Fat and Happy

type size: [A] [A] [A]

Sept. 15, 2003
FREE STATE, South Africa — Today is a bit of milestone for Ron and Julie. They were left out overnight in a 150-acre hunting tract, instead of being protectively put to bed in the smaller enclosure that they know so well.

John Varty is up at dawn, eager to see how they made out.

He forgoes a proper breakfast; that can wait until he returns, at midday. Mercifully, the fickle Land Rover starts up without much fuss. Speeding off is out of the question, however.

Varty's commute from his farmhouse to the new hunting area is a scenic if bumpy drive on a network of rutted clay and gravel roads that wind their way through a series of gated electric fences. He encounters not one other vehicle, but that doesn't mean there's not plenty of traffic.

He slows the Land Rover to a stop to wait on a herd of springbuck, living up to its name by springing across the road. It's the third such herd this morning, numbering about 250 animals in all.

"You don't know how much pleasure you get, to know that a formerly overgrazed landscape is now supporting wildlife," he says. "Look how pretty they look in the light! Ah, that's a nice animal!"

In the distance, Varty points out Colesburg Hill, a highpoint on the horizon. According to an old hunting book, this whole valley once was surging with springbuck, he says. There are good accounts of wagons being unable to move for three days, waiting for the striped antelopes to pass.

We wait for less than a minute, but Varty is clearly moved and heartened by the sight of the herd. As much as this project is about rehabilitating captive-born tigers and teaching them to be wild, it is also about rehabbing a downtrodden South African landscape. And it's about boosting the local farmers and shepherds, many of whom could no longer eek out a living here with the way things were going. The tigers, represented by Varty, have been good neighbors to a people who suffer from poverty, alcoholism and AIDS.

Several days ago, Varty received a call on his radio from one of his workers whose brother and uncle had both died. He told Varty it was tuberculosis — a local euphemism for AIDS. The man couldn't afford to bury his kin, so Varty wrote out a check on the spot for a couple thousand rand (about $300). His favor to that man will be repaid many times over, Varty says, because that's the way things work out here.

Some of the local farmers were incensed at what they considered Varty's largesse with wages for the guys he hired to rip down farm fences and install the state-of-the-art solar-powered electric tiger fence. He hired shepherds and farmhands who, when they could get work, had formerly been earning only about 10 rand a day — less than $2. The tiger project already has changed the standard of living for quite a few locals. He hopes to do even better for quite a few more, Varty says, as the tiger project grows to fit his vision.

The tigers' release into the sanctuary proper has progressed in phases, but the final release is awaiting a pending government permit. The eventual home of Ron and Julie is a mosaic of grasslands, river, forests, gorges and hills that cover 90,000 acres — that's 40 square miles — or an area a bit larger than the city of Atlanta.

Ron and Julie have been spending four years exploring and familiarizing themselves with various bits and pieces of the property, smelling and marking thorn bushes and termite mounds as well as learning the various paths different prey species use to cut across riverbeds.

"The tigers are apt to be boisterous today because of the weather," Varty remarks, as he pulls the Land Rover up to the enclosure.

Ron is waiting for us. His ruff and paws are bloodstained. He's fat and happy.

"Good boy, Ronno," gushes Varty. "That's a good tiger!"

Overnight, the tigers obviously solved yesterday's hunting problems. Julie appears. Her paws are also tinged pinkish, but she doesn't look as well-fed as Ron, observes Varty. The fact that they are not on the carcass, defending it, is a clue that their meal perhaps was not a huge one. Tigers generally will stay with a kill for days, if it is big enough: a bushbuck, for instance, or a wildebeest.

Varty grabs his white baton and sets off walking with the pair of tigers, in hopes of locating the remains of the kill. He finds nothing. Next strategy: a process of elimination. We search for the wildebeest herd that the tigers had been stalking yesterday. We find all five animals present and accounted for. They are grazing peacefully on the far side of the enclosure.

Varty suspects the tigers killed something that they ate completely last night. It could be a porcupine, Varty says, thinking out loud, but probably not, because Ron is gorged and Julie had at least a helping of the kill. It must have been something more substantial; most likely, an ant bear, Varty concludes.

The sticky-tongued termite eater can reach 200 pounds, a wholly satisfying snack for a tiger. One of these thick-skinned nocturnal creatures no doubt made Ron work a bit for his dinner, but nothing like a wildebeest would. The ant bear's only defense is to plunge down its hole.

Julie slinks behind the vehicle, ready to begin the day hunting. She spies the wildebeest herd and goes into stalking mode. She actually slithers back under the vehicle and reappears on the other side, where there's better natural cover.

"Julie is a cat who likes to hunt," Varty observes, adding that hunger is not the only motivating factor for hunting. "There's also the element of fun."

An ibis sounds an alarm call. Julie makes a long-distance sprint at the herd, instigating Ron to join her. Varty is surprised that Ron rouses to the occasion, given his bulging stomach. The pair again miss getting close enough to take down any of the wildebeest.

A storm is bearing down on the veld. Ominous clouds gather and lightning flashes in the hills. The tigers, with their warm, weatherproof coats, do well hunting in the rain, Varty says. They have an advantage because the prey species put their heads down against the wet wind; they're less alert to movement, sounds and smells.

It'll be another night in the hunting area for Ron and Julie. A dark and stormy night, at that. We'll check back in on them early tomorrow.

<< Previous Dispatch | Next Dispatch >>