The cost of living crisis has maintained its stranglehold on many of us in recent months, so we are truly grateful for your continued amazing support for our anti-poaching patrols, thank you. Without your help our Anti-Poaching Patrols would already be reduced to no more than the double patrolling we did initially post pandemic. Something which worries us massively, as poaching incidents of both wild tigers and their prey continue to rise in both Madhya Pradesh and other Indian States. Your generosity has helped us to maintain treble-patrolling throughout the first quarter of 2023, something which is absolutely vital as we move into peak poaching season. Without your help, continuing this additional patrolling will be impossible for the remainder of this year. Your donations play a huge role in ensuring that the growing wild tiger and cub population continues to get the best protection we can provide.
Losing any Tiger is a Tragedy
In the last three months, we have witnessed the deaths of three wild tigers from territorial fights, two of which were breeding age tigresses so their loss will impact the wild tiger population for several years. These deaths are a tragedy in their own right, but they have been compounded by the killing of two more tigers, by poachers, outside the boundaries of Bandhavgarh! Both tigers were young adults migrating from Bandhavgarh in search of new territory when the poachers struck. These incidents remind us just how difficult it is to keep the poachers at bay 100% of the time. We currently have neither the funds nor patrolling resources to expand the area which we patrol, as our team is already stretched to the limit with the triple patrolling workload. It is a dilemma, we don’t want to lose more migrating tigers but we also don’t want to reduce the protection in the areas we currently patrol. Just to add another 78 miles (125km) to our patrolling area will cost another £123 (US$154) per day, which right now is impossible.
Right now, fundraising to cover our existing monthly patrolling costs is quite a challenge so we don’t anticipate being in a position to extend our patrolling further until the cost of living crisis ends. In just three short months we will need to increase our patrols to quadruple patrolling throughout the 3-moth monsoon period which is also peak poaching season. The poachers know that many of the cubs born during the lockdown are now old enough to leave the protection of their mothers and make their own way in the world. These vulnerable youngsters will face many challenges in their quest for a territory to call their own, not least sibling rivalry and aggression from their own parents. They will also face battles with other young adult tigers which also want to establish their own territory and other adult tigers which have already staked their claim. As these young tigers migrate further afield, our brave men and women patrollers will risk their lives to keep these wild tigers safe. It will be quite a challenge to protect them all. Our patrollers, have worked so hard over the last three years as poaching has increased to a 15-year high. It is nothing short of a miracle that we’ve been able to keep so many wild tigers safe.
What our Patrollers have been Doing and what they Face next
Over the winter months, our patrollers have faced some of the coldest temperatures since our patrolling began back in 2015. The warm winter jackets we were able to provide, thanks to your generosity, proved to be an invaluable addition to the patrollers’ vital kit. Another challenge came over the festive period and early January when thick fog persisted for fifteen days without lifting. This was a very dangerous time for the brave men and women foot patrols as visibility was reduced to just 2 metres (6 feet) which meant seeing wild animals and poachers’ traps required supreme concentration and care. The wooden canes which we provide in the equipment kit are absolutely vital at these times as the patrollers use them to poke the deep undergrowth ahead in case snares or traps are concealed below. Did you know that we provide wooden canes because they do not conduct the electric current from tethered snares? If we used metal canes, touching a tethered snare would prove fatal for our patrollers too!
No sooner had the fog cleared when the next challenge of the onset of the drought season faced our patrols. During the drought season, human encroachment into the forest increases as villages bring their livestock into the forest to graze, whilst helping themselves to fruit from the trees, and cutting down bamboo for fences and branches or trees to sell or burn the wood. The drought season also brings the start of the tendu leaf and mahua flower picking seasons, which also results in more human activity in the forest. During this time our patrollers have to be extra vigilant in respect of strangers in the villages and forest. Poachers are known to disguise themselves as family members and join the tendu and mahua pickers in the forest so that they can set snares and traps undetected. As we recruit our anti-poaching patrollers from the villages around Bandhavgarh, it helps us to notice when strangers are around and going into the forest. Where this is the case, we increase the foot patrolling especially around power lines and the periphery of the villages so no unusual activity goes unnoticed.
The Mahua picking season is particularly testing for our patrollers as villagers set fire to piles of leaves at the base of mahua trees to cause the trees to shed their flowers. These fires can easily get out of control and burn huge areas of forest destroying many trees, grasslands and killing thousands of small animals and birds which are both vital for seed dispersal and food for many other forest animals. Those of you who have been supporting our efforts for a while will know that our brave patrollers are actively involved with quashing forest fires every year; and that Tigers4Ever waterholes provide water needed to quench the flames and create firebreaks to limit the spread of these fires. Sometimes, it is not enough, because the wind can suddenly change direction and the fire burns the forest away from the firebreaks. In such circumstances, the consequences can be devastating. Last year forest fires raged all around Bandhavgarh from March until early July. Monitoring and fighting the fires takes foot patrollers away from their patrol beats where they would be checking for snares and traps. Thus maintaining triple patrolling right now is essential to ensuring that we can protect both the wild tigers and their forest home.
Increasing Awareness
We are also developing bi-lingual educational resources with forest safety infographics for all age groups, to be distributed by our anti-poaching patrollers when they patrol around the villages and when they meet villagers in the forest. These laminated cards will provide safety information in a format similar to the safety cards many of us will be familiar with from travel by plane or boat. We decided to add words as well as pictures so that the villagers would recognise the words on safety and access notices which are posted at the entrances to the forest. We also want to develop an audio resource which can be delivered by volunteers in the villages as part of a wider awareness and environmental protection programme.
Patrollers need help too
As the monsoon rains fall, patrolling conditions will become more treacherous as roads and tracks are flooded and venomous snakes become more active!, During this time, waterproof clothing and knee length waterproof boots are vitally important for patroller safety. There are still more than 600 brave patrollers without this vital equipment, so we must work hard to raise enough funds to equip as many as possible in the next three months! To provide this vital equipment for all 600 patrollers we would need to raise another £6600 (£8250) as quickly as possible. This would help us to ensure that every patroller can carry out their vital duties as the monsoon rains arrive (https://goto.gg/56553).
Without this vital equipment, patrolling will cover shorter distances as the flood waters rise: leaving wild tigers and their cubs vulnerable to poachers’ snares and traps. Where possible we’re trying to get each set of waterproofs, including boots, shared by two patrollers (one day shift/one night shift) but this isn’t a long term solution as the flood conditions can persist for days on end. If you can help, each set of waterproof clothing costs just £11 ($14) https://goto.gg/56553 and will not only keep a patroller protecting wild tigers for 12 hours per day but will provide much needed employment for up to 6 people living with wild tigers who make and distribute the clothing and boots too.
Wildlife and Human Casualties
Over the last few months we saw an increase in both human-wildlife conflict and Tiger wildlife conflict around Bandhavgarh. This resulted in deaths of both leopards and humans by wild tigers, and tigers killing each other too. Since our last report, five leopards were killed by wild tigers including 2 cubs and a breeding pair. Two different tigers killed a 15 year old boy and an 18 year old boy in separate incidents, and another tiger badly mauled a senior ranger who was conducting his morning patrol. Thankfully, the rest of the patrolling team rescued the ranger and after a spell in hospital, he has now recovered. We have also witnessed three wild tiger deaths due to territorial fights in the last couple of months too. As the wild tiger population continues to grow, the struggle to find sufficient territory to call home will intensify, and incidents like these will increase in frequency, until more water and habitat can be provided to curtail the conflict. We are currently in the process of providing two more permanent wildlife waterholes, including a large waterhole in the buffer forest where all seasonal water sources are already bone dry. This waterhole should be complete within the next few weeks, and will benefit at least 7 tigers and their cubs, plus wild elephants. We are also surveying another dry area of forest in the Dhamokhar buffer forest to provide year round water in a large waterhole midst the territories of 9 tigers. Hopefully, we can start work on that project too within the next few weeks as the drought season is already here and forest fires will be another challenge to be faced by our patrols within a couple of weeks (https://goto.gg/34315).
When these incidents are coupled with the increased risk of poaching activities, it means that our patrollers continue be on high alert at all times. We must, therefore, ensure that we can maintain a minimum of tripled patrolling especially throughout the next six months when we know that the poachers will be very active. https://goto.gg/28767.
Making a Difference
Thanks to your continued support, we cover an extra 1000 km (624 miles) of wild tiger territory per month with our trebled patrols. Without the vital equipment needed to beat the monsoon weather conditions, this could reduce until the drier weather returns. During the wet weather, it is essential to ensure sufficient time to search for snares; traps and signs of poisoners around forest areas where human encroachment is widespread as poachers are more active. We also need to maintain our patrols around the periphery of villages where crop raiding and livestock killing is also rife. Our increased patrolling helps us to curb human encroachment into wild tigers’ territories, and allows us to provide safety advice for those trying to protect their crops and livestock from wandering elephants and tigers respectively.
With almost half of the 60 tiger cubs born since the lockdown now reaching young adult stage, we have many more wild tigers to keep safe, so your help is crucial. Your gift today, however large or small can make a huge difference as to whether Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers can survive the unprecedented threats they face:
Making your Gift Count Twice or More
Your new online monthly gift of £12 (US$15) per month won’t just help us to pay an anti-poaching patroller protecting wild tigers for 35 days per year; it will also qualify for a 100% match bonus on the first donation amount if you keep donating for 4 months or longer. That means when you donate at £12 (US$15) monthly in month 4 we will receive an extra £12 (US$15) from GlobalGiving to help us save wild tigers. Thus there has never been a better time to start a new monthly donation than now. (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/saving-bandhavgarhs-wild-tigers/?show=recurring). Between 07 – 11 April 2023, GlobalGiving is adding a 50% matched funding bonus to all new online donations we receive up to the value of $50 (£38), donations above this value will receive a $25 (£19) bonus matched funds regardless of the donation value: https://goto.gg/28767. This is an excellent time to give, even if you can only donate £5 or $10 as your impact for the wild tigers will be so much greater.
Without our help, we know that more wild tigers will die; and more humans will be mauled or killed due to encroachment or human-tiger conflict. Sadly, with every human life lost comes another threat to the wild tiger’s survival in the form of retaliation; thus we must protect both if we are to ensure that wild tigers can have a wild future.
Please don’t hesitate if you can help, your donation can be the difference between life and death for a wild tiger, as it helps to increase our patrolling when it is most needed. Every tiger and every tiger cub counts. Thank you for making our fight against poachers, the changing climate and human-animal conflict possible. (https://goto.gg/28767).
Links:
Thank you for your continued incredible support for our Anti-poaching Patrols over the last few months, we know that these are testing times for many of you. Your generosity helped us to undertake quadruple-patrolling during the peak poaching monsoon season, and subsequently, we returned to triple-patrolling at the start of October 2022. Without your help this additional patrolling would be impossible. Your donations ensure that the growing wild tiger and cubs population is getting the best protection we can currently provide.
Winters are Getting Colder
After one of the strangest monsoon seasons since the formation of Tigers4Ever, back in June 2010, we are now preparing ourselves for another cold winter. Over the last few years winter morning and night time temperatures have dipped as low as 2°C (35°F) which is some 5°C (12°F) lower than the average for this time of year. The colder weather has a big impact on our patrollers too. We have provided warm socks and boots plus warm jackets in the past but these are no match for the temperatures which seem commonplace now. Two months ago we started to replace warm winter jackets for more than 1000 anti-poaching patrollers who struggle to cope with the biting cold whilst on their foot patrols at night and in the early morning. So far, with your help, we have managed to provide heavy duty warm jackets for 150 brave men and women who risk their lives to keep wild tigers safe, but it is not enough.
We need to raise another £17000 ($20910) to ensure that every patroller can carry out their vital duties as the freezing temperatures persist. Without this vital equipment, it will mean that vital patrolling will not cover the same distances as the temperatures plummet: leaving wild tigers and their cubs vulnerable to poachers’ snares and traps. For comparison, for those of you who live in the northern most countries in Europe, or the Northern US states and Canada – imagine walking around the streets on a December morning in just a T-shirt and summer trousers… Now imagine staying outside dressed that way for up to 12 hours. We’re guessing many of you would have gone inside or put a coat on long before the first hour was up, let alone 12 hours? That’s why we can’t expect the patrollers to stay outside all night in the freezing cold too. Where possible we will try to provide jackets which can be shared by two patrollers (one day shift/one night shift) but this won’t be a long term solution as the colder temperatures persist for longer each day. If you can help, each heavy duty warm winter jacket costs just £20 ($25) https://goto.gg/56553 and will not only keep a patroller protecting wild tigers for 12 hours per day but will provide much needed employment for up to 4 people living with wild tigers too.
Suspicious Activities
The late monsoon did no favours for the poor farmers who rely on heavy monsoon rains for good yielding rice crops. The news on NDTV has forecast a global shortage of rice for 2023! In fact it increased the financial impact on a community which has struggled to regain normality since before the COVID lockdown. During the dry monsoon period, our patrols noticed a significant increase in the wire traps and snares set to catch meat for food/to sell including jungle fowl, hares and wild boar. Whilst the intent of these snares and traps is to trap smaller animals for food/to sell the meat, they are indiscriminate and can kill leopards and tigers too! The increased patrolling was absolutely vital during this period especially around the periphery of the villages and close to seasonal rivers and streams where these heinous activities were most evident. In August, in particular our patrollers had to return to the patrolling vehicle multiple times due to the large haul of wires, ropes and rags which they had retrieve from this increased poaching activity!
This increase in poaching activity continued into September too, with another large haul of wires, ropes and other poaching aids recovered by our patrollers. Encroachment is also rife too. Our patrols have noted farmers extended their land into protected forest areas, and harvesting swathes of bamboo (which provides much need food for the wild elephants) to construct new fences around the encroached land. These actions will cause a double impact on the forest and its wildlife! They will lead to more wild elephant crop raids as they search for food; and the ecosystem of insects, birds, reptiles and small mammals which live amongst the bamboo and are vital for both seed dispersal and providing food for other wildlife is disrupted.
When these activities are coupled with the increased use of explosives in illegal fishing activities, it means that our patrollers must be on high alert at all times and that we must ensure that we can maintain a minimum of tripled patrolling especially throughout the festive period when poachers are notoriously active. https://goto.gg/28767.
Wider Impacts
Why do failing rice crops impact wild tigers? You might ask! The simplest answer is that the farming community around Bandhavgarh depends on three major sources of income throughout the year: rice, wheat and milk. When one of these fails, the loss of income has devastating impacts on a rural community, which already loses between 35 -65% of its annual crops to forest dwelling herbivores which raid human food and water resources. When this is coupled with wild elephant raids which can destroy a crop in a night, it becomes clear to see why human-wildlife conflict poses one of the biggest threats to wild tiger survival.
People become desperate for replacement income to feed themselves and their families, so they turn to the forest to plunder resources for anything they can eat or sell to survive. Commonly, this is harvesting fruit like mangoes and amla fruit, but there are more sinister elements too. Snare trapping jungle fowl, wild boar, deer, hares and other herbivores to sell or consume the meat, can also lead to predator deaths as unsuspecting tiger cubs and leopards fall foul of these traps. One of the strangest things to happen during the monsoon season was the cutting down of tendu trees, for wood to sell or burn. Tendu trees are important for the rural community around Bandhavgarh because their leaves are used to make Indian tobacco and are harvested in huge numbers during the first half of the year. Thus cutting down income provider trees makes no sense at all!
Another worrying trend during the monsoon season was the encroachment into the core forest to raid sand which has been used to fill the cattle proof trenches surrounding the forest so that cattle grazing areas expand to areas where it is not allowed. Cattle proof trenches are designed to stop domestic livestock from grazing in the core forest and to reduce the incidents of livestock (and their owners) being killed by predators, including wild tigers. What the culprits don’t seem to understand is when the cattle eat the food in the core forest it increases the likelihood of wild animals raiding the human crops. Thus education plays a huge part of our patrollers’ work.
A Plan to Increase Awareness
This year we’ve recruited more volunteers, including some in India, who’ve helped to distribute education packs to the children in rural villages and to gather new ideas to help educate these children about the importance of wild tigers and their forest home. We will continue to work with our new volunteers to ensure that learning about the forest and the wildlife within it will be fun for the children who will provide the next generation of wild tiger protectors.
We’re also developing new volunteering partnerships which will enable us to create bi-lingual educational resources on forest safety and protection for all age groups, including adults, so that our anti-poaching patrollers can distribute these when patrolling around villages and encountering villagers in the forest. We also hope to develop an audio resource which can be delivered by volunteers in the villages as part of a wider awareness and environmental protection programme.
What Else are we Doing to Help?
Work on our latest project to install two more permanent wildlife waterholes in the Kithauli-Biruhli buffer forest was hampered somewhat by the late monsoon rains, but we’re back on track now and hope to complete this work very soon. Once complete, these waterholes will provide year-round water in forest areas usually parched dry by drought before the end of January each year. They will bring the total number of Tigers4Ever waterholes to 14. Importantly, these waterholes will help to reduce the pressure on human water resources and thus reduce human-wildlife conflict. Tigers4Ever waterholes already provide year round water for more than two thirds of Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers and their prey. You can read more about our waterholes project here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/reports/?subid=202182.
After seven long and hard years of patrolling, some of the equipment and clothing we provided to help anti-poaching patrols to keep wild tigers safe has worn-out and failed. More than 1000 anti-poaching patrollers urgently needed waterproof clothing and boots to protect them during the monsoon rains. Thanks to an urgent appeal and a kind donation from our new corporate partners, the Tiger Chi Community, we were able to provide waterproof clothing boots and powerful hand-held flashlights for 400 patrollers. We still need funds for a further 600 sets of waterproof clothing and boots (£12150/US$14900), however, we have time to raise these funds before the onset of the next monsoon. With the cold winter months ahead, we now need your help to provide a further 850 warm winter jackets so patrolling can continue on the coldest days and nights. To equip every patroller with a warm winter jacket will cost £20000 (US$25000); we have manged to provide 155 warm jackets to date but this only helps a small number of the 1000+ brave men and women who risk their lives each day to keep wild tigers. Any help you can give will be most welcome: https://goto.gg/56553. Even the smallest donation will be a huge help in these difficult times. Plus if you donate online on Giving Tuesday – 29 November 2022 we will gain a share of $1.2 million in bonus matched donations throughout the day. Definitely a good reason to help #MoveAMillion for wild tigers we think!
Making a Difference
Thanks to your continued support, we can cover an extra 1000 km (624 miles) of wild tiger territory per month with our increased patrols, in the current weather conditions – as the cold weather takes hold this may reduce. It is vital to ensure sufficient time to search for snares; traps and signs of poisoners around forest areas where human encroachment is widespread; and around the periphery of villages where crop raiding and livestock killing is rife. Increased patrolling helps us to curb human encroachment into wild tigers’ territories, and allows us to provide safety advice for those trying to protect their crops and livestock from wandering elephants and tigers respectively.
With more than 60 tiger cubs born since the start of the pandemic, we have many more wild tigers to keep safe now. So we still need your help. Your gift today, however large or small can make a huge difference as to whether Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers can survive these unprecedented threats:
Making your Gift Count Twice
Your new online monthly gift of £12 (US$15) per month won’t just help us to pay an anti-poaching patroller protecting wild tigers for 35 days per year; it will also qualify for a 100% match bonus on the first donation amount if you keep donating for 4 months or longer. That means when you donate at £12 (US$15) monthly in month 4 we will receive an extra £12 (US$15) from GlobalGiving to help us save wild tigers. Thus there has never been a better time to start a new monthly donation than now. (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/saving-bandhavgarhs-wild-tigers/?show=recurring).
Without our help, we know that more wild tigers will die; and more humans will be mauled or killed due to encroachment or human-tiger conflict. Sadly, with every human life lost comes another threat to the wild tiger’s survival in the form of retaliation; thus we must protect both if we are to ensure that wild tigers can have a wild future.
Please don’t hesitate if you can help, your donation can be the difference between life and death for a wild tiger, as it helps to increase our patrolling when it is most needed. Every tiger and every tiger cub counts. Thank you for making our fight against poachers, the changing climate and human-animal conflict possible. (https://goto.gg/28767).
Links:
Thank you for your incredible support for our Anti-poaching Patrols throughout the 3 months. Your generosity has helped us to continue with triple patrolling as the new standard and increase to quadruple patrolling for 2022 monsoon. Without your kindness this would be impossible. With increased patrolling we’re able to give the growing wild tiger population the best protection we can currently provide.
A lot has happened in a few short months
We’re trying our best to keep our costs down, where possible, but some increases are beyond our control. These new costs are now reflected as suggested donation amounts in our anti-poaching patrols project profile page: (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/saving-bandhavgarhs-wild-tigers/).
The Heavy Monsoon Rains are Late
The drought season has persisted for much longer this year in Bandhavgarh. The heavy monsoon rains which normally arrive by 01 July are still awaited! This is very worrying as natural water sources haven’t been replenished and rice crops in the villages are on the brink of failure. Strangely, the temperatures have dropped from the searing heat of May and June, which is normally something which happens when the rains arrive! There is a fear that the monsoon will fail in 2022 as heavy rains have been experienced further North and East of Bandhavgarh but the desperately needed rainfall is yet to arrive in the forest and surrounding villages.
Villagers prepared their rice paddy fields by mid-June in anticipation that the rains would arrive, now the rice crops are all but failed which will have a huge economic impact on both the farmers and consumers. Ultimately, this will also impact the tiger forests as people search for food and other resources to eat or sell, taking the scarce resources which wild animals desperately need for survival! We only hope that the heavy rains arrive soon otherwise many more crops will fail, rivers, streams and lakes won’t replenish and the lives of many animals will be threatened by the shortages of food and water.
Our patrols are always on high alert at this time of year due to the increased risk of poaching and retaliatory poisonings. Sadly, when peoples’ livelihoods suffer due to pandemics, droughts, floods, etc., it always seems to be the forest and its inhabitants which bear the brunt of consequential actions! Our wildlife waterholes are proving critical in fighting both human-wildlife and Tiger-Tiger conflict as water shortages persist. (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/).
After Six Long and Hard Years
In 2016, we provided waterproof clothing to protect the anti-poaching patrollers from the heavy monsoon rains. After 6 years of constant use throughout the monsoon seasons, this equipment has finally worn out. We were asked in June 2022 if we could get replacements and new waterproof boots for almost 300 anti-poaching patrollers who had no of these. This is essential equipment and was needed urgently so the patrollers continue to work in the rain. The waterproof boots are knee high so they also protect the patrollers against fatal snake bites in the field. Thanks to your generosity we were able to equip 200 of the patrollers with new waterproof equipment and boots at the beginning of July. In the meantime we continued to fundraise to provide equipment for the rest.
We also learnt in June that a number of patrolling camps have been attacked by wild elephants in recent weeks, striking fear into the patrollers inside these vital watch posts which provide somewhere to rest between shifts. Many of the remote camps have no electricity and when wild animals attack at night the patrollers cannot see where the dangers lie. As a result we were asked to provide 250 powerful handheld rechargeable flashlights for use in and around these camps so the patrollers can see what dangers are lurking around them. We were able to provide 50 of these flashlights by the beginning of July which is a start but we now need to raise £5355 (US$6855) to provide the rest of the waterproof clothing, boots and flashlights, which are desperately needed. If you are able to help, please donate whatever you can afford at: https://goto.gg/28767 where even the smallest donations can make a huge difference.
Thanks to a kind and generous donation from our new (for 2022) corporate partners from the TigerChi Community project on the GlobalGiving July Bonus Day (20 July), we have already placed orders for waterproof clothing and boots for the remainder of the anti-poaching patrollers. We have also ordered a further 40 of the powerful rechargeable flashlights for the remote patrolling camps. If we can raise £3030 (US$3875) quickly, we can ensure that all the remote patrolling camps have high powered rechargeable handheld flashlights at a time when they are needed most: https://goto.gg/28767.
On days when the monsoon rains are heavy, there is less than 10% of the normal light in the forest making patrolling duties much more dangerous as wild animals and poachers move around secluded by the low light. Although we have provided powerful waterproof head-torches for our anti-poaching patrols to aid their patrolling in the darkness and gloominess, they do not have the illumination range of the powerful flashlights. We are always grateful that these brave men and women risk their lives patrolling the forests to keep wild tigers safe, so we want to do whatever we can to improve their safety whilst on duty. Your donation of just £20 (US$26) at: https://goto.gg/28767 can help us to buy one powerful flashlight and keep a patrolling team safe.
Global Tiger Day (International Tiger Day)
Since 2010, the world has celebrated the existence of wild tigers each year on 29 July. At the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit, it was decided that 29 July annually would become known as Global Tiger Day or International Tiger Day, and would be celebrated each year thereafter. Tigers4Ever was founded in June 2010 by people with a lifelong passion for saving tigers in their natural habitat. At Tigers4Ever, we have always treated every day like Global Tiger Day because with your help we have been giving wild tigers a wild future since June 2010 and we believe that is something worth celebrating.
If you have read some of our recent project reports on our waterhole project, education project or earlier reports about our anti-poaching patrols, you will know that we’re eagerly awaiting formal confirmation of the current wild tiger numbers in Bandhavgarh from the latest census. Details are due to be released at the 2022 Tiger Summit in September, but we know that Bandhavgarh has seen a baby boom over the last 2.5 years, that cub survival has dramatically improved since we introduced our anti-poaching patrols in July 2015, such that wild tiger numbers have dramatically increased. We are certain that the objective in 2010 to double the wild tiger numbers was achieved in Bandhavgarh by the end of 2018, now we eagerly await confirmation of how many more wild tigers have wild futures in the forests of Bandhavgarh, today!
Patrols Always on High Alert
More tigers is great news for successful conservation work, but it also has a downside too because poaching gangs still seek to profit from killing of wild tigers and selling their skins and body parts. As a result, we can never relax and celebrate our successes without ensuring that we protect the increased tiger population from increased threats. Our anti-poaching patrollers are recruited from villages around Bandhavgarh so they know the locals well, which helps to reduce the risk of strangers (poachers) entering the forest unnoticed and keeps our patrols are on high alert when they encounter unfamiliar faces. This is something which has become more important since the pandemic when so many daily waged Indians lost their jobs in towns and cities before returning to rural communities to eke out a living, as the forest now is a source of income for many more people.
As wild tiger poaching increased across India over the last 3 years, our patrols have needed to be on high alert constantly. Traditionally the monsoon season always sees an increase in poaching activities, so our patrolling has been quadrupled to counter the increased risks. This is something which wouldn’t be possible without your kind and generous support. In May this year, our patrols received a stark reminder of the dangers they face when 3 policemen were killed by a gang of blackbuck poachers in nearby Guna district. Such incidents remind us that whilst India recovers from the economic impact of the pandemic, the risk of the poorest most desperate families turning to poaching for an income is high. We know that many trap laying poachers are just poor people desperate to feed their families; they’re not the ring leaders who facilitate the trade in wild tiger body parts nor do they make huge sums from their heinous acts.
Making a Difference
This is why our quadrupled patrolling, which enables us to protect an extra 1000km (624 miles) per month of wild tiger territory, is vital right now. Without your support, it would be impossible, so thank you on behalf of the wild tigers we’re keeping safe. If you can support our anti-poaching patrols today, please donate at: https://goto.gg/28767 so we can keep patrolling throughout the years to come.
Increased patrolling is vital during the monsoon, when heavy rains slow down both our foot patrols and patrolling vehicles. Our patrols need sufficient time to search for snares; traps and signs of poisoners around forest areas where human encroachment is rife; and around the periphery of villages where crop raiding and livestock killing is rife. Increased patrolling also helps us to curb the impact of human encroachment into wild tigers’ territories, and allows us to provide safety advice for those trying to protect their crops and livestock from wandering elephants and tigers respectively.
With more than 50 tiger cubs born in the last 2.5 years, we have so many more wild tigers to keep safe now. We need your help to make this possible. Your gift today, however large or small can make a huge difference as to whether Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers can survive the daily threats to their very existence:
Making your Gift Count Twice
Your new online monthly gift of £12 (US$18) per month won’t just help us to pay an anti-poaching patroller protecting wild tigers for 35 days per year; it will also qualify for a 100% match bonus on the first donation amount if you keep donating for 4 months or longer. That means when you donate at £12 (US$18) monthly in month 4 we will receive an extra £12 (US$18) from GlobalGiving to help us save wild tigers. Thus there has never been a better time to start a new monthly donation than now. (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/saving-bandhavgarhs-wild-tigers/?show=recurring).
Without our help, we know that more wild tigers will die; and more humans will be mauled or killed due to encroachment or human-tiger conflict. Sadly, with every human life lost comes another threat to the wild tiger’s survival in the form of retaliation; thus we must protect both if we are to ensure that wild tigers can have a wild future.
Please don’t hesitate if you can help, your donation can be the difference between life and death for a wild tiger, as it helps to increase our patrolling when it is most needed. Every tiger and every tiger cub counts. Thank you for making our fight against poachers, the changing climate and human-animal conflict possible. (https://goto.gg/28767).
Links:
We were absolutely blown away by your incredible support for our Anti-poaching Patrols throughout 2021. Your generosity has helped us to make increased patrolling the new standard for 2022, which we think is fitting as 2022 is the Year of the Tiger! Thank you so much for making this possible and ensuring that the growing population of wild tigers and cubs is getting the best protection we can currently provide.
For 2022-23 we have made triple patrolling the new standard outside the monsoon period, and with your help we hope to make quadruple patrolling the new standard during the three months of the monsoon season. As with everywhere else right now, some of our core costs have escalated as fuel prices and living costs have increased. Due to this, there will be a few small changes to our project breakdown costs as we are increasing wages for our patrollers by 14% and need to cover the increased transport costs associated with getting the patrollers to the remotest parts of the forest. We’re doing everything we can to keep our costs down, where possible, but some increases are beyond our control.
Each day the temperatures are rising in Bandhavgarh as the drought season takes hold, with it comes an increased risk of spontaneous fires or those caused by human carelessness. Our patrols are always alert at this time of year to the risk of fires, seeking to identify them early and extinguish them before they get out of control. You may remember that in 2021 devastating fires raged through Bandhavgarh at Easter time killing thousands of animals, birds and trees vital to forest ecology. One year on, there are still areas of forest scorched by the fires, devoid of life, needing a breath of new life from seeds dispersed by insects, birds and other animals. It could take years for the recovery to start, which makes it even more important to protect the remaining forest from new fires.
What we are Doing to Help
Over the last four months we have completed work at three new permanent waterholes for wildlife projects which have restored water in areas of the forest already parched dry by drought. In the last week we’ve also started drilling at a fourth new waterhole site, in an area where human-wildlife conflict and poaching activities have always been a threat to the survival of wild tigers and their cubs. You can read our latest project report on our waterholes here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/reports/?subid=188601.
As outlined above, our patrols are helping with the early identification of forest fires to ensure these are addressed and quenched as quickly as possible. Our brave patrollers are well trained in the skills necessary for quenching forest fires and limiting there spread, but every fire where they spend hours fighting takes them away from essential patrolling duties. This is why keeping our anti-poaching patrols tripled is vital for keeping wild tigers and their cubs safe. We were fortunate enough to receive grant funding from the Marjorie Coote Animal Welfare Foundation which enabled us to undertake tripled patrolling this month. This has enabled us to plan forward for our patrolling right up to the monsoon season at triple levels which given the increased risk of forest fires during the drought season is absolutely essential.
It is quite difficult for our patrollers right now, with daily temperatures in Madhya Pradesh already reaching 43.4°C (110°F) some 6°C (11°F) higher than normal for this time of year. With these temperatures set to persist and a 94% reduction in pre-monsoon rains across the state, our patrols will need to exercise caution to avoid heatstroke in addition to the need to prevent the spread of forest fires. All our patrollers are equipped with refillable water bottles which are essential kit right now. Our patrols call at forest department patrol camps, where Tigers4Ever has provided safe drinking water tanks, to refill their water bottles whilst in the field.
The Collection of Forest Produce
With the hot summer months comes the tendu leaf and mahua flower picking season, these are used to make Indian tobacco and Indian alcohol respectively. Villagers enter the forest in droves in the early morning to collect the tendu leaves and mahua flowers, but this is a very dangerous time of day as tigers are more active at dawn and dusk as they hunt whilst the temperatures are lower. Over the last few years, many more villagers have turned to collecting leaves or flowers as a source of income because the pandemic robbed them of their livelihoods. This means more people in the forest and thus a greater risk of human-animal conflict, but it also means that poachers can seize the opportunity to enter the forest under the guise of being tendu or mahua collectors.
It’s not just the collection of produce to sell which drives the villagers into the forest in the drought season; it is the need to feed themselves and their livestock too. As the summer months progress and the land becomes parched, herders take their livestock into the forest to graze, something which can cost the lives of both the farmers and their animals. Just 10 days ago we received news that a villager had been killed by a tiger as he grazed his cattle in the core forest. The farmer had placed himself and his cattle between a tigress and her young cubs. The tigress did what was natural and attacked the man, striking him to the ground with a single blow from her extended claws. His survival chances were slim and he died from the wounds inflicted by her claws.
There are no winners in these situations, the family is left without its main income earner and the angry villagers often call for action against the tigress to prevent future attacks. Education is key to both avoiding future tiger attacks and retaliation against the tiger. Despite the best efforts of our patrollers to give safety advice and the Tigers4Ever safety notices at key entry points in the forest, some villagers choose to ignore the advice and can lose their life.
Local Knowledge Helps
One of the major benefits of recruiting our anti-poaching patrollers from the villages around Bandhavgarh is that they know the locals and have familiarised themselves with the regular collectors over the last 7 years since our patrols began. This reduces the risk of strangers (poachers) entering the forest unnoticed and ensures that our patrols are on high alert when they encounter an unfamiliar face. This is something which has become increasingly important since the pandemic when so many daily waged Indians lost their jobs in towns and cities before returning to rural communities to eke out a living.
Our patrols have been on high alert almost constantly for the last three years as wild tiger poaching has continually increased across the whole of India. Madhya Pradesh, being the Tiger State (with the highest number of wild tigers in India) and Bandhavgarh in particular can be targeted at any time as poachers seek to capitalise on the increase in wild tiger numbers. The economic impact of the pandemic is still being felt in Bandhavgarh, as with many other parts of India and beyond, which will always increase the likelihood of the poorest most desperate families turning to poaching for an income.
We know that many of the poachers who lay the snares and traps are just poor people desperate to feed their families, they’re not the ring leaders who facilitate the trade in wild tiger body parts nor do they make huge sums from their heinous acts. That’s why our new triple patrolling standard, which enables us to protect an extra 1000km (624 miles) per month of wild tiger territory, is vital. Without your support, this would be impossible, so thank you on behalf of the wild tigers we’re keeping safe https://goto.gg/28767.
Tiger Census
Since our last report, even more tiger cubs have been born so we know that the wild tiger population in Bandhavgarh is still increasing. We eagerly await the results of the latest tiger census which are due later this year; however, our focus right now is on keeping all these additional tigers safe.
This is the Year of the Tiger, in the Chinese zodiac, and there is a lot of momentum gathering as we approach the date set by all 13 tiger countries to double the number of wild tigers at both country and at a global level since 2010. It is anticipated that India will still be home to more than two thirds of the global wild tiger population, which in turn will doubtless increase the poaching demand. One thing is for sure, we cannot assume that our successes to date mean that wild tigers are now safe. They are safe because they are being protected and measures are being introduced to reduce human-tiger conflict. If we stop patrolling, sadly, wild tigers will die https://goto.gg/28767.
Forest Fires
The mahua season is here and with it comes the increased risk of forest fires. Today our poaching patrols had to quench a forest fire which raged because collectors burnt leaves around the base of mahua trees to aid their flower harvest, and their fires weren’t controlled. These forest fires can continue to burn for days on end, with efforts to extinguish them hampered by changing winds. Where possible our patrols help to create fire breaks to stop the flames in their tracks, but sometimes they risk their own lives helping forest department rangers to beat down the flames as fires spread. Such bravery in saving wild animals and their forest home should not go unnoticed.
The risk of forest fires will be high for the next few months as the forest is parched dry through lack of rainfall and searing heat. Wild tiger habitat cannot afford to be ravaged by fires as there is precious little left. Our increased patrolling will help to identify fires early, create fire breaks and help with extinguishing the fires when needed. This is extra work for our patrols in addition to the regular anti-poaching duties so our decision to make tripled patrolling the new standard will be vital to ensuring the safety of Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers from all the threats they may face. (https://goto.gg/28767)
Making a Difference
Right now, thanks to your continued support and with tripled patrols, we’re can cover an extra 1000 km (624 miles) of wild tiger territory per month. This gives us more time to search for snares; traps and signs of poisoners around forest areas where human encroachment is rife; and around the periphery of villages where crop raiding and livestock killing is rife. It also gives us more time to fight the forest fires which are prevalent at this time of year. Increased patrolling helps us to curb human encroachment into wild tigers’ territories, and allows us to provide safety advice for those trying to protect their crops and livestock from wandering elephants and tigers respectively.
With over 50 new tiger cubs born since the start of the pandemic, we have many more wild tigers to keep safe now. So we still need your help. Your gift today, however large or small can make a huge difference as to whether Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers can survive these unprecedented threats:
Making your Gift Count Twice
Your new online monthly gift of £12 (US$17) per month won’t just help us to pay an anti-poaching patroller protecting wild tigers for 35 days per year; it will also qualify for a 100% match bonus on the first donation amount if you keep donating for 4 months or longer. That means when you donate at £12 (US$17) monthly in month 4 we will receive an extra £12 (US$17) from GlobalGiving to help us save wild tigers. Thus there has never been a better time to start a new monthly donation than now. (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/saving-bandhavgarhs-wild-tigers/?show=recurring).
Without our help, we know that more wild tigers will die; and more humans will be mauled or killed due to encroachment or human-tiger conflict. Sadly, with every human life lost comes another threat to the wild tiger’s survival in the form of retaliation; thus we must protect both if we are to ensure that wild tigers can have a wild future.
Please don’t hesitate if you can help, your donation can be the difference between life and death for a wild tiger, as it helps to increase our patrolling when it is most needed. Every tiger and every tiger cub counts. Thank you for making our fight against poachers, the changing climate and human-animal conflict possible. (https://goto.gg/28767).
Links:
Your incredible support over the last 21 months has ensured that we could keep our anti-poaching patrols at triple standard patrolling levels until the end of 2021, thank you. It has been vital as wild tiger poaching has increased across India and Bandhavgarh can be targeted at any time as its increase in wild tiger numbers is well documented. Bandhavgarh is still suffering from the economic impact of the pandemic, as many other parts of India and beyond are. We’re well aware that many of the poachers who lay the snares and traps are just poor people desperate to feed themselves and their families, they are not the ring leaders who facilitate the trade in wild tiger body parts nor are they the ones making big bucks from their heinous acts. That’s why triple patrolling which enables us to protect an extra 1000km (624 miles) per month of wild tiger territory is so important. Without your support, this would be impossible, so thank you on behalf of the wild tigers we’re keeping safe.
Tiger Census
It only seems like yesterday when we broke the news that wild tigers in Bandhavgarh had more than doubled since we started our anti-poaching patrols in July 2015, but it’s actually more than three years since that count confirmed what we had hoped to achieve. Right now the 2021 wild tiger census is underway across the whole of India and Bandhavgarh is no exception. We are not anticipating numbers to double again, but we are hoping for another increase when the count results are in. After all 42 cubs were born during the pandemic lockdown and cub mortality has dramatically improved as we have reduced the number of retaliatory poisonings of wild tigers by 97.5% (in the last 6.5 years.
We know that 2022 is the Chinese year of the Tiger, a date set by all 13 tiger countries to double the number of wild tigers before at a country and at a global level. The bad news is that not all countries have seen their wild tiger numbers increase, in some cases where poaching is rife, wild tiger numbers have dramatically fallen, whilst numbers have significantly increased in both India and Nepal. It is unlikely sadly, that the target of 6400 wild tigers globally will be achieved by the 2022 target, and the economic impact pandemic won’t have helped. Nonetheless we eagerly await news of the expected increases in wild tiger numbers in India, and in Bandhavgarh particularly.
Winter Challenges
The weather in Bandhavgarh continues to present new challenges for our patrollers, as early morning mists and fog reduce visibility and make wild animal attacks more likely. Just a few days ago we received a report of a tiger suddenly appearing in the road in front of a young boy and girl on a motorised scooter. The huge male tiger growled aggressively at the youths and it took the youngsters all their courage to stay on board the scooter and make their escape. Imagine how dangerous such a situation could be for our patrollers on foot in the forest. Patroller safety is always at the forefront of our minds, which is why training both on the job and for emergency situations is an integral part of what we do. Some people ask us why we need fuel and transport for our anti-poaching patrols and there are two main reasons why. Firstly, our patrollers cover vast amounts of tiger territory on their daily patrols (on average around 125 km (78 miles) per day) and they are covering an area which is roughly the size of the country Wales (UK) or two thirds the size of the State of New Jersey in the USA, so they need to get to and from their foot patrolling start or finish points. The second reason is patroller safety: there are many possible emergency situations in the forest: freak weather; snake bites; scorpion stings; bites or attacks by other animals or even people; to name but a few, so we always have a vehicle on hand with an agreed rendezvous point or alternative escape point in case of need. It costs £38 (US$54) to provide such a vehicle for each day of patrolling, but enables us to transport a team of Tigers4Ever patrollers and Forest Department Rangers who accompany our patrols, as required. (https://goto.gg/28767).
The fog and mist may conceal a trap or snare intended for a tiger or other wild animal, so our patrollers must take extra care, in these conditions, as such devices are capable of severing a patroller’s foot, too. At such times and during night patrolling, the sturdy wooden canes provided for each of our patrollers are essential equipment for checking ahead for snares or traps, and keeping their feet safe. Even though the current Tiger Census is maximising the use of technology including camera traps; technology cannot disarm a poacher’s snare or trap set for a tiger, nor can it replace those dedicated men and women who risk their lives to keep wild tigers safe.
The colder winter season always brings some different challenges for our anti-poaching patrols and this winter is no exception with the poaching risk still high. Tiger-tiger conflict continues to increase as sub-adult male tigers leave their mothers and challenge each other and older male tigers for territorial rights. This increases the risk of encounters with aggressive or injured tigers, so again our patrollers must be alert to these extra dangers.
In recent years, winter has been bitterly cold in Bandhavgarh, with this in mind we equipped our patrollers with new sturdy boots, thick socks and warm jackets to aid their patrolling in the icy cold conditions. When the daytime temperatures can reach 25°C (77°F) but plummet close to 0°C (32°F) at night, in the jungles of India, food and drink plays a vital role in maintaining our patrols. The wild animals adapt to these colder temperatures which alters their daily routines and increases the chances of serendipitous wildlife encounters whilst on patrol. We always ensure that all our patrollers get three warm nutritious meals each whilst they are on duty, to help them fight off the cold and maintain their strength during foot patrolling, of wild tiger habitat in freezing conditions. Providing a team of patrollers with hot food and drinks costs as little as £25 (US$36) for a day, but ensures that they are able to keep at least 125 km (78 miles) of wild tiger territory safe. (https://goto.gg/28767).
As always, our anti-poaching patrols are working flat out to mitigate the risks caused by increased human encroachment levels, in Bandhavgarh, and the increases in poaching activity in both the neighbouring states and Madhya Pradesh. We don’t always get it right as the poaching incident in September this year has shown, but we always try to learn from our mistakes and improve where we can. We hope we can rely on your continued loyal support. (https://goto.gg/28767).
Wild Elephants
One of the biggest challenges for our anti-poaching patrols in recent months is the ever increasing human-animal conflict due to damage caused by and attacks on humans by the wild elephants, which arrived from Chhattisgarh and made Bandhavgarh their home. Our patrollers always pride themselves on being able to give good safety advice to the villagers they encounter in the forest, which helps to keep both animals and humans safe; but the wild elephants cause most trouble by entering the villages, destroying crops and attacking the humans who try to save their livelihood. So our patrollers have to help the villagers with other types of advice, in addition to personal safety advice, including the use of deterrents to reduce the risk of crop raiding/destruction by the wild elephants.
To date there haven’t been any retaliatory attacks or traps set for the wild elephants, but we must always be mindful of the possibility of this changing as a population already devastated by the economic impact of COVID19 suffers further hardship due to human-wildlife conflict. The only way we can address these risks and those of poaching or retaliatory poisoning is to keep patrolling increased until the risks subside. With this in mind, we hope to be able to maintain our anti-poaching patrols at a minimum of 2.5 times standard patrolling until at least the end of April 2022, when hopefully the current situation will begin to improve. (https://goto.gg/28767)
Making a Difference
Right now, thanks to your continued support and with tripled patrols, we’re covering an extra 1000 km (624 miles) per month of wild tiger territory when compared to the standard patrolling which we last did in June 2020. This gives us more time to search for snares; traps and signs of would be poisoners around forest areas where human encroachment is rife; and around the periphery of villages where crop raiding and livestock killing is rife. Increased patrolling helps us to curb the dangerous encroachment into wild tigers’ territories, which is still a huge problem, and allows us to provide safety advice for those trying to protect their crops and livestock from wandering elephants and tigers respectively.
With 42 new tiger cubs born since the start of the pandemic, we have many more wild tigers to keep safe now. So we still need your help. Your gift today, however large or small can make a huge difference as to whether Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers can survive these unprecedented threats:
Making your Gift Count Twice
From 13 -17 December 2021 inclusive, your new online monthly gift of £10 (US$14) per month won’t just help us to pay an anti-poaching patroller protecting wild tigers for 35 days per year; it will also qualify for a 200% match bonus on the first donation amount if you keep donating for 4 months or longer. That means when you donate at £10 (US$14) monthly in month 4 we will receive an extra £20 (US$28) from GlobalGiving to help us save wild tigers. Thus there has never been a better time to start a new monthly donation than now. (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/saving-bandhavgarhs-wild-tigers/?show=recurring).
Without our help, we know that more wild tigers will die; and more humans will be mauled or killed due to encroachment or human-tiger conflict. Sadly, with every human life lost comes another threat to the wild tiger’s survival in the form of retaliation; thus we must protect both if we are to ensure that wild tigers can have a wild future.
Please don’t hesitate if you can help, your donation can be the difference between life and death for a wild tiger, as it helps to increase our patrolling when it is most needed. Every tiger and every tiger cub counts. Thank you for making our fight against poachers, the changing climate and human-animal conflict possible. (https://goto.gg/28767).
Links:
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