Help Save Elephants in India

Greetings from Wildlife Trust of India!

We hope this email finds you in good health and high spirits.

With this email, we share with you the updates on our project ‘Help Save Elephants in India’. We would also like to express our heartfelt appreciation for your generous donation to the project. Your support means the world to us and will make a significant impact in our efforts to protect elephants and their habitat across India.

Your support for us goes beyond the financial contribution – it is a powerful statement of your trust in the work we do and a testament to your compassion and dedication to making a difference in elephant conservation. Thank you for understanding the importance of WTI's work so we can continue to make a positive impact

The updates from the project are as follows –

The ‘Kuttampuzha’ range is the largest in the ‘Malayattoor’ division of Kerala, and comprises two forest stations - ‘Pooyamkutty and ‘Anakkulam’. The range shares a boundary with the Munnar forest division and Thattekkad bird sanctuary in Kerala, and boasts of a rich biodiversity.

The range also comprises five tribal settlements, and therefore, frequent human-wildlife conflict - particularly with elephants and bison. Elephants damage crops and destroy property, while bison frequently attack humans. Recently, two tribal men were attacked by bisons, one of whom sadly passed away. There is a lot of unrest among the forest-fringe community in the region due to this conflict, with protests being held against the Forest Department.

The area is also plagued with elephant poaching, as poachers prefer the rugged terrains which are often inaccessible to the forest guards.

While the regions frontline forest staff and foot soldiers are technically adept at controlling human-wildlife conflict situations and preventing poaching incidents, they need equipment support to operate.

The Range Forest Officer requested equipment for the frontline staff. Under this project, rope ladders, collapsible stretchers, portable megaphones, binoculars, first aid kits, rescue nets, headlamps, torchlights, tents, ketch poles, and searchlights were provided to the frontline staff of the range.

The official handover of the equipment - provided through WTI’s Rapid Action Project – for Kuttampuzha Range staff was held on 11^th July at the Range Forest Office.

The Forest Department officials were extremely grateful for the items and began using these from the day they received them. The staff in field stations conveyed their gratitude as the equipment was especially helpful during night patrols and guiding elephants away from tribal settlements into the jungle.

All this could have been made possible through your support! Thank you once again for your generosity.

That’s all for today. We’ll be back soon with more updates on the project. Till then, take care!

Wishing you continued success and happiness!

Warm regards,

Team WTI