The Creation of "The Last South China Tiger"

Famed body paint artist and photographer Craig Tracy created a stunning image of a South China Tiger in aid of Save China’s Tigers Rewilding and Reintroduction project, and to mark the onset of the Chinese Year of the Tiger, coinciding with the Valentine’s day this year.

Here are photos showing how he created the painting.

“The Last South China Tiger”

Body Paint Tiger Art Donated to Save China’s Tigers

Famed body paint artist and photographer Craig Tracy created a stunning image of a South China Tiger in aid of Save China’s Tigers Rewilding and Reintroduction project, and to mark the onset of the Chinese Year of the Tiger, coinciding with the Valentine’s day this year.

The awareness campaign has been organized by Save China’s Tigers, a charitable foundation dedicated to saving the Chinese tiger, as well the entire eco-system in which it presides as the King of Beasts.

“I initially wanted to call for volunteer models to come forward and have their body painted into tigers to produce a 2010 calendar along with real tiger images. But upon seeing Craig’s breathtaking work in a local newspaper, I thought this was just the right artist we needed, as Craig is two artists in one - painter and photographer”, describes Save China’s Tigers founder, Li Quan of the campaign which also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the charity. “I was pleasantly surprised to get a very positive and spontaneous reply from Craig, whose favourite animal is also the tiger”.

New Orleans based Craig Tracy said of his creation: “When I learned from Li Quan of the plight of the South China Tiger, I wanted to be part of the effort to rescue this most ancient tiger in the world and a cultural symbol of China from extinction.“

The South China Tiger is an iconic symbol in Chinese tradition and culture. This magnificent animal numbered less than 30 in the wild and around 80 in captivity, although some organizations have declared it extinct. The Chinese Year of the Tiger occurs every 12 years and it embodies courage, passion, self-reliance, friendliness, hope and resilience.

Tracy conceptualized the campaign, selected three volunteer models and donated this amazing image to Save China’s Tigers. Signed limited edition fine art prints of this image will be available in the art galleries that represent Tracy, who has pledged portion of all his proceeds to the South China Tiger Rewilding Project.

Tracy’s revolutionary painting technique titled “Painted Alive” incorporates the use of a live human bodies being painted and inserted into a background. A photo is taken creating his limited edition Fine Art. His style is ever evolving with each and every piece he creates.

Li Quan says, “I hope this stunning work will inspire people to help our cause.”

SCT is offering a Giclee photoprint on canvas for this amazing painting. Please visit SCT E-shop for purchase detail.

New Year at Laohu Valley

My little Sisi cat was waiting for me when I arrived at Villa TigerLi around 7pm, on 22nd, and after a full day on the road from London. She showered me with welcoming affection throughout the night-rubbing her pretty little head against my cheeks & my hands, and leaning her lithe body against mine. 2008 was not a very good year for me, except that the tigers bred extremely well. I was looking forward to 2009, the year of the bullish Ox.

Our new Project Manager Cleve and his wife Bernice came on board a couple of weeks ago. Cleve worked in conservation for 30 years, including Kruger National Park. He will be in charge of our tiger project and our reserve management. Like his predecessors, he has not worked with tigers before, but is not shy to taking up the challenge.

Madonna's babies are just adorable! To my surprise, King Henry came very close to the fence checking me and my guests out, and then snarled at us. The next morning, when we were filming him, again he nosed up to about two meters from me where I was squatting down, and giving me a little snarl before turning away. I am very pleased with his progress of getting food out of the cage. We want our cubs to be wild and able to hunt on their own, but not too scared of humans so they get stressed in case we need to intervene for treatment, etc. Princess is still very shy, much like her mother when Madonna was little. She would run away to hide as soon as she hears noises from us, although her curiosity made her also nosing around us a little.

King Henry impressed me a great deal. He seems to take everything in stride and behaves like a little wise body, reminding me of Oliver Twist. Jen-B and Coco have overcome their shyness a great deal and become a lot more confident. Coco even dared to push his steps towards me when I was taking his photos. Hulooo has grown into a big boy, but still thinks he is a baby whenever humans are present, whining for attention and affection. As long as there are humans around, he would dedicate all his attention to us. Nevertheless, he and his brothers now live in complete harmony and it is such a delight to see them playing beautifully together!

Cathay has still not come into eostrus after five months of separation from her cubs and this is very strange. Zoo experts told me that once the mother is separated from their cubs, she would come into oestrus within two to three months. In the wild it is harder to observe the mating, pregnancy and births so it is difficult to tell the cycle. This means that no one can tell us why Cathay has still not come into eostrus after having been separated from her cubs. I could only presume this may be due to the fact that she could still sense the presence of her cubs in the vicinity, even if she could not see them.

The weather on Chinese New Year Day (Jan 26th) was cool and overcast, threatening with rain. Sadly there were only a few rain drops through the day. This was ideal hunting weather so I went to observe Cathay and TW. Since a few months ago, they have been put into the 40 hectare camp off and on, and they have reduced the number of blesbok from 20 to the current 6. At the beginning, they were found to have made 5 kills in just a few days. Now that the prey density has become very low, it has become very difficult to make further kills. Yet, I was hopeful based on past experiences.

I was disappointed, however, to find both tigers like sculpture guards at the gate, waiting for us, surely for food. I had to apply some strategies to lure them away so my and my staff's vehicles can enter the camp. Cathay and TW simply followed our trucks like shadows. I drove across the open grassland and the remaining 6 blesbok got skittish, starting to run. Cathay, raising her head from blind following, suddenly saw the prey and in a split second, her whole demeanour changed into hunting mode -body into stalking position, heading towards the antelopes. In the distance, I saw her galloping, trotting and walking amid the long grass. The scene was simply spectacular.

While Cathay continued for nearly two hours with her hunt, TigerWoods attempted only a couple of times and then laid down. In the end, Cathay was exhausted and took her frustration of a failed hunt out at TW and lashed out at him with all fours. TW did not want to submit and fought back, so the two had a Tango dance under the golden sunlight, in the long and lush grassland. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Quan Li