The Fund for the Tiger Newsletter Number 4, Summer 2000

In 1992 I wrote a letter in which I said that the great wildlife reserves of India and Nepal had become, in effect, shopping malls to satisfy a market based on ancient Chinese medicinal customs and practices and that Nepal clearly lies on the smugglers route to extinction. Reports out of India and Nepal show that this sadly still seems to be the case.

Devastating reports came out of India at the end of last year and in the beginning months of 2000. On December 18, 1999, 3 tiger skins and 50 leopard skins were seized at Ghaziabad near Delhi on a truck bound for Siliguri. Siliguri is in the northeast of India on trade routes into Tibet via Sikkim or on to Burma via Assam. On December 27th, 1999, 3000 kgs. of antlers were seized in Uttar Pradesh representing a massive decimation of tiger and leopard prey species. On January 12, 2000, in the town of Khaga (U.P.) an enormous sting operation uncovered 70 leopard skins, 4 tiger skins, 220 blackbuck skins, 18,000 (yes, 18,000!) leopard claws, 132 tiger claws and 150 kgs. of tiger and leopard bone. The list goes on into the year and conservationists in India fear this may just be the ‘tip of the iceberg.’

It is clear that these products were destined for a market far away via smuggling routes through Nepal and in the remote northern corners of India. The skins found in the recent seizures were expertly processed at sophisticated illegal tanneries and certainly meant for the lucrative international market. Nepal’s open border with India to the south and the geographical complexities of the Himalayan mountain range to the north, make control, monitoring, and policing of this illegal trade extremely difficult.

That there is no local market for this decimation of the natural heritage of South Asia must not be forgotten. People in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh do not believe in the efficacy of tiger bone medicine; do not believe that tiger penis soup is an aphrodisiac; do not believe that tiger and leopard claws worn as jewelry give you courage; do not believe that tiger or leopard bones worn as an amulet can bring good luck; do not believe that sitting on tiger skins can prevent fevers caused by evil spirits: and do not want to adorn their offices, dens, and fireplaces with finely tanned tiger and leopard skins. The sad truth is that animals internationally declared as protected and endangered by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) are being slaughtered in the ‘protected’ wildlife reserves of sovereign nations to satisfy beliefs and customs of those thousands of miles away. And why? Because the local product has been slaughtered to the extent that it can no longer meet the demand.

There is no question that the existence of the tiger in the wild continues to be threatened by loss of habitat, economic development, population encroachment, lack of prey species, and the absence of the political will to save the tiger in some host countries. The most immediate threat, however, continues to be poaching to satisfy the market for traditional Chinese medicinal products. It is in support of efforts to stop this that The Fund For The Tiger is dedicated.

Our funds are sent to charitable organizations and their use monitored by internationally known and respected tiger conservationists. In India we support the work of the Wildlife Protection Society of India [WPSI] headed by Belinda Wright and Ashok Kumar. In Nepal our funds are dispersed and monitored in the field by the International Trust for Nature Conservation [ITNC] and its Trustee, Dr. Charles McDougal, with the approval, co-operation, and co-ordination of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

The first six months of 2000, according to Tigerlink News, were the “worst in India’s history for seizures of tiger parts and other large cats.” There is some evidence that the government is finally taking action to stem this tide. The Indian Express reported in May that the central government’s Ministry of Environment and Forests has authorized the use of paramilitary forces to “deal with poachers, dacoits and militants eating into the forests and national parks,” and to uphold the “supremacy of law in our precious forests.” The massive raids reported from Ghaziabad, Khaga, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, have brought into action the Central Bureau of Investigation (C.B.I.)- the Indian equivalent of the F.B.I.

Investigators and lawyers of The Wildlife Protection Society of India are working closely with the C.B.I. as part of their Tiger Poaching and Trade Project and we are pleased that some of our funds are being used to help. I hope to be able to report some interesting results in a future letter.

Funds are also being used in the Corbett-Rajaji-Sonanadi area. In the past few months, the WPSI has been involved in three recent seizures of elephant tusks and 20 kgs. of tiger bones. Anti-poaching patrols have been increased both at Corbett and Sonanadi Sanctuary. Never a dull moment at Corbett. The boat we donated two years ago was tossed ashore in a monsoon storm then crushed by wild elephants. No word yet on whether or not it can be repaired. Sona Kali, the elephant we helped donate to Sonanadi, is doing well. Ashok Kumar visits Sonanadi regularly and our funds continue to provide Sona Kali with food, shelter, and protection. A proper shed has been built, truckloads of sugar cane helped sustain her through the recent winter months, and a solar powered electric fence was built to protect her from wild elephants. The recent increase in poaching activity, and the fact that Sonanadi Sanctuary is a buffer between Corbett and Rajaji, makes Sona Kali’s presence and use in patrols increasingly important.

With our funding, a full-time lawyer has been engaged by the WPSI at Sawai Madhopur to oversee and assist in the prosecution of all tiger and leopard poaching cases at Ranthambhore National Park. As of this writing, seven active cases are under way.

We continue to encourage the WPSI to become more involved in protecting the tigers at Bandhavgarh National Park. They have engaged several people to gather information and work with park officials, and Ashok Kumar has made several trips there to offer support. No official or organized presence is yet in place.

It’s hard to get a clear picture of the tiger status of the entire Bandhavgarh area but tigers are clearly flourishing in the core zone. The much publicized dead tiger who was thought to be Sita-of film and National Geographic fame-was not Sita. Nevertheless, it was a dead tiger and Sita has not been seen in several years. Arrests were made last December and those arrested admitted to the recent killing of four tigers. Old Charger, the male who made his name by his reputation, is literally on his last legs, living on the edge of the park near the main entrance. Of Sita’s final litter with Charger, only the two females, now 3 1/2 years old, have been seen around the Chakhadhara meadow area. One of Sita’s daughters by Charger, Bachhi, born in 1994 and now 6 years old, is now the primary resident tigress. Her litter of three males, now 3 years old, were with a male known as the Kithauli male, not Charger, so there is hope for some genetic diversity if they mate with Sita’s two remaining tigresses. Two of the males are regularly seen in the meadows south of the Bandhavgarh plateau and, as they grow into adulthood, seem to be avoiding each other and respecting each other’s territory. And as of March, 2000, I watched Bachhi share a fresh sambar kill with two four month old cubs. So there is hope...

In June I received several messages from Dr. Charles McDougal and Pradeep Rana of Tiger Tops/Tiger Mountain about events at Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Chitwan National Park.

At Bardia in May, there were arrests of four people trying to sell two different bags of tiger bones, 10 and 15 kgs each (10-15 kgs. would be one full grown tiger) and one complete tiger skin. Again on June 12, the complete skeletons of one tiger, one leopard, and a clouded leopard were confiscated along with a complete python skin. Two men were also arrested trying to sell the tusk of the infamous wild elephant known as Kanchha Gaj. Kanchha Gaj was found dead this Spring near the highway during a rhino census. It was impossible to determine the cause of death as several weeks had passed since the time of death. Those that have been to Bardia will know Kanchha Gaj as the one-tusked mean-spirited elephant that used to strike fear into the domestic elephants, which took us on forays into the jungle. At a request from McDougal, funds from our recent grant to the International Trust for Nature Conservation in Nepal (ITNC) were used to help pay rewards. Though the recent seizures and animal deaths at Bardia are alarming, there appears to be a new and vigorous effort to stop poaching and we are pleased to be of assistance.

At Chitwan, poaching is on the increase, especially of rhinos, in spite of the presence of several anti-poaching units. Tikaram Adhikari, a former deputy warden at Chitwan, has established a mobile anti-poaching unit (APU) and we are pleased to have committed our resources to support him. It was a meeting with Tikaram and McDougal in 1993, and a subsequent visit to the local jail to interview poachers, that inspired me to begin this tiger conservation work. I met with Tikaram at Bardia last year when he was on leave from studies in London. He was clearly disturbed that poaching was on the increase in Nepal. He is a dedicated and fearless gentleman who deserves our support.

Funds were released by Dr. McDougal of the ITNC in 1999 and early 2000 to help support the various surveys being conducted by Mahendra Shrestha and Bhim Gurung. Both Shrestha and Gurung are working with Dr. David Smith of the University of Minnesota and with the co-ordination and approval of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

Mahendra Shrestha has done an extensive biodiversity study of the whole Terai of Nepal (the terai being the southern portion of Nepal wherein lives the tiger and its prey). The aim of his study is to assess tiger distribution, prey density, identify potential tiger habitat that can be restored in the future, and the possible connectivity between protected areas. Though his surveys and conclusions are not completed, he did provide a report to our Fund on his visit to the two anti-poaching units we are funding via the ITNC- at Parsa Wildlife Reserve (Makwanpur) and at Royal Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve (Hirapur/Champapur.) He writes that “the location of the anti-poaching units funded by The Fund For The Tiger are very strategic for the conservation of the tiger...there have been poaching reports from these areas in the past and they remain sensitive today...there is human activity beyond the influence of park and tiger reserve management...and that information from informants engaged in APU activity is very critical to safeguarding wildlife from poaching in these areas.” His report specifically on Sukla Phanta shows that the number of tigers has remained constant (16-18 breeding adults) since the formation of APU’s in that area.

Bhim Gurung, in addition to his surveys of tiger protected areas and the proposed extension of Bardia National park, has established an ambitious network of 30 informants ranging from Sukla Phanta in the Far West to Kosi Thappu in the East. These informants live in the critical areas between the tiger’s protected habitat and will provide information about the presence or absence of the tiger and its prey species. On March 28, I met with Bhim and David Smith at Bardia, and they were gratified to report that 29 of these 30 people had come to Bardia for a meeting to report to Bhim and share information-gathering techniques.

Tiger monitoring and surveys have now taken a new turn in Nepal with a reliance on what is called camera trapping, wherein the tiger takes its own picture by walking through a laser beam from cameras placed at strategic locations throughout tiger habitat. Responsibility for surveying tigers throughout Nepal has been divided between the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation with funding from the World Wildlife Fund and the International Trust for Nature Conservation with assistance from The Fund For The Tiger. Funds sent to the ITNC this year are being used for the purchase of camera trap units and for personnel to carry out the work.

In summary, we remain committed to funding anti-poaching units at Sukla Phanta, Parsa, and the new mobile unit at Chitwan; to providing any support which might be required to protect Bardia; and to assisting McDougal in tiger monitoring and surveys as needed.

In the name of commerce and free enterprise, you can visit the end of the road for the tiger, leopard, and many other endangered Asian species at the small Burmese village of Ta Chi Lek in the ‘Golden Triangle.’ Colleagues in Kathmandu told me of at least 8-9 shops with 10-15 tiger and leopard skins hanging in each shop. Tiger bones and other animal products were also readily available. Perhaps this was one of the destinations for the goods seized in the Indian raids earlier in the year. Just leave your passport at Mae Sae in northern Thailand and take a day visit to the open markets of Ta Chi Lek. All in a day’s shopping.

President Clinton and daughter Chelsea visited Ranthambhore National Park during a visit to India in March of this year. On a jeep ride through the park with Fateh Singh Rathore, they saw two Bengal tigers and were clearly impressed. At the helipad constructed specifically for the Clinton visit, conversations on tiger conservation were had with Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society, Valmik Thapar of The Ranthambhore Foundation, and P.K. Sen of Project Tiger. In official speeches prior to his departure from India, Clinton twice spoke of the plight of the tiger and encouraged India to “preserve your tiger population. It’s an important part of India’s heritage.” This was the strongest message to date by a major world leader regarding the importance of wildlife conservation. It remains to be seen if there will be any lasting effect on the political will of India to save its tigers.

Japan finally agreed last December to ban the trade in tiger parts. Japan being an island which has never had an indigenous tiger on its soil. Effective April of this year, the sale and handling of tiger fur, skins, claws, organs, and male sexual organs as well as all products listing tiger parts as ingredients became illegal. A loophole was left in the law allowing existing stocks of tiger parts, if approved and registered by the government; and tiger parts can still be obtained with prior government approval for ‘scientific purposes.’ Given the precarious state of the tiger in the world today, what ‘scientific purposes’ could possibly be served by dead tigers?

As a result of a suit filed by the Wildlife Protection Society of India, on May 1 of this year, an Indian court banned the manufacture and sale of shahtoosh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Shahtoosh is the extremely soft and delicate wool derived from the chiru- an endangered Tibetan antelope. Jammu and Kashmir has long contended that this was an internal matter and that the chiru was not necessarily slaughtered for its wool. Conservationists have proven this to be incorrect. The chiru is slaughtered by Tibetans and the wool smuggled into India via Nepal and its own northern border with Tibet. Shahtoosh is often bartered for tiger bones at the exchange rate of two bags of wool for one bag of bones.

Mountain Travel/Sobek continues to donate all profits from their annual Save The Tiger trip to The Fund For The Tiger. The trip, which visits Bandhavgarh National Park in India and Royal Bardia National Park in Nepal, is an excellent way for people to travel into the heart of tiger country, see a tiger in the wild, and make a significant contribution to tiger conservation work.. The Save The Tiger trip recently received an Honorable Mention Award in the Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s Eco-Tourism Awards.

The email address of The Fund For The Tiger means 'long live the tiger' in the Nepali language.

It’s early morning and the dappled sunlight is just breaking through the trees of the deep Bandhavgarh forest. We’re driving down a small dirt lane between Sera and Rajbera Meadows, behind the massive plateau from which Bandhavgarh takes its name. Our road is suddenly blocked by the massive grey bulk which is Gautam, the lead elephant used for patrols, tiger monitoring and tourist forays into the jungle. Atop Gautam is Kuttapan, the renowned mahout who has been at Bandhavgarh for 24 years and who knows more about its tigers than anyone. Kuttapan gets my attention and points to something on the road. It’s the distinct impression of a tiger’s body which has recently laid down on the road. The imprint -torso, fore-paws and tail- lies clearly over any tracks or disturbances which may have come in the night.

Off to the right we hear the distinct “bleep-bleep”- the alarm call of the chital, or spotted deer, announcing the presence of a predator. Kuttapan and Gautam go off to investigate and we begin to drive around to intercept them on the other side of the forest. Not ten yards down the road, a loud “varoom”- the call of the tiger, is heard, and we slide to a halt on the dusty road. Walking directly towards us at a distance of 100 yards is a large male tiger. It’s one of Bachhi’s 3-year-old males known to share this territory with his brother.

We sit in stunned silence and open jeeps. Some cameras continue to whir and click and some knuckles begin to whiten as grips tighten on the seats and roll bars of the jeep. The tiger continues his insouciant stroll directly towards us. About 20 yards from our jeep, he walks into a small clearing off the road, turns to mark a tree with his scent, then comes back out on to the road and walks past us within 3 feet of the jeep. Suspension of all breathing is the easiest thing in the world at a moment like this.

When the tiger is about 50 yards past us, our reverie is broken by a commotion in the forest across the road. Anil, our Nepali naturalist, whispers loudly, “WOLVES!” There, propped up like little statues in a clearing in the forest, are two Indian grey wolves. Rigid, alert, clearly in a state of alarm and agitation, they begin yelping at the tiger. The tiger spins around on the road and charges off into the forest after them.

We drive down the road to where it curves back to where we were originally headed to meet Kuttapan and Gautam. There in an open clearing stands the tiger, looking around as if to ask “Where’d they go?” We park the jeeps and watch an incredible silent drama unfold.

As the tiger turns to walk away, out of the forest comes the larger of the wolves, probably the male, and scampers up to within a few yards of the tiger. The tiger turns his head and the wolf scampers back into the forest. The tiger continues to walk away down the road. Out of the forest comes the larger wolf again and scampers up to within what is apparently a safe distance from the tiger. This time the tiger turns around and glowers at the wolf, probably assessing the distance between them and the speed it would take to catch the wolf. They stare at each other for a few seconds, the tiger is still, and the wolf is nervously pacing back and forth. The muscles of the tiger begin to twitch and off goes the wolf into the forest again. Finally after one more of these encounters, the tiger has now moved some distance away and the wolf disappears one last time into the forest. One can only assume that the aggressive and bold behavior of the wolf meant he was protecting some pups and wanted to be sure the tiger was driven out of his territory.

The tiger, now left in peace, continues his stroll. He moves off the road into a patch of golden grass ablaze with sunlight, marks the spot with his spray, turns around, crosses the road in front of our jeeps, and disappears into the forest. This marking of territory and turning around was not whimsical. A few hundred yards down the road, Kuttapan and Gautam have found the tiger they were looking for, the brother, relaxing in the dry leaves of a bamboo forest, his nose still visibly scarred from a fight with Charger.

Kipling could not have scripted this better. Though he never visited the forests of Central India, his fabled jungle stories took place in these hills- what is now Madhya Pradesh and the forests of Kanha and Bandhavgarh. Shere Khan and the wily wolves in a taunting, even mocking, dance of survival.

Centuries of beliefs and customs empowered by myth die hard, but it is our belief that if the tiger is left in peace, with a reasonable amount

of protected habitat, it will indeed survive as the most powerful and vibrant animal to ever grace the forests and jungles of Asia.

If you wish to help, please send your contribution to The Fund For The Tiger at P.O. Box 2, Woodacre, California, 94973. The Fund For The Tiger is a tax exempt non profit public charity registered in the State of California.

The Fund For The Tiger would like to thank all those listed below who have made contributions in 1999 and through August of 2000. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Mountain Travel/Sobek

The American Himalayan Foundation

The Martin and Doris Payson Foundation

Pamela Gray

Janette Rice

Andrew and Julie Constantin

Mike and Janet Finn

William A. Newsom

Everett W. Trout

Tom Harriman

Robert Fowler

Stuart and Carla Gordon

Eastern Savings Bank of Maryland

Stan Armington/Adventrue Travel Ltd.

Erica Stone

James and Wenda O’Reilly

Christina Taft

Jeff Harriman

Jim and Janice Borrow

Anne Marie DeMatteis

Coleen Nutty

Phillip White

Tom McCormack

Rodger Young

Constance Speight

Doris Litton

Anne T. Murphy

Kim and Micky Sullivan

Howard E. Horner

Joyce Brukoff

Barbara Waggoner

Andrew Layton

Karen Gale

Chris DeRose

Venkat/Anu Girish for Kiran Girish

Venkat/Anu Girish for Sridhar Teklur

Jim and Karen Fayallot

Pacific Area Travel Association/Norcal

Nick Javaras

Lee and Connie Pratt

G. David Austin

Pat Miller

Terry and Jenifer Readdick

Leonard Stein

Jigme Yugay

Alan and Lynn Charne

Alyssa Pava

Ted Baglin

Hilda Lichtenstein

Stacy Basham-Wagner

Joan Antle-Schmidt

Robert J. Waller

Lee Ann Fisher

Susan Lynn Burrell

Valina Scovel

George Doubleday

Stan Ebbinghausen

Michael Groza & Associates

Jean Schwier

Maridee Hegstrom

Sheila Blake

Melinda Barnes

Neil and Anne Harper

Marie Slonski

Ellen Rajewski

Pamela Jensen

Katherine Munson

A.C. (Anonymous)

Delores Hovey

Mike and Billie Strauss

Robert and Debby Law

Aggie Chon Bayer

Bruce and Janet Minkiewicz

Rodney Jackson and Darla Hillard

Elizabeth and Stuart Muench

Paul Minkiewicz

Aimee Whitman

Lewis Byington

Jo Ann Sorbo

Amy Christopher

Rusty Gutwillig

John and Patricia Bennan

Laura Neta Temple for Kaye Siemers

Ruth Scott

Agnes Minkiewicz

Doris Constenius

Manjeri and Subashree Krishnan

Allison Dean Walker

Doug Murken

Coulter Adams

Jeff Prchal

Michelle Bolotin

Dale Kennedy

William Krenz

Sally Gutting Redmond

Bobbie Bynum

Marty Maxwell

Alexandra Snyder

Rosslyn Gaines

Mark, Lynne and Allison Kudzy

Lori Ravit

Harry Beckenholdt

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