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Newsletter 90
10/02/13

Investing in Wild Tigers

Hello Friends,  

Thank you for the many phone calls, emails and comments concerning the last newsletter (newsletter no. 89). They are much appreciated and apologies that I cannot answer each and every one, however, I will try to answer some of your questions.  

Financial Investment:

As a businessman, you will ask the question: "What is the return on my investment?" The answer is, it is not a good one compared to other investments. Money can be made out of tigers by photographing them, filming them and hunting male tigers. I will immediately dismiss the hunting, although lucrative, it is illegal and unethical. 

The photographic potential is huge and growing rapidly for the simple fact that the tiger countries in Asia have not conserved the tiger. Even in India, the traditional stronghold of the tiger, tourists are having bad experiences. Large amounts of money are being laid out on safaris that produce no good sightings and few good pictures. The last remaining habituated tigers are surrounded by many vehicles, all jostling for position. This further destroys the experience.  

Investment: 

The alternative to Asia is to invest in an ex-situ conservation project in South Africa. However, to get to view the tiger, one must first buy suitable land. This is expensive. Once you have the land, you must then fence it with a 3.3 metre electrical fence. This cost is around R130,000 per kilometer (a lion only needs a 2.4 metre electrical fence). Having fenced the land, you need to stock with suitable prey. (A blesbuck will cost you R1,500 per head, a blue wildebeest R2,500 per head).

After stocking and fencing, you need to build a lodge to accommodate your guests. Therefore, at a million rands per bed, an 8 bed lodge will set you back R8 million.  

The most efficient way to get your guests in, is to fly them, so you need a tarmac runway suitable for jets. This will set you back several million rands.  

To run your lodge and tiger safaris, you will need trained staff and you will need to pay them well to compete with other operations. (Tourism remains the best way to create jobs in Africa).  

Staff need proper accommodation and this too is expensive. The old staff accommodation on sheep farms is unacceptable.  

Only now can you start to get a return on your money and you will have to run high occupancies to be profitable.  

The fact that you have wild tigers, gives you a competitive edge but it doesn't guarantee you success. You are competing against many fine established private lodges and National Parks in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania.  

The key is to build the tiger experience into a package to the south which includes shark diving, whale watching and the garden route. To the north, packages with Kruger National Park,  private lodges and Mozambique will be very successful.

Environmental Return:  

The areas around Tiger Canyons have been subjected to sheep farming for over a hundred years. Man-made desertification has damaged the 'Garden of Eden'. (Fortunately, sheep farming is a failing land use system). The good news is that the land can be restored if you are prepared to partnership with nature.  

One of the most rewarding things that I have done in my life, is to release large tracts of land by removing sheep fences. In addition, by closing the windmills, the water table lifts and fountains begin to flow. Mini migrations return as the animals can now move. Birds, fish, frogs and insects all respond as step by step the 'Garden of Eden' returns to its former glory.  

All of this is dependant on the tiger and the people who will come to see and photograph it. If large enough tracts of land can be assembled, lion, leopard, tiger and cheetah can all co-exist in one park. This would be unique in the world. 

Spiritual Investment: 

As the worlds human population moves towards 10 billion, more and more people are looking to move away from the mega-cities to the small towns and rural areas. People are searching for a healthier, simpler and more spiritual existence. People are searching for projects which bring meaning to their own lives and to those of endangered species. 

To take a tiger (there are 1,000 wild tigers left and we are losing one wild tiger every day), nurture it,  release it onto the land, protect it, and see it produce cubs, is certainly the most spiritual thing that I have ever done in my life.  

Like-Minded:

If you are looking for a good financial return on your money, you are looking in the wrong place. If you are looking to speculate by raising land prices, this is not for you.  

If you have dollars or euros which are strengthening against the rand, you start with an enormous advantage. If you are prepared to buy into the 'Greater Cause' which includes: 

1) Helping save the tiger. 

2) Creating jobs in depressed communities.  

3) Up-skilling and uplifting people to work in the tourist industry.  

If you are prepared to include the financial, environmental and spiritual investment and are like-minded, then feel free to contact me.  

In the last newsletter (newsletter no. 89), I listed at random, several wealthy individuals and the investments they have made. This was not criticism. They are fine and worthwhile investments. I was merely pointing out that no one individual has picked up the 'Tiger Cause' and there may be an opportunity there.  

Tread Light
JV


 

Tread lightly on the Earth

[email protected]
Copyright 2007 @jvbigcats  All rights reserved


Newsletters


Newsletters 162
23/07/18
Raising 200

Newsletters 161
22/05/18
Reach for 200

Newsletters 160
06/05/18
The Power of the Photograph

Newsletter 159
14/04/18
Predator Aggression

Newsletters 158
19/02/18
Open letter to Cyril Ramaphosa

Newsletter 157
14/02/18
SCI bans canned lion hunting

Newsletters 156
26/01/18
Tibo produces white cubs

Newsletters 155
13/11/17
The Indian Connection

Newsletters 154
28/10/17
Desertification

Newsletter 153
20/10/17
Supermarket Shopper vs. Hunter Gatherer

Newsletter 152
14/10/17
JV's response to Elayna Kinley letter

Newsletters 151
29/09/17
Running on empty

Newsletter 150
14/09/17
The Survivor

Newsletters 149
05/09/17
In pursuit of Alan Root

Newsletters 148
09/08/17
Open letter re schools plus Panna cubs

Newsletters 147
17/07/17
It's Finished

Newsletters 146
31/05/17
Hunters

Newsletter 145
20/05/17
King Corbett

Newsletter 144
08/05/17
Hunting versus Non Hunting

Newsletter 143
14/03/17
If it Pays, it Stays

Newsletters 142
14/02/17
Best Photographs at
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Newsletters 141
16/01/17
Lady Hunters

Newsletter 140
10/12/16
Londolozi and Love

Newsletter 139
23/11/16
Life is Not Fair

Newsletter 138
17/11/16
The Trump Card

Newsletter 137
22/10/16
Most Admired People on the Planet

Newsletters 136
13/10/16
Captive vs Wild

Newsletter 135
08/10/16
To trade  or not To Trade

Newsletter 134
08/08/16
A Defining Moment

Newsletter 133
08/07/16
I Have Lost A Friend

Newsletter 132
13/05/16
The World is Changing

Newsletter 131
08/04/16
Icon Cats

Newsletter 130
31/03/16
Sylvester the Lion

Newsletter 129
22/03/16
An Open Letter to Head United Nations

Newsletter 128
15/03/16
An Open Letter to Carte Blanche

Newsletter 127
28/11/15
Satellite Tracking

Newsletter 126
12/11/15
Lightning strikes 3 times

Newsletter 125
28/10/15
The Break Out

Newsletter 124
05/10/15
Bad Tigers

Newsletter 123
01/10/15
Tiger Boy's Journey

Newsletter 122
13/09/15
Give it a Name

Newsletter 121
10/09/15
Driven Hunts

Newsletter 120
01/09/15
Creative Conservation

Newsletter 119
12/08/15
Sariska from birth till death

Newsletter 118
11/08/15
Real Hunters

Newsletter 117
07/08/15
An Open Letter to the President: Operation Wild Lion

Newsletter 116
03/08/15
An Open Letter to Theo Bronkhorst

Newsletter 115
28/07/15
Cruel Nations

Newsletter 114
08/07/15
Subspecies or no subspecies

Newsletter 113
11/06/15
Tigers Moving Forward

Newsletter 112
13/04/15
Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Newsletter 111
26/03/15
Don't Shoot the Messenger

Newsletter 110
22/03/15
The Hunters

Newsletter 109
09/03/15
Gaia or God?

Newsletter 108
26/02/15
The Healing Power of Cats

Newsletter 107
18/02/15
Goddess Gaia

Newsletter 106
03/02/15
Ambassador Cats

Newsletter 105
24/01/15
Blondes have more fun

Invitation
09/01/15
Gaining ground for tigers

Newsletter 103
14/12/14
Tibo's Dilemma

Newsletter 102
05/12/14
Wilderness Man

Newsletter 101
25/11/14
Sariska fathers cubs with white Tigress Tibo

Newsletter 100
20/11/14
Cheetah Survival

Newsletter 99
30/09/14
Extract from JV's speech on Corbett's Freedom Day

Newsletter 98
15/08/14
The Power of the Picture

Newsletter 97
18/07/14
Tiger Corbett's Release

Newsletter 96
11/07/14
Corbett's Journey

Newsletter 95
18/06/14
Bush School: Where are they now?

Newsletter 94
12/05/14
Open letter to Jani Allen: Oscar Pistorius

Newsletter 93
07/05/14
John Varty interview with Sizie Modise

Newsletter 92
20/04/14
Marion's Big Cat Safari

Newsletter 91
24/02/14
Full energy flow

Newsletter 90
10/02/14
Investing in wild tigers

Newsletter 89
05/02/14
Where are the Champions?

Newsletter 88
27/01/14
Managing the Genes

Newsletter 87
16/01/14
Capture the Moment

Newsletter 86
07/12/13
The Princess Diana of Tigers - Julie:
 Sept 1999 - 5 Des 2013

Newsletter 85
26/11/13
The Communicators

Newsletter 84
26/11/13
A Letter to All Conservationists in SA 
Sparked by the whole Melissa Bachman Debacle
by Maxine Gaines

Newsletter 83
16/11/13
Tell me what happened

Newsletter 82
04/11/13
Profit is the Name of Your Game

Newsletter 81
30/10/13

Big Cat Cub Safari


Newsletter 80
18/10/13
In the Jaws of the Tiger

Newsletter 79
11/10/13
Open letter to Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa about rhino crisis

Newsletter 78
06/10/13
Open letter to Min of Defense, South Africa about rhino crisis

Newsletter 77
30/09/13
Digital Photography

Newsletter 76
06/09/13
Zoochosis

Newsletter 75
20/07/13
Rhino Horn Trade - Response

Newsletter 74
09/07/13
Raw Power

Newsletter 73
02/07/13
The Evolution of the Tracker

Newsletter 72
02/07/13
An Open Letter to the Honourable Edna Molewa, Minister of Water Affairs and Environmental Affairs

Newsletter 71
06/06/13
Using flash or spotlight on cats at night

Newsletter 70
14/05/13
Mirror mirror on the wall, who has the best eyesight of them all?

Newsletter 69
12/04/13
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fastest of them all?

Newsletter 68
25/03/13
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the best fighter of them all?

Newsletters 67
07/03/13
Wild Cheetah return to the Free State after 100 years

Newsletter 66
28/02/13
Seeking the genes

Newsletters 65
06/02/13
Corbett's Journey

Newsletters 64
22/01/13
In Search of a Mate

Newsletters 63
11/01/13
Rumble in the Jungle

Newsletters 62
30/10/12
Voronin Big Cat Safari Breaks All Records

Newsletters 61
09/12/12
A Journey to Nowhere

Newsletter 60
03/10/12
The John Hume Approach

Newsletter 59
28/09/12
Response to Rhino Horn Auction

Newsletters 58
24/09/12
A Letter to John Hume, SA biggest Rhino Breeder

Newsletters 57
05/09/12
Newsletters 56
01/08/12
Indian Government -
the wrong decision

Newsletter 55
11/07/12
What price must beauty pay?

Newsletter 54
21/04/12
Corbett's Freedom

Newsletter 53
15/04/12
Lethal injection or Freedom

Newsletters 52
04/04/12
The anatomy of an aggressive tiger

Newsletters 51
14/02/12
Majestic, breathtaking pictures

Newsletters 50
04/11/11
Tigress Calendar

Newsletters 49
19/11/11

Let your pictures do the talking

Newsletters 48
26/09/11

Rhino Wars

Newsletters 47
06/09/11
A Letter to the President

Newsletters 46
08/08/11
The Body Parts Scam

Newsletters 45
11/07/11
Tiger Subspecies

Newsletters 43
01/05/11
Your future and the Tiger

Newsletter 42
08/05/11
Talk to Me

Newsletter 41
26/01/11
Gaian Reminder

Newsletter 40
18/11/10
Ron's Journey

Newsletter 39
20/10/10
"Descreprimate"

Newsletter 38
06/09/10
Beauty comes at a price

Newsletter 37
18/08/10

The Light Has Gone Out


Newsletter 36
08/07/10
The Beautiful Game

Newsletter 35
05/07/10
The Ethics of
Tiger Green Hunting

Newsletter 34
21/06/10
Tiger Hunt

Newsletter 33
26/05/10
The Year of the Tiger

Newsletter 32
11/02/10

Riding the Tiger


Newsletter 31
24/01/10

Runti's Journey


Newsletter 30
12/01/10

To intervene or not to intervene -
that is the question...

Newsletter 29
07/12/09

Lion - Tiger - Human Communication


Newsletter 28
12/11/09

Emotional humans, emotional cats


Newsletter 27
03/11/09

Julie gives birth to 5 tiger cubs


Newsletter 26
24/09/09

International Tiger Day


Newsletter 25
17/08/09

To all Photographers


Newsletter 24
16/07/09

A Shot in Anger


Newsletter 22
24/04/09


Newsletter 21
24/03/09


Newsletter 19
14/01/09

Tiger Birth
at Tiger Canyons


Newsletter 16
10/10/08

Tiger Courting


Newsletter 11
29/01/08

Privatizing the Tiger


Newsletter 9
27/10/07

Newsletter 8
28/09/07

Newsletter 7
14/09/07

Water Cats


Newsletter 6
14/08/07

Tiger Intelligence


Newsletter 5
16/05/07

Tiger language
Tiger Boma


Newsletter 3
09/03/07

Interspecies communication


Newsletter 2
06/02/07

Cub relocation


Londolozi
Newsletters

Death of a Legend
17/08/09


Newsletter 20
10/02/09

Newsletter 15
17/08/08

Painted Wolves


Newsletter 13
11/04/08

Response to Elephant Trust
by Daryl Balfour


Newsletter 12
09/04/08

Elephant Trust