I was flipping through the channels last night, and stopped in Discover just in time to see a spectacular SLOW MOTION shot of a tiger snatching a Springbok out of the air at about ten feet off the ground!

In spite of the football game I was looking for, I HAD to wait and see what the heck this was all about. I watched the whole thing instead! Seems these guys raised two captive bred tigers, and trained them to hunt using dead animals on an overhead wire track...

Once they were full grown, they took them out on a farm in RSA and let them go, while following them around with a camera.

They went on a total killing spree, killing a total of seven animals in an hour. It was some of the most impressive hunting sequences I have EVER seen.

If you get a chance, be sure and check it out. Here's a link to the story:

Earning their stripes

Kind of strange watching tigers hunting African game though.

What do you think of this project?

I watched the whole program, it was great But it only made me wish I was back in Africa that much more

I caught part of that show, too. Most interesting damn thing I've seen on TV in a long, long time. I heard nothing in the way of motivation from the two men, other than the preservation of tigers and possibly other species, on their vast holding.
The fencing alone must have cost a fortune. Seems these two cats were born in captivity and no longer wanted. Fortunately, neither was declawed or anything like that. Brother & sister cats, I think they were. These two guys raised them and trained them to hunt both the indigenous African and introduced African species, to this specific area. Their relationship was really quite something to see. Ultimately, they were left entirely to their own devices with the plan to bring in new blood, further on. They were to have radio collars for the first few years. Watching their clumsiness turn to awesome efficiency, as their training evolved, was astounding. Naturally close cover hunters, their adaptation to an alien landscape was fascinating.

I was impressed with the way their human handlers took away their prey, while the tiger was snarling at them.

I didn't get to see the program, but it's an interesting concept and will likely succeed. The photo below is the "camp" cheetah Savannah and me at the Tshukudu Game Lodge just outside Kruger NP. Although she is as tame as tame can be, she is not fed and left to her own devises to hunt the other game that wanders the huge preserve. -TONY



[ 09-23-2003, 00:31: Message edited by: Outdoor Writer ]

I thought it was great. so powerful, so fast. I think though that they seperated them at the final release, so I wonder if they will get lonely.

I found it amazing that not only did he not get killed trying to take the game away, but they would play with the guy. crazy.

Red

That was a great show.. I thought the trainers were "a couple bricks short of a load" when they took the food away from the feeding male.

Dominance is everything.

Outdoor Writer,

She may be tame, but we see who got the chair and who got to sit on the floor.

Rick

Hey, come on Rick; be fair. She had been sleeping there long before I walked over. And...of course I wasn't about to tell her she HAD to move.

The amazing part was no matter where or how I touched during the time we were taking photos, she never once opened her eyes. She obviously had had a tiresome night chasing her dinner.

One night after dark, I walked out onto the screened porch and opened the door to go out to the car to retrieve something I left in it. Just as I stepped out onto the landing, the cheetah turned the corner of the cabin about 10 yards away, but all I saw at first was her shadow caused by the porch light. Because there are also not-so-tame critters wandering around, that was enough to turn me to jello right pronto. I retreated back into the porch quicker than I thought I could move anymore. -TONY

When you got back to safety the best line would have been "I thot I thaw a putty tat".

Sounds like a grand time.



Rick