Water for Bandhavgarh's Tigers - Reducing Conflict

A lot has happened in a few short months since our last project report. None of which would have been possible without your incredible support. Thank you for your generosity year-round as it ensures that we can provide year-round water for the wild tigers too!

We are already three months into the hot dry season in Bandhavgarh, and almost all seasonal ponds, streams and rivers have been bone dry for months, some since the end of November last year. So this year we have tried something new to create more wildlife waterholes where they are needed most by focussing on ensuring year-round water is available for wild tigers at nine seasonal waterholes in addition to the existing 26 Tigers4Ever waterholes already in situ. With the monsoon rainfall not expected until July, these 35 Tigers4Ever waterholes will not only provide a vital lifeline for wild tigers, they will also reduce the risk of human-wildlife conflict too.

New Waterholes Everywhere

March and April were very busy months for Tigers4Ever as we added nine new wildlife waterholes across five different zones in Bandhavgarh in addition to repairing weather damage at three of our existing waterholes too!

The number of wild tigers is increasing everywhere in Bandhavgarh with the addition of new cubs and sub-adults from earlier litters dispersing in search of new territories of their own, so water is needed everywhere too.

In Kallwah, in Bandhavgarh’s core zone, where tourists aren’t allowed, we have added three new wildlife waterholes at each of Khoga, Lalmaha and Barhai. Whilst in the Kithauli zone we have repaired the existing Tigers4Ever waterhole at Takhti and added a new one at Barha.

We have also created new Tigers4Ever wildlife waterholes in the Pataur and Panpatha zones with the addition of two new waterholes in each zone. Adding solar-powered pumps and motors at each of these dry and seasonal waterholes means that tigers and other wildlife will now have year-round access to water in Dashrath, Majhauli, Gabdi Ghat and Bedi Gali too.

Finally, we added our 35^th wildlife waterhole at Jobi Wah in the Magdhi core zone. Magdhi is one of the driest zones in Bandhavgarh and we have previously focussed on this zone with the creation of five previous waterholes in this zone. With the addition of new tiger cubs in the zone and the close proximity of many farms surrounding this zone, the need for wildlife water year-round is at its greatest to prevent human-wildlife conflict and unnatural tiger deaths.

More Waterholes are still Needed

Six more seasonal waterholes in the Magdhi core zone are still dry and we need to raise more funds to complete work at these to ensure that wild tigers in six areas will have year-round water for many years to come. In addition, we have identified two further seasonally dry waterholes in the Pataur zone and one in Panpatha which will need work to be done by Tigers4Ever to ensure that wild tigers can access year-round water there too.

To fund these additional nine waterholes, we need to raise a further £5000 (US$6800) before work can start, https://goto.gg/34315. We may be unable to complete these waterholes before the start of the 2026 monsoon rains in July as we have turned our current focus onto the creation of a new waterhole in the Kithauli zone where a tigress and her mate have four young cubs and are at risk of retaliatory action from human-wildlife conflict if they stray into the villages in the nearby Buffer zone in search of food and water. We have funds to create this new waterhole and are currently surveying the area for the optimum site for drilling the bore-well to access underground streams for the water source. Ideally, we will find a site which has a strong enough underground water supply so we can use a solar-powered pump system to bring enough water to the surface to pipe to the new waterhole and an existing seasonal waterhole which is currently being filled by water-tankers. We don’t like the use of water-tankers because we have seen evidence (in Tadoba) of tigers, especially cubs, turning up at the waterhole to play as the waterhole is being filled. This dangerously acclimatises the tigers to the sound of the trucks which in turn makes them vulnerable to being poached if a poacher’s truck approaches the waterhole instead. Thus, we need to prioritise the funds we currently have to ensure that this doe not happen in Bandhavgarh!

Creating Wildlife Waterholes can be Dangerous too!

During the work on at one of our new wildlife waterholes in the Kallwah zone, our newest team member, Gudiya, who joined us in December 2025, spotted something moving under a nearby tree as she supervised the work. As she thought that it was an animal she kept a close watch on the tree, when suddenly the animal’s head turned to look straight at her, and she saw a young male tiger keenly watching the workers and her. Fortunately, the tiger wasn’t aggressive, but he remained focussed on the workers as the water pumped to the surface and started to fill the waterhole.

After the workers cleared their tools, and got back into the vehicles to move away, the tiger moved too. He slowly walked in the direction of the waterhole whilst watching the workers leave. Maybe he was saying thank you for his new waterhole, or maybe like other cats he was just curious, but it was a reminder to all that they need to always be vigilant as tigers are masters of camouflage and stealth and can appear suddenly without warning too!

Other News

We are delighted to say that in the last few weeks a project that we have been working on, with our friends at Typical Tigers NFT, to raise funds to give the wild tigers the wild futures they deserve has come to fruition. Typical Tigers NFT has raised over £27600 ($37260) to date for Tigers4Ever including wildlife waterholes (https://goto.gg/34315), patrolling equipment (https://goto.gg/56533) and our Forest restoration (https://goto.gg/70006) projects and now they have launched a “Typical Tigers Colouring Book” from which they will donate 50% of their profits to Tigers4Ever. The book is suitable for Children aged 4 to 17 years and is available to purchase from Amazon on both sides of the Atlantic. With one generous supporter buying 50 copies for donation to Children’s hospitals in the UK on the launch day (International Book Day – 23 April). We are very grateful for this kind gesture and the continued support of Typical Tigers NFT as they help us to give wild tigers the wild futures they deserve. Thank you in advance to anyone who buys a copy of this wonderful colouring book which is also packed with fun tiger facts too. (https://amzn.eu/d/0be8GPuy)

We Need Your Help

We still need your help because the wild tiger and other wildlife populations continue to increase so future human-wildlife conflict is inevitable. Tigers4Ever waterholes and other innovative solutions increase in importance every day, so we need to fund future projects alongside those we are already committed to complete. Your kind donations are essential to ensure that we can make more wildlife waterholes possible and to complete other projects to reduce human-wildlife conflict too. Without your help we can’t provide more safe forest homes for dispersing young wild tigers! Please help, if and whenever you can, as tomorrow may be too late. https://goto.gg/34315.

The best way to reduce Human-Wildlife conflict is to prevent the prey animals and predators entering the villages in search of water and food. We prioritise our permanent wildlife waterhole projects, every year, as the drought season takes hold.

Waterholes are more than just puddles in the forest; they are the keystones of survival for wild tigers and their ecosystems. Investing in the protection and restoration of our waterholes, and the construction of new waterholes is not only a conservation priority but a moral imperative in our fight to save one of the planet’s most iconic species. If you can support our efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflict and save wild tigers please donate whatever you can afford here: https://goto.gg/34315 thank you.

To sustain the growth of Bandhavgarh’s wild tiger population, more permanent wildlife waterholes are needed in areas which can support both prey and predator dispersal. It is a major challenge for Tigers4Ever to provide more wildlife waterholes right now when they are most needed. Your support and donations are vital to ensuring that our waterholes project (https://goto.gg/34315) can address the need as soon as possible. We NEED to raise £25000/US$34500 to provide 3 more medium-large waterholes in 2026-2027! With funding we can mobilise local labour, but without funding it will take too long and sadly wild tigers and elephants will die.

It would be truly amazing if 500 people could read this report and donate £10 ($14) per month each as it would take just 3 months to raise enough funds to create one large wildlife waterhole which would be incredible: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/?show=recurring. Permanent wildlife waterholes are critical to preventing tiger-tiger and human-animal conflict, which arise from increased wild tiger numbers. There are more tiger cubs (88) in Bandhavgarh than the total number of wild tigers (37) counted in the 2010 Tiger Census, when Tigers4Ever started work there. One waterhole isn’t enough to reduce the conflict caused by wild tigers encroaching on the territories of other tigers and humans, so we need your help to provide at least 2 more waterholes before it is too late: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-for-bandhavgarhs-tigers/.

We need to keep wild tigers safe every day. Our anti-poaching patrols are tripled right now to counter the risks of retaliatory poisoning and poaching. If, with your help we can complete another 2 waterhole projects sooner it will help us to keep at least 16 more wild tigers including cubs safe.

How Your donations help us to save wild tigers:

- £10 ($14) per month for a year will help to drill 12 metres (39 feet) of bore-well to access underground water.

- a one-off £20 ($28) gift will help to drill 2 metres (6.5 feet) of bore-well to access underground water.

- a one-off £40 ($56) gift will help to drill 4 metres (13 feet) of bore-well to access underground water.

- £90 ($126) can pay a team of workers to prepare a site for a new waterhole for wild tigers;

- £120 ($168) can cover the cost of labour and preparation of a 1.5 metre wide by 1.5-metre-deep elephant proof moat to protect a solar-pump system.

- £2000 ($2800) will enable the digging and lining of one large waterhole.

Every donation, no matter how large or small, helps to increase and protect the wild tiger population. Thank you on behalf of the wild tigers, which you help us to keep 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, thanks to you, the wild tigers can live peacefully and those who live beside them can protect their livelihoods.

All donations are welcome https://goto.gg/34315. If you can’t afford to donate perhaps you could become a Tigers4Ever fundraiser, here: https://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/fundraisers/start/?fundraiser.projids=34315 and ask your friends, colleagues and family to donate to your fundraiser to help us keep wild tigers safe.

Links:

• Tigers4Ever website
• Become a Fundraiser for wild Tigers
• UK link for Typical Tigers Colouring Book