Rodney and Lorna Drew are passionate about conservation. More specifically, they are passionate about big cats.
I caught up with them at their 6,000ha reserve in a remote location in the Free State, about 25km from the town of Philippolis.
Along with legendary wildlife filmmaker John Varty, they own a wildlife reserve called Tiger Canyon.
Here, they manage a revolutionary endangered species conservation project that aims to protect and rewild tigers far from their usual Asian habitat.
Tiger Canyon though is no longer an experiment to see if tigers can adapt to African conditions as, over the past 20 years, wild-raised tigers have become self-sustaining in this environment.
In fact, they have adapted well to the Karoo-like conditions, where a landscape of grassland, bushes and rocky outcrops seems to have honed their natural hunting capabilities and instinct.
As the Drews explained to me, just as renowned conservationist Dr Ian Player assured the survival of the almost extinct white rhinos by distributing surplus animals around the world, Tiger Canyon is looking to reduce the risk of extinction of the Asian tiger by creating a sustainable population in SA.
Furthermore, in 2013, the Drews reintroduced the first wild cheetah into the Free State after an absence of more than 100 years, thus preserving native and non-native endangered species alongside each other.
The private ownership of “exotic” predators is, of course, a hot topic.
Recently, we have witnessed tigers escaping from private South African owners while I am sure that some of you also watched in horror as the trade in big cats in the US was exposed in the Netflix Series, Tiger King.
This adverse publicity is something that the Drews want to avoid and they assured me that their reserve is a sanctuary for tigers that have come from similar backgrounds.
“There are so many big cats worldwide that spend their lives in captivity due to the fact that land is becoming more scarce with the expanding human population,” Lorna said.
“Our aim here is to have a reserve where you can rewild captive animals to be used in repopulating areas where the big cats are becoming endangered.”
With more tigers now in captivity than exist in the wild, the Drews acknowledge the need to maintain the healthy genetics of the animals — particularly in those Asian countries where the tiger populations are small.
“A captive tiger loses the ability to hunt and to defend its territory so you cannot simply relocate those animals back into the wild.
“Instead we aim to put them into a protected environment, like Tiger Canyon, where they can learn to hunt and over generations, learn to defend their territories and their cubs.
“In time, those tigers would be suitable for reintroduction into areas where the wild populations have declined.”
With family ties to the Eastern Cape, the Drews had originally hoped to locate their reserve here in the Albany region.
However, local legislation back in 2011 preventing the free roaming of exotic predators meant that the Free State became the obvious choice for their project.
And so it is here, in this often bypassed heartland of our country, that these magnificent creatures can be seen roaming the veld and hunting on an African, not Asian, landscape.
“Here in Africa we have the passion, we have the land, and we have the knowledge and skills to look after big cats,” Rodney said, “so I invite people to come visit us to witness our programme of tiger conservation at work.”
Dr Dean Allen is a best-selling author and keynote speaker. He is currently writing a book about the history of wildlife tourism in the Eastern Cape. www.deanallen.co.za
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