King Of The Night

Here's another one from our last Tigers & Leopards photo safari in South Africa.

For this image I used two vehicles; one for myself and one for the lighting. I first positioned my vehicle for the right angle, I then used my radio to position the other vehicle for the light.

The tiger is an endangered species. Poaching for fur and body parts and destruction of habitat have simultaneously greatly reduced tiger populations in the wild. At the start of the 20th century, it is estimated there were over 100,000 tigers in the wild, but the population has dwindled outside of captivity to between 1,500 and 3,500. Major reasons for population decline include habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and poaching. Demand for tiger parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine has been cited as a major threat to tiger populations. As long as ignorant people in China and Vietnam believe that tiger parts have medicinal value, the tiger will never be safe. Some estimates suggest that there are less than 2,500 mature breeding individuals left.

India is home to the world's largest population of wild tigers, but only 11% of the original Indian tiger habitat remains, and it has become fragmented and degraded.

In an effort to increase the chances of tigers surviving as a species, a so called ex-situ tiger conservation project was started in South Africa. The area was carefully selected to match the tiger's preferred habitat, and over the past decade it has become the most successful tiger conservation project in the world.

There has been critique from people saying that tigers don't belong in Africa, but most of those people don't realise that tigers, lions, leopards and cheetah already once shared the same continent: India.

The bottom line is: If you're serious about saving a species from going extinct, you have to think outside the box, and that's what this project is all about.

We set up this photo tour a couple of years ago in an effort to create the most unique and productive tiger tour on this planet. Free roaming tigers that can hunt for themselves in an extraordinary tiger conservation project outside of India: South Africa. More information on this tiger conservation project on our website: www.squiver.com

©2017 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
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