Draft:Tiger Canyon Private Game Reserve

Tiger Canyon Private Game Reserve
Tiger Canyon Private Game Reserve is a big cat ex-situ conservation project. near the historic town of Philippolis in South Africa’s Free State (province). Situated on 61,000 Hectares (610 sq km; 240 sq mi; 150,730 acres) of reclaimed Karoo and Highveld farmland where the original natural ecosystem has been restored, Tiger Canyon’s purpose is to contribute meaningfully to global efforts to save the endangered wild tiger and cheetah from extinction.

“To restore stability to our planet, therefore, we must restore biodiversity, the very thing we have removed. It is the only way out of this crisis that we ourselves have created. We must re-wild the world!” - Sir David Attenborough.

Founded by John Varty, co-owner and founder of Londolozi Private Game Reserve, in 2000 , Tiger Canyon was originally established as a sanctuary for rescued tigers to roam freely. The first tigers, rescued by John Varty, were from zoos and captive breeding facilities in Canada and South Africa.

In 2011, Lorna and Rodney Drew got involved with the organisation and in 2013 they purchased three neighbouring farms and conjoining the properties by establishing 30km of suitable fencing. Lorna and Rodney then moved to Tiger Canyon from Johannesburg in 2016 to dedicate their lives to the cause of wildlife conservation and to manage the construction of the lodge which opened in 2017.

After the lodge opened, John and the Drews formalised their partnership in 2017, and then in 2018 Rodney Drew became managing director of Tiger Canyon. By 2020, John Varty moved back to Londolozi and stepped down as a director of Tiger Canyon. The Drew family are at the helm of this conservation and tourism organisation today.

Over the past 12 years, the Drew family turned the tiger rescue sanctuary into a wild and expansive South African private game reserve focussed not only on big cat conservation but also rewilding, ecotourism and offering luxury lodge facilities and game drives for visiting tourists.

Tiger Conservation
Tiger Canyon are committed to helping save this apex predator from Extinction in Asia where their natural habitat is slowly being destroyed, degraded and fragmented by human activities. They have successfully established an ex-situ population of wild tigers outside their Asian homeland where tiger numbers are steadily declining.

With fewer than 3,140 adult tigers remaining in the wild in Asia, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN Red List, and thousands held captive in cages around the world. Ex-situ projects such as this, which primarily assist by researching new habitats, rewilding (conservation biology) of big cats and keeping the species genetics healthy, are becoming invaluable to global conservation efforts.

Tiger Canyon’s original tigers arrived in South Africa in the year 2000. Nearly 20 years later, they have third and fourth-generation, wild born, wild raised tigers. There are three climatic territories where tigers used to occur naturally; the frozen tundra of Siberia, tropical forests and mangrove swamps, and open grasslands. The Karoo resembles some of these climatic regions, which has aided the adaptation process. The experiment in ex-situ conservation has proven that captive-born tigers can be rewilded and that they can adapt to African conditions.

Tiger Canyon contributes meaningfully to global efforts to save the endangered wild tiger from extinction by means of a respected ex-situ conservation model proudly located in South Africa, by:


 * 1) Developing the concept of a global tiger meta-population programme similar to the cheetah meta-population programme that is being successfully managed in Southern Africa;
 * 2) Raising awareness of the plight of the endangered wild tiger in Asia, and the thousands of tigers living in captivity globally. The tiger is one of the world’s top 10 most endangered species;
 * 3) Educating people on the importance of nature, apex predators and biodiversity to humans and society;
 * 4) Establishing a research facility and encouraging specialists to explore and advance innovative methods of helping saving endangered species;
 * 5) Becoming a modern role model for future ex-situ and in-situ conservation projects who specialize in big cat conservation, funded by eco-tourism.

Cheetah Conservation
The Cheetah is the most endangered African big cat, with fewer than 6,517 adult individuals remaining in the wild according to the IUCN Red List. In 2014, the Drews introduced wild cheetah into the reserve, in a separate area from the tigers' territories, adding a second big cat to the conservation efforts of the organisation. Tiger Canyon was the first reserve in the Free State (province) to reintroduce wild cheetah back into the area after an absence of over 100 years

Tiger Canyon works closely with the Endangered Wildlife Trust in their Cheetah Metapopulation Project aimed at increasing numbers of wild Cheetah in Africa and internationally. Cheetahs are relocated to selected new reserves mostly in Africa where the Cheetah have become extinct, or established reserves where the populations have declined. This human intervention prevents inbreeding and strengthens the gene pool.