Ensure Future Generations Benefit From Wild Tigers Too!

To raise awareness of the difference a legacy donation can make for wild tigers, themed around the message that sadly wild tigers are still likely to need our help even after we’re gone because of climate change and human-wildlife conflict threatening both their habitat and their very existence.

A Royal Bengal Tigress protects her tiny cubs in their den, in Bandhavgarh, India
Tigress with Tiny Cubs

A Legacy is defined as the “richness of an individual’s life” including their impact and what they have achieved. It’s an accomplishment, not an end of life chore, make your pledge for wild Tigers today.

Why not leave a gift in your will to ensure the protection of wild tigers for generations to come? No legacy is too small and even the smallest gifts can make a huge difference for wild tigers. In return, we pledge to keep protecting wild tigers in India from habitat destruction, poaching and climate change. We will continue to strive to ensure that future generations of children are not taught about tigers in the same way that they learn about the extinct Dodos and Elephant birds that once roamed Mauritius and Madagascar. Our aim is not to be the last generation to have an opportunity to see wild tigers, so your legacy can go a long way to ensure that our children and grandchildren will have the opportunity too.

As we now know, we would all be affected if there were no more tigers (See: https://tigers4ever.org/living-with-wild-tigers/). Tigers are apex predators that are essential for the health and survival of biodiversity in an interconnected ecosystem. Without them, the system becomes unstable and surviving species start to take over, perhaps damaging oxygen-giving trees, or trampling agricultural crops.

However, in areas where tigers live in close proximity to humans, such as Bandhavgarh National Park, it’s a case of ‘it’s difficult to live with them but we also can’t live without them’. Indian people are typically tolerant towards wild tigers, understanding more than most the crucial role they play in keeping the environment healthy and functioning. However, when tigers are driven from the forest by hunger, thirst or to support their family, and encroach on precious farmland, opportunistically preying on cattle or unwittingly threatening human lives, human-wildlife conflict arises – and tigers usually suffer the most.

Tigers as we know them today have been around for about 3 million years but now only occupy less than 1% of their remaining potential habitat of around 1.6 million km2 in Asia. The decline has coincided with increasing anthropogenic pressures as humans extend agricultural land, increase poaching activity and deplete tiger prey through hunting and habitat loss (Karanth, Kumar and Karanth, 2020).

Code Red and Climate Change

But now a longer lasting and perhaps more deadly threat to all of life has become a reality. We recently heard or read that we are now on ‘Code Red’ in terms of climate change, with the average global temperature predicted to rise to or exceed 1.5oC in just 20 years (Chestney & Januta, 2021). That means more catastrophic weather events affecting humans, wildlife and the world we live in. The Indian government undertook its own first ever climate change assessment in 2020 and warned that heatwaves would be four times more frequent by the end of the century. It found that the frequency and intensity of droughts had increased significantly over the 65 years to 2016. One of 17 countries where water stress is extremely high, a report in 2019 by the World Resources Institute shows that India is running out of ground and surface water with large areas predicted to become deserts. This means that deforestation will only precipitate this threat and wildlife such as tigers will roam further afield in order to sustain their existence, putting themselves and humans in danger.

There is Hope

Thankfully, there is hope. We have all been encouraged to play our part towards mitigating the risks of global warming, and conservation organisations such as Tigers4Ever will continue to work with communities to improve livelihoods and create more sustainable ways of living. We couldn’t do what we do without the generous support we receive through donations and legacies. Here is a snapshot of what we have achieved so far:

  • We’ve provided permanent wildlife water resources at 8 locations since 2010, addressing the impact of drought and climate change for the wild tigers and thus reducing human-wildlife conflict.
  • A 97.5% decrease in wild tiger deaths due to poaching and retaliatory poisonings since our anti-poaching patrols were launched in July 2015.
  • Two waterhole projects completed in 2018 in the Magdhi Core Zone of Bandhavgarh. Water to fill these waterholes is sustainably obtained year-round from underground wells via solar powered 5-HP borehole pumps. In total our solar pumps provide water at 8 locations and provide water for more than 32 wild tigers.
  • Since 2010 we’ve provided 2200 education packs for children in 25 villages around Bandhavgarh to enable them to go to school.

Your Legacy could make a Huge Difference

Your legacy could contribute towards the following:

  • Increasing anti-poaching protection: It costs £1250 (US$1660) per month to keep our Buffer Zone Patrolling at the current levels (enhanced due to increased risk caused by Covid-19 lockdowns and reduced wildlife protection regulation).
  • Inspiring and educating the next generation: We would love to be able to donate a further 500 education packs to give children a chance to improve critical literacy skills; future employment prospects & reduce their dependence on land.
  • Reducing human-wildlife conflict: We are aiming to build another sustainable waterhole for tigers and other wildlife to steer them away from village water sources and certain conflict with people.

A Legacy is defined as the “richness of an individual’s life” including their impact and achievements. This is an accomplishment, not an end of life chore, so please join others in making your pledge for wild Tigers today.

We completely understand that family and friends come first, so we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who feels able to leave such a special gift.

To find out more about how to leave a gift in your will to Tigers4Ever, please visit our website: https://tigers4ever.org/legacy/.

Wild Tigers swimming in a Tigers4Ever Waterhole in Banhavgarh National Park, India
Wild Tigers swimming in a Tigers4Ever Waterhole

Reference

Chestney, N. & Januta, A (2021) U.N. climate change report sounds ‘code red for humanity’. Reuters, 9 August. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-by-humans-2021-08-09/ (Accessed: 16/08/21).

Karanth, K. U., Kumar, N. S. and Karanth, K. K. (2020) ‘Tigers against the odds: Applying macro-ecology to species recovery in India’, Biological Conservation, 252, pp. 108846. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108846.

Winter Patrolling

WILD TIGER TALE

Uniforms Provided