Saving Bandhavgarh's Wild Tigers from Poachers

Thanks to the amazing support we received from you all during the Global Giving Accelerator campaign in December 2017, we can start 2018 with confidence that our Anti-Poaching Patrols can continue their magnificent work ensuring that wild tigers are safe from poachers’ snares.

Many people don't realise that our Anti-Poaching Patrollers do far more than just search for poachers' snares and traps; they actually play a vital role in communicating how tigers are facing extinction in the wild and the consequences for the human population of such an extinction. Deepak, our project co-ordinator in India, is always keen to share his encounters with the people who live with wild tigers whilst he is out with our patrollers. These reports can include simple guidance to villagers about keeping safe when wandering in or near the forest to what to do if they encounter a wild tiger, leopard or sloth bear on their travels. Such advice could well save the lives of both the humans and the animals concerned. Our patrollers also play an important role in educating the villagers about the consequences of their actions when they take scarce forest resources like cutting branches from trees to make wood fires in their homes. Patrolling Supervisor Prahlad takes great pride in knowing that human animal-conflict can be dramatically reduced with just a few friendly words of guidance to ensure the villagers will act responsibly and with the protection of fragile ecosystems in mind the next time they enter the forest.

For just £20/$26 we can pay a team of 6 Anti-Poaching Patrollers to protect wild tigers for one day. Our patrollers, risk their own lives during the day or night as they search for wire snares, traps or other signs of poaching activity. Frequently the snares have been tethered to an open electricity source which, would mean instant electrocution for any animal or person who touched or walked into it. For this reason, we equip our patrollers with head-torches so they can keep their hands free and sturdy canes so that they can check dense undergrowth safely without fear of losing a limb or their lives. The donations we received during December will enable us to keep our patrols fed with 3 nutritious hot meals per day whilst they are on duty. This in turn supports other members of the tiger community who prepare and serve the meals. Your donations will also help us to provide transport to take our patrollers to the start point of their foot patrols and provide a safe haven for them to return to in the event that alarm calls from the jungle indicate that a dangerous predator is approaching. Transport and fuel are vital tools for our patrollers who need to cover 1598 square kilometres (993 square miles) of precious tiger habitat.

In Autumn of 2017, we were forced into a 20% reduction in our Anti-Poaching Patrolling due to a lack of funding. Within four weeks of this reduction, we were confronted with the devastating news that a wild tigress had been killed by electrocution in a snare and the poachers had left nothing more than the skeleton of her torso! Worse still, she had three, 9 month old, cubs who were still fully dependent on her hunting skills for their survival. Thankfully, their father has shared a few kills with his offspring to keep them going, and Tigers4Ever is working in collaboration with the Forest Department to do everything within our power to help ensure that these cubs will have a wild future. We aim to increase our patrolling again during the peak poaching season when the monsoon rains arrive but this will be dependent upon ensuring that we can raise sufficient funds to cover these sustained increased costs. If we can reach our target of raising £720/$980 per month (or £8640/$11400 total) then we will be able to restore the patrolling to optimum levels during peak poaching season and for the rest of 2018 (https://goto.gg/28767).The £3810/$5000, which you have helped us to raise with your kind donations, will certainly help us to keep our patrols protecting wild tigers in the first quarter of 2018. It will also help to provide the transport, fuel, food and any vital equipment which needs replacing during the same period. I would like to thank you on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the patrollers we are keeping in work (and their families who will also have food on the table); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing food and equipment for our patrols and from the safety/education advice given by Deepak, Prahlad and our patrolling team.

Links:

• Tigers4Ever website
• Tigers4Ever Anti-Poaching Patrols