Meet the Tiger Men: Dave Salmoni

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A 28-year-old Canadian zoologist from the Bowmanville Zoo near Toronto and a graduate of Laurentian University's Biology Honors Program, Dave Salmoni arrived in South Africa in January 2000 with Ron and Julie in tow — two captive-born, baby Bengal tigers. His previous training and experience were devoted to handling big cats: lions, tigers and jaguars. Now, his life revolves around Ron and Julie.

Salmoni has developed and refined wildlife management techniques in the field in South Africa, working with project founder John Varty to prepare the two tigers for their eventual release.

For almost four years, Salmoni has been the tigers' constant companion and surrogate parent: "I get embarrassed when they're rude and proud of them when they succeed and disappointed in them when they don't." He's also their hunting instructor. He carries a little white stick — like a conductor's baton — and that's all. Despite the dangerous nature of his work, he doesn't believe in toting a gun.

"If cat training is a dangerous job, I'm walking a very fine line," Salmoni says. "I'm teaching tigers how to kill — to go out there and be aggressive — then to come back here to me and be docile. There's no room for error. This pair is not like a zoo cat that might go for your arm. My cat can kill a male eland in about four seconds. Ron just breaks its neck. He's got a whole technique for killing. From the beginning, I've had to define for them what is a food source and what isn't."

Now that the training phase of the project is all but over and the tigers are ready for release, Dave will spend the next couple years monitoring every aspect of their movements as he works toward earning a master's degree.

"For me, this project is about having an opportunity to work on something I have passion for and believe in," Salmoni says. "I love my daily routine. I believe the tigers need conservation and I think I can put some of my skills toward that."

Meet John Varty >>

John Varty is founder of the project working with the tigers Ron and Julie on a 90,000-acre reserve in central South Africa. He is conducting a controversial conservation experiment: training two captive-born Bengal tigers to hunt — in essence, to be "wild" — before releasing them to fend for themselves in a free-range area of the sanctuary.

A lifelong naturalist and veteran wildlife filmmaker, he is the founder of Londolozi Productions, which is known for producing unique behavioral and predation sequences featuring Africa's big cats.

Varty has been involved in nature preservation since he was a teen. When his father died, he and his brother Dave persuaded their mother to turn the family property from a hunting farm into an eco-tourism destination. The brothers named it Londolozi, a Zulu word meaning "the protector of all living things." They set out to restore the animal populations that had dwindled by creating a model for sustainable care of the land. South African President Nelson Mandela described Londolozi Game Reserve as "one of our most progressive parks," adding that "Londolozi represents a model of the dream I cherish for the future of nature preservation in our country."

When leopards began to appear at Londolozi, Varty became involved in filmmaking, spending five years tracking and documenting a leopard for his film, Silent Hunter. A subsequent Varty film, Swift and Silent, focused on three great spotted predators: the jaguar, leopard and cheetah.

An abandoned lion cub marked the beginning of a new phase in Varty's career. He and his partner, Gillian van Houten, rehabilitated the cub as Varty filmed its progress. At 18 months old, having learned hunting skills, she was released. Next, Varty and van Houten adopted two 8-week-old leopard cubs. Eventually these were relocated for complete rehabilitation into the wild. Again, John documented the story on film. Londolozi Productions has produced 50-plus hours of programming.

His latest film project — documenting the Bengal tiger cubs, Ron and Julie — has occupied him since 1999.