Saving Tigers: should we be doing it in SA?

by John Varty

In 1990 there were believed to be 100,000 wild tigers on the Asian continent. Today this number has dropped to around 1,200 tigers and declining rapidly. What is the reason why the biggest cat and some say the most beautiful is now listed by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature as the most endangered animal on this planet. Firstly the tiger tries to survive on a continent which barely supports half of humanity (worlds human population is now 7 billion). Just two tiger countries, China 1.6 billion and India 1.2 billion accommodate 2.8 billion people.

The tiger competes with roughly 130 people per square kilometre in China and 320 people per square kilometre in India. As these countries attempt to feed their growing human populations so more and more of the tigers home range is taken away. Adaptable as it is the tiger cannot survive in an unfenced downgraded habitat with no prey, surrounded by people and domestic stock.

The management skills of the Tiger countries is sadly lacking and in some countries non-existent. In India, which is supposed to be the most progressive of all Asian countries in terms of tiger conservation, their track record is dismal. In 2009 they lost all the tigers in Sariska Park and in 2010 the same happened in Panna National Park. This was after the wardens of the respective parks had filed reports that tigers were plentiful. One of the major factors against the survival of the tiger is the huge market for tiger body parts which exists in China. According to the Chinese every part of the tiger has medicinal value. Therefore, skin, claws, teeth, knuckles, fat, urine, penis and whiskers all are valued by Chinese herbalists who will pass them onto the Chinese public who will pay good dollars for the body parts. Like rhino horn it is mythical, it has no scientific base but the body parts trade has existed for thousands of years and is not about to change now.

In China, several safari parks accommodate over 1,000 tigers each. In small enclosures 100 or more tigers are over crowded like chickens in a chicken battery. From these safari parks some 250 tigers are killed annually and their body parts sold to the Chinese body part market. When the body of the tiger has been stripped of all its valuable body parts, the skeleton is then taken and turned into Tiger Wine which again the Chinese tell us has medicinal properties. The tiger is a CITES Appendix 1 animal which means it is totally protected. Despite the tiger's status the Chinese government openly supports the trade in tiger body parts. It is against this backdrop that many conservationists are now saying that the wild tiger will not be saved in Asia. If it cannot be saved in Asia where will it be saved, if at all?

In response to the rapidly declining tigers and the lack of a management plan in Asia, I started my controversial tiger project in 2000. In short I implemented an "ex-situ conservation project" of which there are many around the world. An "ex-situ conservation project" is one that seeks to save a species outside the country or continent where the animal is declining. In short it is a rescue act. If India, China etc are incapable of saving the wild tiger then we could do it for them in South Africa. South Africa has many aspects which can assist the wild tiger. South Africa's big cat management is some of the best in the world. Many talented veterinary surgeons live and practice in South Africa and today we can dart a tiger and move it by airplane or by road in complete safety.

South Africa's game industry has spurred and electric fencing industry which is the finest in the world. Using solar energy I have run 14 tigers side by side with domestic stock for 6 years. Despite supplying the Indian Government with many diagrams of a suitable electric fence, not one of India's parks is fenced and hence dispersing tigers soon begin killing domestic stock and even people. Eventually the tiger is killed by herdsmen or poachers and the body parts fetch $15,000 and the tiger numbers declines and all the dispersing genes which should have found new mates are lost. When queried why they don't fence their tiger parks the reply is "we don't have the money". I find this hard to believe when the fifth richest man in the world is Indian and he has made his money out of steel.

Therefore in 2000 the tiger experiment at Tiger Canyons was born. The experiment needed a number of ingredients. Firstly large areas of relatively cheap land needed to be found. The habitat needed to be such that a large bodied stalker pounce could be a successful hunter. The land needed to be large enough to support a viable population of tigers and a diverse population of suitable prey species. The area should be part of a rehabilitation project not a mature eco system. Therefore there was no question of invading a balanced ecosystem like Londolozi with an apex predator.

In the Southern Free State of the Upper Karoo I found a suitable area to run the tiger experiment. Through this area huge herds of Springbuck had once migrated (some say in excess of 100 million). Blesbuck, eland, red hartebeest, black wildebeest, blue wildebeest, warthog, duiker, steenbok, ostrich, buffalo, plains zebra, mountain reedbuck and waterbuck to name a few had once thrived. Living in this Garden of Eden was the lion, the leopard, the cheetah, spotted hyena, wild dog, caracal, aardwolf, bat eared fox, jackal and the San bushmen.

All this changed when the Trek boers (mobile farmers) decided they wanted the land for their exotic sheep. Anything that competed with them was shot, trapped, poisoned and killed. When they had removed all the indigenous animals they replaced these with exotic sheep. At one time 30 million exotic sheep inhabited South Africa. The war against nature continues to this day. Sheep farmers throughout South Africa set the deadly gin trap for jackal and caracal, the two main killers of their sheep. A gin trap can be bought at the local co-op without a permit. Although it is designed to catch a caracal and jackal it does in fact catch many innocent species. I have filmed 12 species caught in the trap and on one occasion a porcupine gnawed off its foot to escape the steel jaws which had caught it on the leg.

The Tiger Canyons experiment is being conducted 30 kilometres from the town of Phlippolis on the Van der Kloof lake in the province of the Free State in South Africa. Philippolis is listed as the fourth poorest town in South Africa. Seventy percent of the adult population of Philippolis do not have a job. Many of the social problems one finds in poverty areas are rampant in Philippolis.

What has this got to do with tigers you may ask?

The tiger experiment has attracted people from over 43 nationalities to Tiger Canyons. Tourists, photographers, film makers, journalists and conservationists have flocked to Tiger Canyons to view this unique experiment. All have been inspired and some of the finest pictures ever taken of tigers have been captured here. The fact is that to get a photo of a wild tiger in Asia today is becoming increasingly difficult. At Tiger Canyons the tiger is guaranteed and one group of professional photographers shot 4,000 images in 3 days.

John Varty, the founder member of Tiger Canyons, goes to great lengths to inform each and every guest who visits Tiger Canyons as to the goals, missions and objectives of the experiment. Tourist experts have been quick to market the big 6 in South Africa including lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, rhino and tiger. As Tiger Canyons lies close to the coast some experts have suggested a marketing strategy which markets the big 7, lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephant, tiger and whales. Tiger Canyons is looking to expand the concept of the wild tiger into other provinces of South Africa. Sustainable habitat for tigers exists in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga of South Africa.

If permission is granted by the South African government these Tiger sanctuaries can play a major role in the Presidents Job Creation Policy.

Tourism by its very nature requires a multitude of skilled jobs. Tourism is today the biggest job creator in South Africa.

As one conservationist remarked recently "If the South African government is smart they will give Varty all the support they can, because his project brings back indigenous animals into the landscape, it also creates a tourist industry which can uplift poverty stricken communities. In addition South Africa will also get the kudos for helping to save the highly endangered tiger. Its a win, win for all!". John Varty has also called on the South African National Parks Board to create a fully fledged National Park in South Africa for tigers. He believes that South Africa has a moral obligation to help Asian countries who have demonstrated their inability to save the tiger.

Varty's closing statement is "If we cant save the magnificent tiger, perhaps we cant even save ourselves"

Article written for Cat Magazine Sept 2011.

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