By Dr. Corinne Taylor-Smith | Project Leader
Surviving The Monsoon
The annual monsoon rains have been heavy this year, especially when compared to the last few years. Heavy rains always make anti-poaching patrolling challenging and more difficult than at dryer times of year. Heavy duty knee length boots and waterproof clothing are essential for foot patrolling not just to protect the patroller from the torrential rains but also as protection against snake bites as venomous snakes are especially active during the monsoon season and are not averse to slipping into a patrolling hut to sleep alongside an off-duty patroller to gain warmth. The bite of a krait can cause fatal paralysis as the deadly neurotoxin paralyses the muscles and the victim who is unable to shout for help suffocates when they can no longer breathe. To prevent such incidents, we advise all our patrollers to be particularly wary of snakes whilst patrolling and to check where they will sleep whilst off duty. We have also supplied specialist snake capture and rescue kits which are used by trained handlers to safely remove venomous snakes from patrolling camps, etc., and return them to the forest where they are released into the wild.
Surviving the monsoon is a challenge for Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers too, especially tiny cubs which can be devoured whole by rock pythons. So, poacher’s snares and traps are not the only dangers tigers face every day. Your generous support and donations year-round, ensure that we can quadruple patrolling during the monsoon season when finding poachers’ tracks is almost impossible as they are washed away by monsoon rains. Thank you! Our patrollers need to use every method possible to ensure that these heinous devices don’t kill a precious tiger, tigress or cub. The equipment you help us to provide ensure that our patrollers are safe too, from snake kits to waterproof clothing and boots, and from mosquito nets to prevent malaria bites whilst sleeping to canes to prevent electrocution, every piece of equipment helps, thank you.
More tigers – More Help
As the tiger population in Bandhavgarh continues to grow, we worry more about the annual monsoon peak poaching season each year. The poachers know that there are more tigers and that these tigers need space so the buffer areas outside the protected core forests increase in importance every year. Patrolling these Buffer Forests increases in importance too! People often ask why the heavy monsoon rains fill us with dread! There are many reasons for our fears not least the presence of more people moving around in native wild tiger habitat every day! Human encroachment into tiger forests increases during the monsoon season but footprints are quickly washed away by heavy rains making miscreants harder to track. Most people are simply searching for fruit to harvest and sell, grasses to cut for livestock fodder, and fresh bamboo to harvest for artifacts or furniture to sell and to construct or repair fences too. But sadly, there are those who mean the tigers harm too, and they will try to avoid capture by setting traps before the heavy rains and removing their bounty whilst rainwater hides their tracks. Sadly, those who plunder the precious forest resources are harming wild tigers too, but they are doing so without realising the consequences of their actions! These human intruders are stealing the food which the wild animals have waited so long for it to arrive so they can feed their young too, these herbivores in turn provide the food which wild tigers need to survive. A consequence of the plundering is that the wild animals, especially deer, monkeys and wild elephants enter the villages in search of food, eating the farmers’ crops and causing an increase in human-wildlife conflict too!
We truly appreciate the brave men and women patrollers who risk their lives whatever the weather to keep wild tigers safe. Something which would not be possible without your continued generosity and support. Thank you for helping us to increase our patrolling during peak poaching season so we can keep wild tigers safe when they most need help. Your support is critical to stop the devastating surge in poaching and protect every tiger we’ve fought so hard to give a wild future to (there have been 131 tiger deaths reported in India this year), so we need to always be alert! Our patrolling is at the pinnacle of wild tiger survival in Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh India’s “Tiger State”! Our dedicated team has worked hard to ensure that wild tiger numbers have increased by over five times what they were when we began our vital work in 2010, so stopping patrolling now due to a lack of funds would be devastating for sure.
Anti-Poaching patrols are the first line of defence against wildlife crime and are the beating heart of wild tiger conservation. Their impact goes way beyond protecting tigers - they safeguard habitats, prevent poaching, and create lasting benefits for local communities too. So, it is essential that we maintain our anti-poaching patrols at the highest levels year-round. Together, we can ensure that these magnificent tigers not only survive but they can thrive. Your donations ensure that we can continue this vital life-saving work, by safeguarding wild tigers now and for the future generations to come. (https://goto.gg/28767).
We must do more
Our anti-poaching patrollers work tirelessly in extreme and dangerous environments, they undertake one of the toughest jobs in the world. India is home to seventy five percent of the global wild tiger population (3167 wild tigers), without India’s wild tigers the overall survival of the species would certainly be in doubt! In Madhya Pradesh there were 785 wild tigers at the last census, and 226 of those were in Bandhavgarh, where our anti-poaching patrollers work. Keeping those wild tigers and their cubs safe is our priority every day.
Sadly, the number of snare wires and signs of anchored traps has increased over the last year. Farmers frequently tie wire snares around the boundaries of their crops and villages to prevent crop raiding by herbivores, but these indiscriminate snares can kill tigers and leopards too, especially if they remain undetected. We previously reported our concerns about farmers using of electrified fences around their crops too, and whilst solar powered fences are designed to give a deterrent jolt, mains powered fences give a lethal shock which is enough to kill wild elephants too! Tigers4Ever is against the use of all electrified fencing opting for more traditional and wildlife friendly alternatives. (See our Forest Restoration project https://goto.gg/70006 for details about the use of Cattle Proof Trenches (CPTs) and our Waterhole project https://goto.gg/34315 for details about how we use solar-powered lighting to reduce human-wildlife conflict).
Our patrollers systematically remove loose wires and snares as they find them, and fill anchor points with sand or soil to prevent the use of hidden tethered snares along the trails where tigers walk. They need to be extra vigilant for snares during foot patrolling as concealed wires can easily snare a patroller’s foot too. Sadly, an increase in tiger numbers has inevitably led to an increase in poaching, in addition to increases in both tiger-tiger and human-tiger conflict, so we cannot afford to reduce our patrolling when it is most needed – that is NOW.
Wild tigers need more habitat and protection urgently, so our project to restore lost forest habitat in Salkhania and create a new wild tiger corridor at Sarmania (https://goto.gg/70006) is essential to help accommodate the increased number of wild tigers as the young tigers disperse. In 2025 and 2026, we have extended our original patrolling range to include areas where sub-adult tigers from Bandhavgarh have been seen to disperse. At the end of the monsoon season, we will install a new wildlife waterhole in the Sarmania forest corridor and are grateful to the family and friends of the late Gerry Brain who have donated £1000 (including Gift Aid) to make drilling the borewell for this new waterhole possible. This lasting legacy to Gerry who grew up in India and adored wild tigers will help to provide year-round water for up to 12 wild tigers and their prey when the reforestation work is completed too. Right now, it is Remember-a-Charity Week in the UK and we are raising awareness about how people can leave a lasting legacy for wild tigers in their will too (if you are thinking of making or changing your will, please take a look to see how you can help wild tigers in the future too: https://tigers4ever.org/legacy/). Last year, Typical Tigers NFT generously donated to cover the cost of 5000 new saplings and clearance of the invasive lantana at the Sarmania site too. Typical Tigers NFT are continuing to support our forest restoration work through sales of their colouring book, which was launched on 23 April 2026, sales of which will help us to provide safe habitat for wild tigers to thrive via 50% of the book profits being donated to Tigers4Ever. The book is great for children aged 4 to 17 years and adults who like to colour too! The good news is, wherever you live you can buy the book from Amazon online and know that you’re saving wild tigers too! We are very grateful for the continued support of Typical Tigers NFT as they help us to give wild tigers the wild futures. Please buy a copy of this wonderful colouring book for the tiger lovers in your family and friends, as it is packed with fun tiger facts too. Thank you, here is the link for the book in the UK and Europe: (https://amzn.eu/d/0be8GPuy)
Protecting wild tigers and their habitat means more cubs survive but with that success comes greater responsibility. As tiger numbers grow and exceed the carrying capacity of their current habitat, urgent action is needed to prevent rising conflict. We’re already facing a critical tipping point in both human-wildlife and tiger-tiger encounters. Your generous support has ensured that our patrols could reduce unnatural tiger deaths in Bandhavgarh by over 98%. But we cannot stop, because poachers are always active, waiting for a chance to strike. Your donations enabled us to extend increased patrols to August 2026. With your continued help, we can keep wild tigers safe through the coming months and beyond into the winter season. If you can give, now is the time. Every donation truly makes a difference. (https://goto.gg/28767).
We are proud of our patrollers and their amazing efforts to keep wild tigers safe. During the last 5 years their workload has increased 3-fold, and they have responded with outstanding effort and hard work whilst poaching activity around India has reached a 15-year high. It is a miracle that we continue to keep so many wild tigers safe!
When conflict incidents are coupled with the increased risk of poaching activities, it means that our patrollers need always to be on high alert. We need to ensure that we can maintain a minimum of tripled patrolling during the winter season, especially with poaching activity on the increase. https://goto.gg/28767.
Did you know?
Since April, we have completed work at 10 wildlife waterholes including relocating and making larger our waterholes at Salkhania and Pachpedi. Our Pachpedi waterhole now provides fresh drinking water at two patrolling camps too, meaning that the patrollers who risk their lives to save wild tigers can be healthier and safe. (https://goto.gg/34315). We have also provided essential patrolling equipment including 200 powerful waterproof flashlights, 200 mosquito nets, 200 sets of waterproof clothing and 100 full uniforms with sturdy boots (https://goto.gg/56533) for the brave men and women who risk their lives to keep wild tigers safe.
You Make a Difference
Your support ensures that we can cover 1800 km (1135 miles) more wild tiger territory per month with tripled patrols. During patrolling, it is essential to have sufficient time to search for snares; traps and signs of poisoners around the forest areas where human encroachment is widespread as poachers are more active too. Our patrols around village peripheries where crop raiding and livestock killing is rife, reduce the risk of both snaring and electrocution of wild tigers and their prey. Increased patrolling helps us curb human encroachment into the forest 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 226 wild tigers and cubs to keep safe, your help is vital. This year, we know that more than 25 tiny precious tiger cubs have been bornand need your help. Your gift, however large or small can make a huge difference as to whether Bandhavgarh’s wild tigers and cubs can survive the unprecedented threats they face:
Without our help, we know that 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).
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