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John Varty (JV) is a controversial South African filmmaker. JV established Tiger Canyons near the town of Philippolis on the Van der Kloof Lake in the Karoo of South Africa as an experiment to create a free-ranging, self-sustaining tiger population outside Asia. This was documented in a film called "Living with Tigers". He successfully introduced a lion cub into a tiger litter to test if a tigress would adopt a cub which is not their own. This way genetic diversity can be increased in populations of wild tigers where inbreeding is occurring.

However there are controversies to his proposed "conservation" strategies. A strong criticism about this project is with the chosen cubs. Experts state that the four tigers (Ron, Julie, Seatao and Shadow) involved in the re-wilding project are not purebred Bengal tigers and should not be used for breeding. The four tigers are not recorded in the Bengal tiger Studbook and should not be deemed as purebred Bengal tigers. Many tigers in the world's zoos are genetically impure, and there is no reason to suppose these four are not among them. The 1997 International Tiger Studbook lists the current global captive population of Bengal tigers at 210 tigers. All of the studbook-registered captive population is maintained in Indian zoos, except for one female Bengal tiger in North America. It is important to note that Ron and Julie (two of the tigers) were bred in the USA and hand-raised at Bowmanville Zoo in Canada, while Seatow and Shadow are two tigers bred in South Africa.

The tigers in the Tiger Canyons Project have recently been confirmed to be crossbred Siberian/Bengal tigers. Tigers that are not genetically pure are not allowed to be released into the wild and will not be able to participate in the tiger Species Survival Plan, which aims to breed genetically pure tiger specimens and individuals. In short, these tigers do not have any genetic value. The release of these Tigers into the wild might result in genetic pollution, and also the extinction of purebred Tigers.

The documentary has been proven to be a fraud. The tigers are unable to hunt, and the film crew chased the prey up against the fence and into the path of the tigers just for the sake of dramatic footage. Cory Meacham, a US-based environmental journalist mentioned that "the film has about as much to do with tiger conservation as a Disney cartoon." In addition, the tigers have not been released—and indeed still reside in a small enclosure under constant watch and with frequent human contact. The Discovery documentary contains footage that its maker, John Varty, has admitted on affidavit to be false.

There are claims that Tiger Canyons' Tigers have no conservation value, and experts question JV's intention of building Tiger Canyons as a ecotourism industry in South Africa. Most experts concluded that it is just a money-minded venture which allows money to be earned through the deception that the tigers there are purebred, but in fact they have no conservation value as they are of mixed ancestry. Conservationists fear that the public will be misled in this cynical fashion.

John Varty also made wildlife films. As part of his filming projects, he has supposedly introduced cheetah, a lioness, and two leopards to the wild His films have achieved top ratings on US TV channels and have been seen by millions of people and, he hopes, have resulted in a greater reverence for our planet and all living things. He has won many top documentary honors such as the New York Gold Award, the Film Festival of Montana Best Independent Program and American Cable TV's Ace Award. Major international customers include Walt Disney, The Discovery Channel, Time Life, Reader's Digest and Turner Original Programs (TOP).

Filmography

References

1. Releasing Captive Tigers - South Africa
2. Save The Tiger Fund | Bengal Tiger
3. Ron and Julie, Living with Tigers, Tiger Canyons, John Varty
4. Seatao and Shadow, Tiger Canyons, John Varty
5. ^ Purrrfect Breed?
6. http://www.wildeye.co.uk/wildlife-film/Wfn/wfn56.htm
7. http://www.nomadtours.co.za/article_2006-6-2_5.html
8. http://www.nomadtours.co.za/article_2006-6-2_5.html

See also

• Running Wild

External links

• John Varty's website
• Discovery Channel profile
• Londolozi Private Reserve official website
• Guardian article on Londolozi and Mandela
• Carte Blanche (South African TV program) interviewing Li Quan and John Varty over the controversy and the lawsuit
• Press release regarding the film controversy and claiming fraud
• SABC program interviewing Li Quan and Gus Mills regarding the conservation issues
• Discovery Channel website quoting critics of the tiger project
• National Geographic article documenting Save China's Tiger project

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