John Varty

John Varty (born 27 November 1950) is a South African wildlife filmmaker who has made more than 30 documentaries and one feature film. Varty is an author, singer-songwriter and activist. He co-owns Londolozi Game Reserve and Tiger Canyon – A project which aims to create a free-ranging, self-sustaining tiger population outside of Asia.

John Varty attended Parktown Boys' High School in Johannesburg. As a child, John learned about hunting on the family game farm near the Kruger National Park.

After his father, Charles, died, John and his brother, Dave Varty, terminated the hunting activities and converted it into a game reserve in 1973. They renamed it Londolozi, which is the Zulu word for "protector of living things". Since then, it has become one of the top resorts in the world and was included in Travel and Leisure's world's best four times in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[10]

2012 – John Varty mauled by a tiger[11][12]

2014 – January 2014 KIA South Africa released a TV commercial, Tiger in Africa, with John Varty's footage shot at Tiger Canyons.[13]

2019 – John Varty offered Johannesburg zoo R1m to release an elephant[14]

2019 – Wildlife filmmaker Varty joins protest to close East London's zoo

John made several documentaries that were widely distributed: Living with Tigers, Shingalana,[15] Jamu, the Orphaned Leopard.[16] Swift and silent won an American Cable TV award in 1993[17] and The Silent Hunter won The New York Gold Award.[18]

*Leopard Queen, appeared in,[19] **A Secret Life, with Gillian van Houten and Elmon Mhlongo,[20] ***Running Wild, appeared in, with Brooke Shields[21]

In 2000, John started a Bengal tiger re-wilding project near Philippolis in the Free State.[22] Starting with captive-bred tigers, the aim is to establish a wild tiger population outside of Asia. In 2003, the progress was documented in a The Discovery Channel production called Living with Tigers. In 2011, National Geographic made a second documentary called Tiger Man of Africa.[23] In 2019, Getaway reported there were 18 Bengal tigers at Tiger Canyon.[24]

John Varty writes and performs conservation songs with titles "Big Cat Love", "Celebrate the Big Cats", The Tracker", "Rolling Thunder", "Masai Man" etc.[25]

2012 – Varty stated a one-off auction might help to preserve rhinos.[26]

2004 – The tiger rewilding project was the subject of some controversy in 2004 between investors Stuart Bray and wife, Li Quan following the Discovery release of Living with Tigers. John Varty was granted a court interdict on March 17 from the Bloemfontein High Court restraining Quan and Bray from harassment.[27]