Laohu Valley Reserve, Wildlife conservation area in Free State and Northern Cape, South Africa

Laohu Valley Reserve is a roughly 378-square-kilometre private reserve split by the Orange River: about 232 square kilometres near Philippolis in the Free State and about 146 square kilometres around the upper reaches of the Vanderkloof Dam in the Northern Cape. Grassland covers the lower flats, karroid shrubs grow on dolerite hill slopes over roughly 40% of the area, and dense Acacia karoo woodland lines stretches of the river. The South China tigers are held in a fenced camp complex of about 1.8 square kilometres.

The reserve was created in 2002 by converting 17 former sheep farms into a wildlife protection area. This transformation allowed a connected landscape to be restored for ecological conservation.

The reserve's name comes from the Chinese word for tiger, "laohu". It was founded by Chinese conservationist Li Quan, who with her husband Stuart Bray funded the purchase of the land. The project is run by Save China's Tigers, an organisation working to breed South China tigers for eventual release in China.

The area sits in a semi-arid climate receiving about 400 millimeters of annual rainfall, with thunderstorms occurring between January and April. Plan visits around the cooler months if possible, as winters are cold and summers are hot.

Around 20 South China tigers live in the reserve, representing roughly one-fifth of the global population of this critically endangered subspecies. These animals are central to international efforts to save this nearly extinct cat.