Wildlife Conservation India Project #34315

Water for Bandhavgarh's Tigers - Reducing Conflict

by Tigers4Ever

Water for Bandhavgarh's Tigers - Reducing Conflict

Project Report | Mar 26, 2019
Bigger & Better Waterhole for Wild Tigers

By Dr. Corinne Taylor-Smith | Project Leader

Tigers like this survive because of our waterhole

So much has happened in the last three months since our last report on this waterhole project that it is difficult to know where to start. Sadly we haven’t received any new donations this year so we have been working entirely from funds raised in 2018, a little like the weather in Bandhavgarh where the dry season is underway, the donations pot has also run dry so future projects are on hold for now. That’s the bad news out of the way, so now for the good news especially for the wild tigers and their cubs….

The solar powered borehole pump which we installed in the Tala zone of Bandhavgarh National park is working so well that it has capacity to fill two waterholes simultaneously. With that in mind, we revised our plan to construct a dry-lined core at the centre of the existing waterhole in favour of building a new large waterhole (50 metres x 30 metres x 2.5 metres deep) on the opposite side of the wall from the existing waterhole which continues to be services by the same solar powered system. This gives a greater availability of water for wild tigers and their prey which is especially important for one tigress and her four cubs because it helps to avoid tiger-tiger conflict and keeps her cubs safe. The more waterholes we can provide for wild tigers and other wildlife the more chance we have of reducing human-animal conflict as the drought season takes hold, too.

I am delighted to say that despite some unseasonable thunderstorms in the last week, work at the second waterhole is complete. We have lined the waterhole with loam soil which is better at retaining the water during the hot dry weather and provides a natural lining to the new waterhole which allows any excess water to return to underground springs via soak-away systems. This also ensures that our waterhole has been constructed in the most environmentally friendly manner so as to have minimum impact on the forest’s natural resources. Furthermore, we have constructed the banking surrounding the waterhole from excavated soil and materials from the waterhole pit and constructed channels between the two waterholes to aid filling of the second waterhole from any surpluses in the original first waterhole. We have used locally sourced labour (both men and women) in the construction of our waterholes, which in turn provides much needed employment in the rural community around Bandhavgarh and ensures that the workers and their families have a vested interest in the long term survival of wild tigers.

This larger waterhole cost us more than we had planned for the smaller dry-lined waterhole (£3860 (US$5000) as opposed to £1770 ($2330) to complete the construction, in addition to solar borehole pump costs) which has left our project funds severely depleted.

We launched our campaign to provide permanent water resources for tigers and other wildlife eight months ago and have managed to raise £487 ($628) of our £10,560 ($14,000) target and the hot dry season is already upon us with daytime temperatures already passing 35°C (95°F) and natural water sources already running dry. Our two waterholes in the Tala range plus the two waterholes constructed this time last year in the Magdhi range are now providing year-round permanent water for a total of 32 wild tigers including cubs plus countless other wildlife, which is around a third of the total number of wild tigers in Bandhavgarh.

In time we would like to ensure that every wild tiger in Bandhavgarh has access to safe drinking water year round, but for now we must focus on providing another waterhole in a critical need area which will help up to 15 tigers including their cubs. Ideally we would like to construct this waterhole before the end of 2019 but in order to do this we must raise sufficient funds before the end of September but we still need to raise another £10073 (US$13372) in the current campaign to make this possible. Every year, the effects of climate change are more evident in Bandhavgarh with shorter drier monsoon periods and longer extreme drought conditions being just two of the frequently occurring events these days. There are other consequences of this for tigers too, as natural water sources dry up the herbivore populations delay breeding because the conditions to support new-borns are not ideal, in time this will impact the tigers’ prey-base reducing food availability for a growing tiger population. In other parts of India, there have been recent reports of increased tiger deaths due to tiger-tiger territorial conflict and even reports of tiger cannibalism in one national park where tigers have killed and eaten 5 other tigers in 2019 alone. We want to act now before the impacts of climate change and harsh conditions affect Bandhavgarh’s animal population too, but to make the difference count we need your help.

Those of you familiar with our previous report will remember that we mentioned the wildlife programme “Tiger Dynasties” which followed the lives of the Rajbehra tiger family in Bandhavgarh; and that the main waterhole in their territory became dry. Our December 2018 waterhole project ensured that there will now be year round water in the main waterhole for Rajbehra’s cubs, whilst our new waterhole is helping the other star tigress in the programme: Solo, to raise her new cubs.

Permanent water resources for wildlife are essential for reducing human-animal conflict; as water disappears, prey animals enter the villages in search of water and consume the precious crops whilst there. Predators, such as tigers and leopards inevitably follow the prey into the villages as they look for food, but when the prey runs away the tigers kill domestic livestock instead. Once a tiger has found easy prey such as livestock, which doesn’t run away, it will have a tendency to return to the village over and over again in search of food…. Human-tiger conflict results and the tiger (and its cubs) are at risk of retaliatory poisoning as a counter-measure to prevent this recurring. To reduce human-animal conflict, our waterholes for wild tigers and other wildlife are of critical importance especially as the hot dry season is already upon us.

The permanent wildlife waterholes we funded between February 2018 and March 2019 have already helped to save the lives of 32 wild tigers including cubs, with your help we can help to save to lives of up to 47 tigers which would be quite an achievement in itself. We have already identified another possible site for our next waterhole project, where there are limited natural water sources but an abundance of tigers exists, as 2 tigresses with young cubs have neighbouring territories. Providing a permanent wildlife waterhole in an area like this can save the lives of up to 15 wild tigers plus countless other wild animals which share their forest home.

Tiger numbers in Bandhavgarh are on the increase due to improved cub survival rates, but as mentioned in our previous report, territorial space is at a premium and tiger-tiger conflict is becoming a more frequent occurrence. This means that we need to ensure that adequate water is available to sustain an appropriate prey-base without the need for tigers to increase the size of their territories in search of food. We also need to look at other ways to reduce human-animal conflict through projects to restore depleted tiger habitat, including tree planting which will complement our current waterhole project: https://goto.gg/34315. These projects will need time to help to stabilise prey numbers and lead to future young tigers needing smaller territories. So for now, we are focussing on what we can do to make the most difference this year. We hope we can build upon the success we’ve already seen with the waterholes funded in 2018 by funding at least one more waterhole before the end of 2019, but we cannot do this without the funds to complete the work. We need to raise sufficient funds before the end of September which means another £10073 (US$13372) in the current campaign to make this work possible. We will look again at offline fundraising activities to boost funds too but hope that some of you will sign up to donate monthly and help us at: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/?show=recurring. Even if you can only afford a single donation, why not donate on the 08 April 2019 (from 09:00 EDT/14:00 BST) when GlobalGiving will be offering 60% in matched funds making your £20 (US$26) donation worth £32 (US$43) at no extra cost to you: https://goto.gg/34315

If you feel able to help to make a difference for these precious wild tigers: £10/US$13 could help us to drill 1 metre (39.5 inches) of borehole, whilst £75/US$98 can help to pay wages to clear a site in preparation for a new waterhole to be constructed. All donations, however large or small, will help to reduce human-animal conflict and the risk of wild tigers perishing at the hands of humans.

I would like to thank you on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing equipment and labour for our waterhole projects; we couldn’t do this without you.

Tigers at Tigers4Ever funded new large Waterhole

Links:

Tigers4Ever Website

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Jan 2, 2019
Another Waterhole for Wild Tigers

By Dr. Corinne Taylor-Smith | Project Leader

Tiger cubs enjoying the cool around the waterhole

We launched our campaign to provide permanent water resources for tigers and other wildlife just six months ago, at a time when 99.5% of the annual rainfall in Bandhavgarh was falling. This was quite deliberate because major projects such as waterhole construction take time both to fund and construct. Although our campaign has been live for almost half a year we’ve only managed to raise £450 ($510) of our £10,560 ($14,000) target and the hot dry season is just around the corner.

We have, however, been able to start work on our latest waterhole construction, just 6 weeks ago thanks to a generous offline donation from one of our supporters in the UK. This donation has made it possible for us to start work on providing a solar-powered borehole pump to source an existing waterhole which had dried out completely in each of the last two years. In the next few days, the mechanics will put the finishing touches to the solar borehole system and water will be pumped 76.5 metres (210 feet) to the surface to ensure that the 12 wild tigers including cubs and countless other wildlife dependent on this waterhole will not have to enter villages in the nearby buffer forests in search of drinking water next year. The workers are even working on New Year’s Day to try to get this project complete before the onset of 5 months of searing heat and no rainfall. Phase 2 of the project will see a dry-lined waterhole constructed at the heart of the existing natural waterhole to reduce water loss in the dry season due to soak away and evaporation as the mud bakes into dry sand. We anticipate that this work will be completed by mid-February subject to appropriate funds being in place. The dry-lined waterhole will cost in the region of £1770 ($2330) to complete construction, dependent on size and whether machinery is needed or just locally sourced manual labour, much will depend on the speed at which the natural water levels recede.

Those of you familiar with our previous report will remember that once again the monsoon in 2018 brought inadequate rainfall for the fourth successive year. This has also been coupled with some unseasonably low temperatures in December leading to speculation about the impending onset of the hot dry season. In 2018, many natural water sources were already completely dry by February, so we are trying to work with a similar timetable in mind. Once we have completed work at the latest waterhole site, we will look to raise funds for a second waterhole to be constructed during the hot dry season. If you live in the UK, you may have recently seen the wild programme “Dynasties” which followed the lives of a tigress and her four young cubs in Bandhavgarh; in the programme you may have seen the main waterhole in the tigress’s territory become dry. If you did, then you will be delighted to know that Tigers4Ever’s latest waterhole project is at the site of this waterhole as we are determined that it will not run dry for a third successive year. Permanent water resources for wildlife are essential for reducing human-animal conflict; as water disappears, the prey animals enter the villages to look for water and consume the precious crops whilst they are there. Predators such as tigers and leopards follow the prey into the villages as they look for food, but when the prey runs away the tigers kill domestic livestock to gain an easy meal. Once a tiger has found easy prey such as livestock which doesn’t run away it will have a tendency to return to the village over and over again in search of food…. Human-tiger conflict results and the tiger (and its cubs) are at risk of retaliatory poisoning to stop this recurring countless times. For this reason, our waterholes for wild tigers are of critical importance especially as the hot dry season begins.

The permanent wildlife waterholes we funded between February-April 2018 have already helped to save the lives of 15 wild tigers including cubs, with your help we can help to save to lives of up to triple this number of tigers which would be quite an achievement in itself.

Thanks to your amazing support we have raised £450 ($510) during the first six months of fundraising, which has helped us to fund drilling the first 50 metres (162.5ft) of a borehole for our current waterhole project. We haven’t lost any tigers to poachers since October 2017 and one of our waterholes helped to save the 3 orphaned cubs of a poached tigress, so we want to ensure that our efforts are maintained. As we mentioned above, when water is in short supply human-animal conflict increases as herbivores wander into villages in search of water and eat the crops whilst there; then tigers follow in search of food and kill livestock which doesn’t run away. We have already identified another possible site for our fourth waterhole project, where there are limited natural water sources but an abundance of tigers exists, as 2 tigresses with young cubs have neighbouring territories. Providing a permanent wildlife waterhole in an area like this can save the lives of up to 15 wild tigers plus countless other wild animals which share their forest home.

At present, tiger numbers in Bandhavgarh are on the increase due to the numbers of cubs surviving to adulthood. As mentioned in our previous report, this causes problems as territorial space is at a premium and tiger-tiger conflict becomes a more frequent occurrence. As a result, we are continuing to look at other new projects to help to restore depleted tiger habitat, including tree planting schemes which will complement our current waterhole projects: https://goto.gg/34315. In time, these will help to stabilise prey numbers meaning that future young tigers may need smaller territories. We hope we can build upon the success of the two and a half waterholes funded in 2018 by funding at least one more waterhole before the end of the hot dry season in early June 2019, but we cannot do this without the funds to complete the work. We need to raise £10110 (US$13420) so that we can start work before the natural water resources run dry. We will look again at offline fundraising activities to boost funds too but hope that some of you will sign up to donate monthly and help us at: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/?show=recurring.

If you feel that you would like to make a difference for these precious wild tigers: £10/US$13 could help us to drill 1 metre (39.5 inches) of borehole, whilst £75/US$98 can help to pay wages to clear a site in preparation for a new waterhole to be constructed. All donations, however large or small, will help to reduce human-animal conflict and the risk of wild tigers perishing at the hands of humans.

Links:

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Oct 8, 2018
Poor Monsoon Rainfall - Water for Wild Tigers

By Dr. Corinne Taylor-Smith | Project Leader

Tiger cubs at man-made waterhole

We launched our campaign to provide permanent water resources for tigers and other wildlife just three months ago. It may seem strange that we start to fundraise just at the point when 99.5% of the annual rainfall in Bandhavgarh is actually falling, however, in our experience, large capital projects take time to fund so we wanted to give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving our goals. This has become even more important in the last few weeks as we learnt that for the fourth successive year inadequate rainfall has fallen during the monsoon season. This year, thankfully, the deficit wasn’t as bad as in the previous two years, none the less all deficits have consequences for wildlife. More worryingly, was the absence of rainfall throughout September which resulted in the driest September for over 10 years. For now, streams, rivers, lakes and ponds, the natural water resources are filled with up to 90% of full capacity, but these resources won’t last forever and with the next meaningful rainfall not due for 9 months, it will be another testing time for the wild tigers and other wildlife in their forest home.

Thanks to your amazing support we have raised £220 ($287) during the first three months of fundraising, which could help us to fund drilling the first 24 metres (79ft) of a borehole for our next waterhole. The monsoon rains have now ended and we must now step up our efforts to raise the remaining funds needed to build a permanent wildlife waterhole for wild tigers before the natural water resources start to dry up in January 2019. We haven’t lost any tigers to poachers or poisoners this year, but when water is in short supply human-animal conflict increases as herbivores wander into villages in search of water and eat the crops whilst there; then tigers follow in search of food and kill livestock which doesn’t run away. We have already identified two possible sites for waterholes, where there are limited natural water sources but an abundance of tigers exists, as 3 tigresses with young cubs have neighbouring territories. Providing a permanent wildlife waterhole in an area like this can save the lives of up to 15 wild tigers plus countless other wild animals which share their forest home.

On 04 October 2018, it was be exactly one year since the last tiger was killed by poachers in Bandhavgarh, whilst this was a great achievement by our patrollers it is important to remember that when the last tiger was poached she left 3 orphaned 6 month old cubs, which have survived due to interventions including a Tigers4Ever funded solar powered borehole pump to provide year round water in 2 manmade waterholes for the young tigers.

Just before the onset of the monsoon, two tigresses gave birth to three cubs each which will again increase the tiger numbers in Bandhavgarh. Tiger census results are due towards the end of this year and Madhya Pradesh is once again expected to regain its status as the tiger state, because so many tigers are surviving in Bandhavgarh. This, however, causes different issues as territorial space is at a premium and tiger-tiger conflict becomes a more frequent occurrence. We are looking at other new projects which will help to restore depleted tiger habitat, including tree planting schemes which will complement our waterhole project: https://goto.gg/34315, and help to stabilise prey numbers meaning that young tigers will need smaller territories.

We hope we can build upon the success of the two waterholes funded in 2018 by funding at least one more waterhole before the end of this year, but we cannot do this without the funds to complete the work. We need to raise £10540 (US$13800) so that we can start work before the natural water resources run dry. We will be looking at offline fundraising activities to boost funds too but hope that some of you will sign up to donate monthly and help us to benefit from matched funding bonuses at: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/?show=recurring.

Links:

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