Repairs Done but the Elephants Strike Again

Repairs underway at a damaged Tigers4Ever wildlife waterhole in Bandhavgarh

Just two months ago we asked for your help wild elephants compounded the impact of the drought season by damaging two of our solar-powered borehole pump systems which provide year-round water for wild tigers and their prey at six waterholes. Your response was amazing and thanks to your generosity we have been able to purchase replacement solar panels and complete essential repairs at both sites. We’re delighted to say, both pumps are functioning well and six waterholes are now filled once more.

Unexpected challenges

The work, however, took a little longer to complete than we had envisaged, as sand had entered the bore-well pipes which had been exposed by the damage, an engineer was called to clear the sand before restoring the operation of the pumps. We also suffered delays because of the forest fires which raged through Bandhavgarh’s forests for four successive days and nights as all patrollers were mobilised to fight the fires leaving no-one to protect the workers at the waterhole sites. Thankfully, the repaired waterholes are now providing much needed respite for many animals displaced by the fires in addition to the resident herds of deer, primate troops and wild tigers.

The finishing touches are the elephant proof fencing, and after much consideration and discussions with experts elsewhere, we decided to select the chilli fence option, as the bee-hives would attract sloth bears which would pull down the fencing in their desperate quest for honey.

The Elephants Strike Again

We also decided to erect elephant proof fencing at our Arharia waterhole site where our solar powered pump fills two permanent wildlife waterholes. Before we could start work at this site, wild elephants struck again, causing more damage to the solar panel housing and structure. Ironically, the elephant proof fencing probably would have been in place if it hadn’t been for the forest fires, but also if there hadn’t been the fires, the wild elephants wouldn’t have been displaced and they wouldn’t have been in the area of our Arharia waterholes! This felt like incredibly bad luck, so now further repairs are needed before we can erect the elephant proof fencing there too.

Climate Impact and Action

This week (19 – 23 April 2021) we’ve turned our focus to Climate Action with our waterholes project: https://goto.gg/34315 as the extended drought season and recent forest fires have taken their toll on the wildlife of Bandhavgarh. We are also looking at forest restoration initiatives but need to do something more immediate to address the issues faced by the thousands of displaced animals including wild tigers and leopards, as 3 leopards and 3 tigers have already died as a consequence of displacement induced conflict. By next week, we hope to have started work on a solar-powered borehole pump system at a large waterhole which is needed by at least 42 displaced elephants and 8 displaced tigers in addition the thousands of prey animals and birds desperately in need of water. We need to raise £4000 during the next few days so we can also start work at a second site saving another 10 wild tigers, plus £400 to enable us to repair the elephant damage at the Arharia waterhole too.

During this week (19 – 23 April 2021), we’re taking part in GlobalGiving’s Climate Action Campaign and your donation up to US$100 (£78) will get a 100% bonus in matched funds until 23 April 2021 only. So now really is the time to give, to make the most of your donation! If just 30 of our supporters each donate US$100 (£78) during this campaign we’ll raise enough with the bonus matched funds, to start work at the second site straight away, saving the lives of at least 10 more wild tigers including cubs: https://goto.gg/34315. Thanks to your amazing support, we’ve been able to address the water crisis at 6 critical locations helping to save at least 32 wild tigers, as well as leopards, bears, elephants and countless other wild animals. If you can help, please do as this week your impact is doubled and without access to wildlife water more tigers, leopards and other animals will die due to the drought and displacement issues caused by the forest fires: https://goto.gg/34315.

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