{"id":604099,"date":"2026-07-25T20:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/604099\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T20:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:44:13","slug":"former-newsreader-and-big-cat-conservationist-gillian-van-houten-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/604099\/","title":{"rendered":"Former newsreader and big cat conservationist Gillian van Houten dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gillian van Houten, one of South Africa\u2019s most recognisable news presenters and a former SABC newsreader during the 1980s and 1990s, has died at the age of 72.<\/p>\n

In an emotional Facebook<\/a> tribute on Saturday, John Varty \u2013 her wildlife filmmaker partner \u2013 announced her passing on Friday 24 July.<\/p>\n

Van Houten and Varty\u2019s love story was always seen as an extraordinary, unconventional romance defined by a shared passion for the wild.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, in April, as a tribute to Van Houten on her 72nd birthday, Varty shared their love story by recounting the letter he wrote to the SABC years ago. This was apparently a handwritten letter in which he invited her to join his leopard project at Londolozi Game Reserve<\/a>, asking if she wanted to \u201cmake the news instead of reading it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"GillianA young Gillian van Houten and John Varty. PHOTO: Facebook<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery man, including me, was in love with you on TV; a photographer\u2019s dream, a fashion queen. Across the land you spread your fame, Gillian van Houten is your name. I sent a letter to the SABC, come with me on safari, leave your life of luxury, and you will see the natural world and all its beauty. Gillian, come with me, come with me,\u201d he said in his tribute.<\/p>\n

In what is described as a daring leap of faith, Van Houten left her high-profile career to become a dedicated big cat conservationist alongside Varty. Together they raised and rehabilitated iconic lions and leopards, and became known for their wildlife filmmaking.<\/p>\n

Van Houten and Varty shared a profound lifelong bond and raised three children together \u2013 Savannah, Sha, and Tao \u2013 whom Varty frequently calls his greatest gifts.<\/p>\n

Battle with dementia<\/p>\n

In the tribute to Van Houten on her 72nd birthday<\/a>, Varty said he vividly remembered the day when he received the message on his mobile phone whilst on a game drive at Londolozi that Van Houten had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which affected her speech and memory.<\/p>\n

They then sat down as a family and determined that they had another three years of good life together. \u201cAnd for three years we really had a good quality of life,\u201d he recalled. In the fourth year after Van Houten\u2019s diagnosis, things changed and she needed specialised high care 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately the walks on the beach came to an end; no more game drives,\u201d Varty said.<\/p>\n

Then came the day he had dreaded \u2013 when she could no longer remember his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cGilly, your pain is gone. All things must pass. I love you dearly. JV,\u201d he wrote in announcing her passing.<\/p>\n

\"Gillian<\/p>\n

\"Gillian
\nGillian van Houten and John Varty in recent years. PHOTOS: Video screen shots<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gillian van Houten, one of South Africa\u2019s most recognisable news presenters and a former SABC newsreader during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[273],"tags":[18,255188,19,17,255189,255190,133,4612,461],"class_list":["post-604099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-eire","tag-gillian-van-houten","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-john-varty","tag-londolozi-game-reserve","tag-science","tag-top","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116982571064809171","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}