive cat and anything over 230kg is to be considered "extraordinary" in my book.
Some captive lions and tigers exceed even 550 pounds, but one has to remember that individuals of that size are quite exceptional. When not obese, a lion or tiger of 550 pounds would dwarf an average-sized adult male big cat.
Eagleraptor (AVA), a keeper with a lot of experience in the UK, posted photographs of a few very large captive Amur tigers. These animals exceeded 600 pounds, but the average of all captive male Amur tigers would be closer to 450-460 pounds, maybe even a bit less. At that size, most of them would be quite a bit bigger than males of other subspecies. A century ago, males shot by Dunbar Brander central India averaged 420 pounds. Two of these exceeded 10 feet in total length 'between pegs'. The average could have been a bit higher when the very robust male he mentioned in his book would have been weighed. He also missed a few other big males, but 420 pounds is plenty impressive for me. In about the same period, male tigers shot, measured and weighed by Hewett in northern India averaged 430-440 pounds. He too wasn't able to weigh most of the large males he shot, but there is no question that tigers in that region were a bit longer and heavier than those in central India. The male tigers shot, measured and weighed by the Maharajah of Cooch Behar and his guests averaged just over 460 pounds. This average included a number of individuals described as 'gorged'. Based on what I had, I concluded male tigers in northern India, if all would have been weighed, most probably would have topped the table for both weight and length, whereas Cooch Behar tigers would have taken second place, directly followed by central India. Deccan tigers were clearly smaller, but my guess is tigers from the southwest would have been larger than those in central India. All of us assume today's tigers in India could be a bit heavier than a century ago, but this only is an assumption based on pictures of a number of very large individuals. The point to remember is an adult male of 400-450 pounds in good shape is a big animal anywhere. 
According to my information/experience, 220 kg captive amur is like a 185 cm man...quite tall, but nothing extraordinary, perhaps slightly over average. I have seen some tigers who were 220 kg (weighted) and quite lot of others, who looked pretty much the same. 220 kg tiger means impressive animal, but healthy adult amur tigers are impressive animals. BTW these 220 kg tigers are usually lean, athletic. I have seen also some heavier tigers, around 250 kg, but these were really robust.
BTW its important to consider the age of the animal Semjon, 17yo, 190 kg...quite impressive for this age, Id say (http://www.ahaonline.cz/clanek/musite-ve...-tygr.html) Clyde, 1yo, 140 kg (http://www.zoodvurkralove.cz/cs/novinky/...u-u-tygru/) Mauglis, 13yo, 246 kg...page says 250...what could be his weight in his prime? (https://www.zoopraha.cz/aktualne/novinky...vice=xhtml)
RIP Seatao
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Your territory is in good hands....... Tiger Khumba takes over Seatao's area. The young male Khumba (30 months old) was relocated into the territory of the late Tiger Seatao. Thanks to vetinarians Dr. Gavin and Lesley Raus.  *This image is copyright of its original author Khumba's weight is estimated to be 185kg. Ten people were needed to load him onto the vehicle.  *This image is copyright of its original author Khumba has a beautiful dark coat and is not related to any other tigers at Tiger Canyons. This makes him valuable from a breeding point of view.  *This image is copyright of its original author Something tells me that khumba is going to be a big tiger as well, I bet when he's in his prime, he'll be pushing the 220kg mark as well.
Jon Varty way too close to Kinky tail from the Mapogo's
How close would you like to be? :-) John Varty -vs- KinKy Tail https://www.facebook.com/Mapogo.Lions/vi...278471282/ JV -vs- KT (by John Varty/ 2008) Crazy experiment: John Varty comes Kinky Tail very close!!! John Varty is a South African wildlife filmmaker, who has made more than 30 documentaries and one feature film.
JV filming Tigress TiBo at Tiger Canyons.
Picture: Margaret Pang from Singapore  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Tiger Patrol (Corbett)
Corbett, son of Ron and Shadow, very aggressive male, the one, who attacked and critically injured John Varty in March 2012. South Africa, Tiger Canyons. March 2015. Canon 1 Dx, EF 200-400 mm (400 mm), f/4, ISO 500, 1/5000s. www.kirichko.net  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Zarias cub killed Today at Tiger Canyons South Africa the tiger called Tiger Boy killed one of Zarias cubs. The cub was interesting in that it was half white half normal colour. Tiger Boy was fighting with Corbett the father of the cub killed. Tiger Boy was in fact attacked by both Corbett and Zaria. However Corbett failed to drive Tiger Boy from the area and he returned to kill Zarias cub. Zaria has two cubs remaining. Picture by Tidi Jakes Modise Tread lightly on the earth JV  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author JV Images: Zebra were released into the cheetah and the tiger area at Tiger Canyons. Except for the foals zebra are too big and dangerous for cheetah, however tigers have the power and strength to overpower a zebra. Pictures by Luke Worster Tread Lightly On The Earth JV  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author If tigers can catch zebra that will be the most impressive thing for me, there is no more alert animal than the Zebra in Africa. Not an easy catch, not at all! |
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