Raising effective funds for tiger conservation

This time last year, Executive Director, Olivia, and 7 British colleagues headed in to the Sumatran jungles, somewhat apprehensively, on their first ever anti-poaching patrol. They didn’t have much idea what they were in for.

What would they sleep under? Would the creepy crawlies get in? Would they cope with the fast pace and terrain and what about the leeches? What happens if they came across some tiger poachers – sit down and have a chat and take some selfies apparently.

One year on and Olivia can say she has raised £6,000 Woo Hoo (Donate Here if you feel like it). Olivia dragged friends round the Yorkshire 3 peaks, had a Jumble in the Jungle sale, got the Heptonstall 1st Brownies to serve Tea for Tigers and gave talks to a number of schools that went on to do their own fundraising.

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Olivia and Juanda pointing out an old unsuccessful trap[/caption] The funds have been transferred to the Tiger Conservation and Protection Team, Sumatra and WVI’s Tiger Health Programme have already had an impact. Poachers have actually been caught and prosecuted. Possibly the very ones that Olivia disturbed whilst tracking them through Kerinci National Park. “We had been following unsuccessful traps that had been dismantled for a few days, almost becoming blase about finding so many,” writes Olivia. “Suddenly we came to an area where the path widened and the atmosphere changed immediately. One minute we were laughing at how us English endlessly fall over in the jungle, forgetting that we were actually there with people who were doing a job other than looking after us. Next there was a horrified silence. “Even to the untrained eye it was obvious that we were looking at a scene where something awful had happened. The Tiger Team instantly went to work looking for clues, all talking at the same time, describing to us how the tiger must have been caught by his back foot, that he must have been a male in his prime because of how high up the nearest tree the scratches went. “The Tiger Team went on to demonstrate how the tiger must have grasped another tree and tried to pull himself out of the trap, how canine indents in the tree showed he would have used his huge teeth to help pull.

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Claw marks on the tree where the tiger will have tried to pull himself out of the snare[/caption] “Even though the scene was three months old, under fallen leaves there were gouges in the soil, faeces scattered all around. The tree that would have acted as a spring for the wire snare had clearly visible rings on the trunk, burnt by the wire as the tiger struggled. And lastly, a bullet hole quite high up a tree. The ‘boys’ didn’t think this was the one that had killed the tiger, but had this bullet maimed the tiger? “The boys shook their heads, sounded angry, frustrated and disappointed. They showed us the shack the poachers would have stayed in while they dealt with the dead tiger, skinning it and boiling bones on the fire. “They told us of where the poachers probably came from, 2 days walk from here, how they weren’t poor, just greedy. The poachers would get about 3,000,000 Indonesian Rupees (£177) per metre of tiger. Not a huge amount once divided between them. Enough for a new motorbike or TV. The trade in tiger was GREED, not NEED.Of how corrupt the police and judicial service can be. “Finally they all sat down, shaking their heads at the sorry situation and muttering ‘we have failed’ and ‘if the Tiger Team are corrupt, no more tigers in Kerinci’. “The three of us Brits felt sick. We had been bowled over by what had happened here, to see poaching face to face and to realise what it means to be part of the Tiger Team to the individuals and the risks they take to protect the Sumatran tiger. Our respect for the Tiger Team reached new heights. Boots on the ground make a difference and our funds, once they reached Sumatra, would make a difference. “We went on to find two active snares, which we dismantled, and a third snare that must have been dug up by the poachers while we were digging up the others. On our return to the Benkulu base we found the other teams had also dismantled active snares. We brought out seven in total,” remembers Olivia.

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A tiger in a snare found by the Tiger Team in 2015. Credit Juanda[/caption] As a result of dragging us through the forest the TCPU – a partnership between Kerinci Seblat National Park and Fauna and Flora International – concentrated their efforts on the area where we had found the snares. But success lay ahead. Earlier this year the TCPU caught a poacher and his middle man/king pin with tiger skin and bones. In June they received the toughest sentences ever handed down under current Indonesian wildlife law. RESULT. On WVI’s Tiger Health Programme (the funds went to both projects) the results are less dramatic but no less valuable. The development of a network to survey disease across Sumatra has hit some temporary stumbling blocks. In the Bangladeshi Sundarbans, however, a pilot study to test villages for the presence of Canine Distemper Virus is already producing great results and the study is under way in other villages. Canine Distemper Virus is known to be affecting tigers in Russia to the extent it is contributing to the death of 1% of the remaining 450-500 Amur tigers per year. WVI vet John Lewis thinks it is highly likely to be present and affecting tiger populations in Sumatra, Bangladesh and India. Surveying for the extent of the disease in these areas is the first step to reducing the threat.

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So striding across the hills, dealing with jumble and baking cakes wasn’t in vain! Should you like to help tigers, please sponsor her here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/OliviaWalter.