History
The Story of Kishindo Conservation Reserve
Early Origins
The history of what later became Kishindo began in 1999, when John Varty, co-owner of Londolozi Game Reserve, began exploring whether captive-born tigers could live in large, natural landscapes outside their traditional range. At a time of growing concern for the future of tigers in Asia, this work was driven by a desire to understand behaviour, adaptability, and welfare under expansive, low-interference conditions.
These early years focused on observation and real-world insight, shaping how tigers are managed at Kishindo today — with an emphasis on space, ethics, and responsible long-term care.
2009 JV, his sons Sean and Tao with Ricky.
Early Foundations of the Tiger Canyon Project
Inspired by the conservation thinking of Dr Ian Player, whose work explored the movement of species beyond their original ranges as a means of supporting long-term survival, JV relocated two captive-born tiger cubs from a Canadian zoo to his Free State property, later known as Tiger Canyon. This early phase centred on learning how tigers responded to landscape, scale, and reduced human influence within a managed environment.
Over time, additional captive-born tigers were introduced, allowing continued observation as the animals matured and interacted with the land. These formative years deepened understanding of behaviour, adaptation, and welfare, helping to refine how tigers are cared for and managed today.
2009 Tigress Julie and her tiny cub Tibo.
Tigers at Kishindo Today
Today, Kishindo is home to multiple generations of tigers living within a large, managed wild landscape. Over time, these tigers have developed strong hunting abilities and natural behaviours, shaped by space, challenge, and minimal human interference.
At Kishindo, tigers remain under lifetime care and are observed as part of a broader ecological system. Ongoing records of behaviour, social dynamics, and landscape use contribute to deeper understanding of welfare and long-term management in fenced wild environments, while remaining clear about the responsibilities of working with a species outside its original range.
Shadow, a founder tigress, with her cubs.
A Vision for The Future
In 2013, Rodney and Lorna Drew joined forces with John Varty, united by a shared belief in creating more space and opportunity for wildlife within a restored landscape. Together, they began expanding the original reserve by acquiring and rehabilitating three adjacent farms, increasing the protected area four-fold.
This expansion supported a shift toward a broader, landscape-led approach — strengthening habitat recovery, ethical wildlife management, and the long-term sustainability of the reserve. It laid the foundation for what Kishindo continues to become today: a place where land, wildlife, and people are given time to recover, adapt, and coexist responsibly.
Rodney and Lorna Drew.
Some of the founder tigers were relocated onto the expanded reserve.
Expanding the Project
Cheetah, an indigenous and Vulnerable African species, were introduced to the reserve in 2013 as part of restoring natural predator dynamics to the Free State landscape. Their presence marked an important step in Kishindo’s evolution toward a multi-species conservation approach.
Working within recognised cheetah conservation frameworks and in collaboration with organisations such as the Endangered Wildlife Trust and The Metapopulation Initiative, Kishindo has bred and relocated several young cheetahs to selected, managed reserves in Africa. These relocations contributed to wider cheetah conservation efforts and strengthened practical understanding of cheetah behaviour, breeding, and landscape use within protected systems.
Today, cheetah play a central role at Kishindo — as an indigenous anchor species supporting conservation learning, predator–prey research, and ethical wildlife management in a recovering ecosystem.
2013 Cheetahs, Shashe and Mara, are re-wilded.
After 17 years at Tiger Canyon, JV returned to Londolozi, where he continues his conservation and filmmaking work. His early role in shaping the reserve is acknowledged as part of Kishindo’s history
“The tigers at Tiger Canyon are not here for our convenience to be viewed and photographed as we wish. They are fellow creatures trapped in an evolutionary moment with us. All are on a journey of freedom. When you visit Tiger Canyon, you join that journey. Enjoy the ride.”
- JV
Construction of the Canyon Lodge
In 2017, the Drew family completed the construction of Canyon Lodge, welcoming guests into the heart of the reserve for the first time. The lodge was designed to offer an immersive experience of the Paaiskloof Canyon and surrounding wild country, allowing visitors to connect with the rhythms, scale, and character of the reserve.
Ethical, low-impact tourism at Canyon Lodge supports the ongoing care of the land and wildlife and contributes to the people who make Kishindo possible — including our team and the Philippolis community.
Partnership and Expansion
In 2021, the Drew family’s role at Kishindo expanded, with their daughter Kirsten and her husband Wesley joining as the next generation of wildlife custodians. Shortly afterwards, their children, Declan and Chayse, were born on the reserve — and today three generations of the family live at Kishindo, guiding its growth with a shared commitment to thoughtful land management, wildlife care, and long-term responsibility.
Wesley, Kirsty and Rodney with the first 7 seater Land Cruiser Game Drive vehicle.
Long-Term Vision
In 2024, Tiger Canyon was rebranded as Kishindo Conservation Reserve, marking an important moment of refinement in how the reserve is presented publicly. The change was made to better reflect Kishindo’s evolving identity, values, and long-term direction.
The Kishindo name now brings together three interrelated strands of work: landscape restoration and rewilding practice, the conservation and study of indigenous cheetah, and the ethical care and management of tigers within a managed wild environment. Together, these elements reflect an integrated, landscape-led approach grounded in learning and transparency.
Land Transformation
Over the past two decades, Kishindo has undergone a powerful transformation. What was once farmland has been steadily restored into a recovering landscape, where grasslands, river edges, and wild spaces are beginning to function again. As larger indigenous herbivores were reintroduced to the reserve and the land continued to recover, natural rhythms and ecological relationships have begun to re-emerge. The Kishindo team also relocated key predator species back into the system. Together, these changes have supported growing biodiversity and the return of many smaller species that had long been absent from the land.
Kishindo wildlife numbers continue to increase.
Conservation in Practice
Kishindo’s history reflects the sustained commitment required to protect land, care for wildlife, and learn from complex conservation realities. Over time, the reserve has built practical insight into the challenges and responsibilities of managing large predators within restored, fenced landscapes.
Kishindo focuses on learning through lived experience — developing deeper understanding of behaviour, welfare, and ecological interaction under real-world conditions. These lessons continue to guide how the reserve evolves, how decisions are made, and how responsibility is carried forward.
As Kishindo grows, its focus remains on transparency and contributing thoughtfully to broader conservation understanding — grounded in what is being done here.
2013 Founder tigers, Seatao and Shadow.
