Renowned South African wildlife filmmaker Johnathan Varty is in a critical condition after he was savaged by a tiger on his farm Tiger Canyons in Phillipolis in the Free State on Wednesday night.
He is in the intensive care unit of Bloemfontein's medi-clinic hospital after a long operation.
Varty is leading a controversial project which aims to create a free-ranging, self-sustaining tiger population outside of Asia.
In 2000, Varty started a Bengal tiger re-wilding project near Philippolis and in 2003, the progress was documented in a Discovery Channel production called Living with Tigers.
Last year, National Geographic made a second documentary called Tiger Man of Africa. Varty has made more than 30 documentaries and one feature film.
