It's courtship time at Tiger Canyons in South Africa. Big cat aficionado and filmmaker John "JV" Varty gives us a front row seat on an extraordinary ride. Four adult tigers are ready to mate. Varty matches his two original tigers, siblings Ron and Julie, with a more recent pair of arrivals, Seatao and Shadow. The mating ritual itself is a fiercely dramatic affair; always vigorous, often violent, but at times touching and humorous. Ultimately, the pairings are successful, and both Julie and Shadow become pregnant. Just over three months later, the two tigresses give birth within 24 hours of each other. From inside Shadow's den, JV gives an unprecedented...
In a span of 24 hours, the population of Tiger Canyons has doubled. Seven cubs have been born on the reserve - four to Shadow and three to Julie, John "JV" Varty's favorite tiger. Adding to the excitement is the fact that one of Julie's cubs is white, a rare genetic anomaly. But JV's thrill over the births is soon dashed by the sobering reality of life in the tiger world. On a visit to Shadow's den to check on her cubs, JV discovers that one of the cubs is dead, a sad but not uncommon occurrence. Tigers often lose all or most of their litters. Despite this setback, Shadow soon proves to be a capable mother and JV is confident she will be able...
The population explosion continues at Tiger Canyons and John "JV" Varty is as excited as an expectant father. His favorite tiger, Julie, is about to give birth again, 8 months after abandoning a previous litter. For JV, this pregnancy is crucial to his plans for Tiger Canyons. Though he is hand raising Julie's abandoned cubs, JV worries that if she rejects another litter, his goal of having wild raised tigers that can live on their own will be in jeopardy. Once the cubs are born, however, JV's fears subside. This time around, Julie seems ready to care for her cubs, even though the litter of five is unusually large. Within weeks, though, a new...