ewer than five thousand tigers are left in the wild today and that number drops at an alarming rate each year. This prompted renowned naturalist and filmmaker John Varty to attempt a radical experiment in hopes of preserving this majestic cat species. Along with expert cat handler Dave Salmoni and two tiger cubs named Ron and Julie who were adopted from a Toronto zoo, they begin the adventure of a lifetime. Although indigenous to Asia, India, and Siberia, this experiment will attempt to colonize and train tigers in an African environment for the first time in hopes of eventually repopulating them back into their primary habitats someday. Criticized by many as an impossible undertaking, John and Dave set out to prove them wrong. Spanning a timeline of three years, Discovery Channel Quest takes a very comprehensive look at the many challenges and occasional setbacks that were a part of this experience. As the tigers grow more adept at hunting prey and surviving on their own, their sanctuary is expanded and surrounded with a fence to keep them protected from outside dangers. At the conclusion of the experiment, John Varty and Dave Salmoni defy their critics in that they have successfully trained tiger cubs from a zoo environment to hunt and survive in the wild. The ending segments show them attaching radio collars to the now full grown tigers to monitor progress and they discuss their plans to hopefully breed these cats in the future. `' is an outstanding Discovery Channel documentary in my opinion. The cinematography of Africa is beautiful to look at and the animal interaction and hunting segments, although a bit graphic in some areas, were very well done. The research and training portions of the program were educational, in-depth, and interesting throughout.

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Documentary