Summer 2025

Dear Friends:

INDIA

The Central India tiger conservation success story this past decade was largely due to the brilliant and hard-hitting work of Nitin Desai and the entire Central India team from the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI).  In 2013, a major operation in Maharashtra and again in the small town of Gandai near Bandhavgarh in 2015, resulted in the arrest of four major tiger poaching kingpins, two from a 30-member tribal community called the Bahelias. Upon questioning, the poachers confessed that their separate teams had killed 11 tigers in the prior eight months.  One poacher was in possession of 18 kgs. of fresh tiger bones and had recently purchased five tiger skins in Central India and sold them to buyers in China, via Nepal, with the help of two Tibetan couriers. Upon questioning, they confessed that they were not the only traders in operation and that three other syndicates had taken 20 to 25 dead tigers from Central India between October of 2012 and May of 2013.  A list of 80 wanted poachers was prepared by the authorities. Twenty-six were arrested. The aforementioned two hard-hitting operations devastated the tiger poaching syndicates and for nearly ten years there was not one recorded incident of tiger poaching for international trade in Central India. Sadly, that has changed.

Two recent cases point to a resurgence of organized tiger poaching in Central India after a lull of almost a decade.  In 2023, the WPSI received intelligence that poaching gangs were again operating in Central India’s tiger landscape. Investigations proved that 4 tigers had been killed in Maharashtra and the contraband was now using a different trade route out of Assam in NE India as opposed to the tradtional smuggling routes through Nepal and onto China via Tibet. Trade then continued on to Mong La in Myanmar destined for the infamous wildlife smuggling mecca, the Chinese-controlled Special Economic Zone on the Lao-China Border.  In 2024, the Rajura case resulted in the arrest of 16 individuals, including a known wildlife smuggling kingpin along with two known wildlife criminals with links to traditional tribal poaching networks, the Bahelias and Bawarias. Follow-up investigations revealed a widespread network of tiger poachers and traders, innovative payment methods, and confirmed the trade routes from NE India through Myanmar and on to the market-place in the Far East. At least 3 tigers are confirmed to have been killed in the forests of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Sadly, Central India has again become a source to feed the global demand for tiger derivatives.

Not wanting to fritter away 10 brilliant years of tiger conservation success in Central India, the WPSI in early 2025 decided to launch an aggressive campaign to nip this malevolent tide in the bud. They asked for our help and we readily agreed. This is exactly the type of battle we want to join to protect India’s wild tigers. Their thank-you note was brilliant:

“With The Fund for the Tiger’s firepower behind us, WPSI is about to unleash a new wave of planned ground action to defend Central India’s tigers — just like in 2013, when we helped the authorities take down ruthless wildlife crime syndicates. We will do this with bold ground operations by Nitin Desai and his field teams, persistent legal prosecutions by our consultant lawyer and our game-changing Secret Information Reward Scheme, which supports and fuels an unstoppable and growing network of brave informers.”

It is with great pleasure that, since 1996, The Fund for The Tiger has been able to partner with, and support, various hard-hitting and effective programs of The Wildlife Protection Society of India [WPSI] under the dynamic leadership of Belinda Wright. Its signature campaign, The Investigation into Poaching and Trade of Wild Tigers, has been a huge success. As examples, in 2024, Nitin Desai and legal Advocate Manjula Shrivastava conducted 16 wildlife law enforcement workshops, training 1,899 enforcement officials.  In 2024,  Desai, along with his field teams and a network of informers, leveraged the Secret Information Reward Scheme (SIRS) to assist authorities in apprehending 23 alleged poachers and wildlife criminals. One significant operation took place in December 2024, leading to the seizure of tiger claws, bones and teeth, as well as Nilgai horns and Chital antlers. WPSI’s Field Officer, guided by Desai on the ground, directly assisted authorities in this case, which led to the arrest of seven suspects in Maharashtra.

In 2011, we assisted in starting the WPSI’s Tiger Conservation Awareness program, which I codenameed Operation Bondomobile, to create anti-poaching tiger conservation awareness in the fringe villages of Kanha and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves. Since its inception, this successful initiative has actively engaged local communities in wildlife conservation efforts, reaching out to communities living in the forest-fringes of critical tiger habitats, visiting weekly markets, presenting wildlife conservation awareness film screening, and distributing Secret Information Rewards information.

Since 2001, we have supported a WPSI Field Officer operating in and around Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. He runs the Bondomobile effort, conducts wildlife crime education workshops with students and young forest officers, and is a liaison with the Forest Department when a crisis emerges. He has become a major partner in Nitin Desai’s aggressive Poaching and Trade operations across Central India.     

I have often written that we are helping the right people in the right places and that our partners in India and Nepal are clearly making a difference, working at ground zero, boots on the ground, to preserve and protect the wild tiger and its habitat. This thank you letter from Belinda Wright of The Wildlife Protection Society of India dated April 28 is validating and immensely gratifying:

“Your support to WPSI since 1996 has been one of the most important pillars in WPSI’s mission to tackle emerging tiger poaching and trade threats. We especially value this partnership because no other donor understands and backs the core, on-the-ground enforcement work the way you do - whether it is Nitin’s tiger conservation efforts in Central India, our legal team’s work to prosecute cases under the P&T program, or one of our most impactful initiatives - the Secret Information Reward Scheme, which encourages communities to confidentially report wildlife crime, and provides essential rewards to build our trusted informer networks.”

NEPAL

Nepal was the first country to meet the goal of doubling its tiger population set at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010, with its numbers soaring from 121 to 355.  Nepal’s success in tiger conservation and the increase in human-tiger conflict has now started a debate on whether or not Nepal has too many tigers. Some poltitcians, even Prime Minister Oli,  have actually called for “tiger diplomacy” - gifting tigers to other countries. Hard core conservationists argue that moving tigers to a country that has allowed tigers to become extinct without any political will for tiger conservation would be the ‘height of folly.’  Thus far in 2025, deaths from tiger attacks have decreased, and most conservationists agree that Nepal can remain respectful of its current tiger-carrying capacity, properly manage habitat, sustain prey density, and balance the needs and security of villages surrounding tiger populations.  Meanwhile, where the stripes are, this is what we are doing to help:

With the vision of Dr. Bhim Gurung, The Fund for The Tiger in 2009 began funding the Community Based Anti-Poaching Unit (CBAPU) at Dalla in the southwestern corner of Nepal’s Bardia National Park.  Our facility is at the edge of the Khatta corridor, a network of 74 community forests covering 202 sq km, providing safe passage for tigers between Bardia National Park in Nepal and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in India.  We received an excellent year-end report in June.  Highlights include: 40 members from our Dalla Post regularly conduct anti-poaching patrols with the National Park rangers and the Nepal Army; 6 anti-poaching awareness programs were conducted by the Dalla team, targeting local community members and children from the Khatta Community Forest; camera trapping was conducted in the Khatta Corridor showing a high tiger occupancy; and it's been a busy year in the greater Bardia landscape on the human-wildlife conflict story. In this recent reporting year there have been 8 incidents of tiger-human conflict and 3 involving leopards. One person was killed by a tiger and 2 by leopards. Two tigers were deemed dangerously aggressive and transported to Park holding centers. All other tigers and leopards were released deep into the core forest area. There were also 10 incidents of our Dalla team trying to prevent wild bull elephants from destroying village crops and buildings.

Based on the success of the CBAPU at Dalla Post, Bardia, we have consolidated our efforts at Chitwan National Park (CNP) in Nepal and, in 2018, initiated a CBAPU at Meghauli village. Dr. Bhim Gurung coordinates this program through the Nepal Tiger Trust. (NTT).  Our team conducts regular patrolling with the Nepal Army and Chitwan National Park rangers. Like at Bardia, the CBAPU is involved in communicating with local villagers to mitigate human wildlife conflict issues, and, working together with CNP to provide logistical anti-poaching field support.

We continue to support the Long-Term Tiger Monitoring Project started by Chuck McDougal. I received word on May 19th that the camera trapping season was concluded prior to the start of the monsoon and is awaiting results. Our two main tiger trackers, Baburam Mahato and Raju  Kumal, work closely with the Park Warden and conduct tiger monitoring training sessions for new ranger trainees and game scouts. They are the first to be called as the Rapid Response team when issues of human-wildlife conflict arise.  The latest report from Baburam confirms that there have been fewer tiger-human conflicts in the past year but one death by tiger and two by rhino in early 2025. And as I edit this letter, news comes that on July 11 a 68-year old man was killed by a tiger while collecting fodder in a Buffer Zone Community Forest on the edge of Chitwan.

While pundits in Kathmandu debate whether or not Nepal has too many tigers, interesting statistics show that the tragic story of human-wildlife conflict is about more than just the tiger.  The Kathmandu Post reports in a March 9th story that at Chitwan National Park, 127 people have lost their lives in wildlife attacks over the past 11 years. Of those 127, only 40 have been killed by tigers. The rest were killed by rhinos, wild elephants and leopards.  So there’s that!

BANDHAVGARH

Since 1994 I have led 24 tiger conservation trips and taken 221 people to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Central India. Many of you reading this letter travelled with me on that trip. This is for you. I sent an email to my good friend, guide, and naturalist, Jagat Chaturvedi, in mid-June asking him about the status of the tiger there. Tigers are flourishing in the core areas, and sightings have included leopards, wild elephants, and sloth bears.  It’s good to hear that my favorite zone, Tala, near the main entrance and town by the same name, is back to its glory days. Jagat wrote a detailed listing of tiger sightings over the past year. In the 4 main zones, Tala, Maghdi, Khitauli, and Panpatha, 27 tigers range from 4-5 month-old cubs to 2 ½ year old sub-adults ready to disperse. Not all these tigers will survive the dispersal process of carving out their own territory, but it does seem certain that for years to come, Bandhavgarh will maintain its maximum tiger carrying capacity. The future looks good. From Jagat on June 14th:

“As the monsoon season begins and core zones close for tourism, Bandhavgarh wraps up a remarkable season filled with dramatic shifts, new life, and unforgettable moments. Tala soared back to legendary status. Khitauli braved tragedy and ended with hope. Magadhi offered subtle charm and diversity. Panpatha emerged as an underdog success. We now look forward to October, hoping to witness this season’s young cubs grow into rulers of the forest and the legend of Bandhavgarh’s tigers continue. Jai Bagh – Long Live the Tiger, Spirit of the Jungle.”

Stories from our past…

The Morning Drive Was Uneventful

Bandhavgarh, INDIA 2008

We took our time leaving Tiger Den Lodge to avoid the 6 a.m. mass of jeeps waiting at the front gate of the park.  We had decided to forego looking for tigers this morning in order to visit the ancient Fort and ruins atop the Bandhavgarh plateau.  Bandhavgarh gets its name from the massive plateau rising 900 ft. from the meadow floor.  It means ‘brothers footstep’ originating in the ancient Hindu epic, the Ramayana.  Within minutes of entering the park, we passed the small Shiva lingam shrine that our guides always pay their respects to.  Just beyond, at a lovely meadow called Siddhibaba, several jeeps are parked along the side of the road.  An elephant was out in the meadow and someone was standing up filming movement in the grass.  The guide was an old friend from past visits and asked if we wanted to get on the two idle elephants. No one else was around.  The large male tiger was B-2, or Banda, the reigning monarch in this part of the park and near him was the lovely tigress named Chorebera.  They followed each other across the meadow, through the grass, and up into a small ravine.  Suddenly a loud roar broke the morning quiet as the tigress attempted to spurn B-2’s amorous intent.  Several of my group watched the whole affair.  Filmed it even.  The shame. No word yet on the success of the coupling.  B-2 ambled off into the hillside and the Chorebera tigress went to lay up on a rock striking a gorgeous angle of repose.

So off to the Fort we went.  The road has been opened so you could drive to the top instead of hiking up from the Temple of the Sleeping Vishnu at the base of the cliff.  The Fort is a fascinating place.  You pass massive wooden doors with large metal spikes intended to fend off attacks by armies on elephants.  Caves and long-emptied rooms contain thousands of bats.  Statues and stone carvings speak of civilizations living there long before and during the reign of the Maharajas of Rewa.  A temple inhabited by one lone sadhu, or holy man, sits at the edge of the cliff looking down on the meadows and its tigers.  We parked our jeep and got out to walk around.  We came out of a small temple to Lord Rama, walked along a massive water storage hole hundreds of yards wide, and wondered aloud how many slaves it took to dig this for the Master.  Tom and Judy were ahead of me with one of the park guides.  Suddenly I noticed the guide frantically pointing to something in the grass, and, not 30 yards in front of us, out walked none other than the reigning matriarch, the Chakhadara Tigress.  It all happened so fast that for a fleeting moment we continued walking towards the tiger as if in some excited reflex action to check out something cool.  Reality set in and we froze in our tracks.  By then the tigress had given us one good stare, turned, and with haughty insouciance, trotted off down the lane and disappeared into the grass, probably happy to get away from Those That Walk on Two Legs.

As we were leaving the Park we drove past Siddhibaba again and the elephants were still out swaying thought the grass in the meadow. We were invited for another ride and as we entered the forest, there was the gorgeous Chorebera Tigress laying up on the rocks.  Like I said, the morning drive was uneventful.

*                      *                      *

The Fund for The Tiger was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit public charity in August, 1995.  I am extremely pleased to be able to say that as of June 30, 2025 we have been able to give $1,574,556 to help tiger conservation work in India and Nepal. To those of you who have contributed to this, our heartfelt THANK YOU!

A special thank you to the American Himalayan Foundation, World Charity Foundation, The McDougal Foundation, the Linda & David Forman Fund, the Wildcat Sanctuary of Minnesota, Bill and Meredith Bishop, and Delanie Read for their generous support.

JAIBAGH- the email address of The Fund for The Tiger, means “long live the tiger” in the Nepali language. Please check out our new website with expanded essays and photographs at: www.thefundforthetiger.org.                                     

If you wish to help, please send your contribution to:  The Fund for The Tiger at P. O. Box 2, Woodacre, California, 94973 or go to the Donate button on our website. The Fund for The Tiger is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity registered in the State of California.  Your contribution is deductible for tax purposes within the limits of the law.

Sincerely,

Brian K. Weirum
Chairman

The Fund for The Tiger

The Fund for The Tiger would like to thank all those listed below who have made contributions in 2024 through June of 2025.  Your support is greatly appreciated.

The American Himalayan FoundationThe American Himalayan Foundation

Scott McDougal/World Charity Foundation

The McDougal Foundation

Linda & David Forman Fund/New Hampshire Charitable Foundation

Delanie Read

The Wildcat Sanctuary of Minnesota

Bill & Meredith Bishop

Laura Laesecke & Michael Kurinij

Ron & Barbara Cook Family Fund

Mountain Travel Sobek

Robert & Michelle Friend Philanthropic Fund

Ann Nichols

Dean Alper in honor of Project Nepal

Isabel Allende 

Nicolas Frias

Martin Cruz & Emily Smith

Michael Krasny

Stuart & Carla Gordon Charitable Fund

April H. Salisbury

Mike & Janet Finn

Ernest & Leslie Zomalt

Sally Gutting Redmond

Joan Edmunds

Christina Taft

Karen Uyesugi

Peter Pfau & Kim Starr

Jarrett  & Mary Wyant

Chris Stahler

Spencer & Stacey Sias Fund

Larry Fahn

Dudley & Mari Houghton/Austin Community Foundation

Sharon Morris

Paul I. Hansen

Susette Lyons

Aimee Whitman

Wallace McOuat & Claire Young

Stephen DeLapp

Sarah Lichtenstein

Vicki  & Steve Beck

Barbara Endean

Cathy Ann Taylor & Thupten Cholang

Elizabeth Rousseau

Jigme & Nima Raptentsetsang

Regina Yando & John Mordes

Terry & Jenifer Readdick

Dan Miller

Susan Lijewski

Anita Lijewski

Kay Klumb

Dolores M. Hovey Trust

Phil & Debra White

Rusty Gutwillig

Stephen & Britt Thal

Neil & Anne Harper Family fund

Bob Law

Anne & Frank Hayden

Alfred E. Janssen

Susan L. Burrell

Janice Borrow

Warren R. Perry

James O’Reilly

John Flinn

Larry Habegger

Alice Treinis

Gina Park

Michelle LaCagnina

Carla Pena Gaiser

Nick & Sandra Javaras

Tom Harriman

Kouji & Mary Nakata

Ron & Erica Rubenstein

Rod Sacconaghi

Albert Fisk & Judith Harris

Bill Fisk & Susan Honey

Bruce Encke

Diane White

Jeffrey S. Rudsten for Susan J. Kay

Eve Bergeron

Lloyd & Jane Wiborg

Steve Beckwith

Hal & Carol Sherley

Karen Gerken & David Griffin

Cia & Pat Donahue

Jay Mancini/The Mancini Company

Elizabeth Calvert

James Nelson

Rodger Young

Lauren James

Alyson McMinn

Gail Billions Thompson

Gerald & Shela Bordin

N.T. Ricker

Margaret Starkey

R. Crawford Carlson

Bonnie Smetts

Alan & Lynn Charne

Catherine Crawford

Dennis Bicker

Stacy Basham Wagner

John & Patricia Bennan

Anne Sigmon

Toni Murphy

Jan Leklikner

Rene Kunz

Kathryn & Peter Fudge

Gary Buslik

Dennis Porter

Elizabeth Muench

Tom Neuburger 

Tamara Goldsmith & Randy Zucker

Anne Hoffman

Dyanne & Kevin Howley

Claudio Sanna

Laren Hockinson

Robert & Suzanne Mellor

Brad Newsham

Tom Bentley

Paul & Kate Habegger

Bruce Habegger

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