John Varty

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John Varty (JV) is a South African conservationist and filmmaker who specializes in Big Cats. 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. From this population, third and fourth generations of tigers can be returned to Asia into parks that meet a set of criteria which give the tigers a chance of surviving in Asia. 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. http://www.jvbigcats.co.za

Julie & Savannah, the lion cub

JV and his brother Dave started what is now the Famous Londolozi Game Reserve of which Nelson Mandela said: “During my long walk to freedom, I had the rare privilege to visit Londolozi. There I saw people of all races living in harmony amidst the beauty that mother nature offers. There I saw a living lion in the wild. Londolozi represents a model of the dream I cherish for the future of nature preservation in our country”.

John Varty also made wildlife films. As part of his filming projects, he introduced cheetah, a lioness, and two leopards to the wild. He came to realize these magnificent creatures are no less complex and intelligent than we are. JV believed that through film he could make people concerned about habitat destruction which was resulting in more and more species dying out every day. “I wonder if my children will ever fly in the dust of 1 500 elephants, or half a million wildebeest migrating from the Serengeti or see a jaguar swimming across an Amazonian river. I hope so." 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).
His films include:
Living with Tigers
A Secret Life
Ambush in Paradise
Brothers in Arms
Cycle of the Seasons
Defining Moments
Horn and Claw
Hunters
Hyaena the Great Opportunist
Jamu the Orphaned Leopard
Londolozi's Africa
Perfect Mothers
Perfect Predators
Return of the Kings
River Dinosaur
Savage Instinct
Savannah Cats
Sense and Scentability
Shingalana
Super Hunts Super Hunters
Survival on the Savannah
Swift and Silent
The Brotherhood
The Mating Game
The Silent Hunter
The Super Predators
The Tracker
Troubled Waters
Wet and Wild