Update:   Fantastic News!

The fundraiser hit its target (it was £716 in the end) and now the tigers' solar pumps can be mended so that they, and other wildlife in the area, have water to drink.   The background story is below.

However, it's not too late to donate to give tigers water!  Tigers4ever have another Global Giving campaign called Water For Bandhavgarh's Tigers - Reducing Conflict and they still need donations for that.  Read the background to this appeal here.

Background Story....

A herd of wild elephants have moved to Bandhavgarh.  And they have been very naughty and destroyed two solar pumps which power the borewell pumps at two waterhole sites.

The tigers in the area are more than a bit miffed, and they are worried, too, because the drought season is rapidly approaching, and they need water to survive.  As do many other animals in the area.

As a result of the elephants’ actions, the tigers need the solar pumps to be mended and of course they don’t have any money.

Please will you help the tigers?

It’s easy to do.  

Tigers4ever, an amazing charity which works to give tigers a future, has a Global Giving campaign. They need to raise £803, and you can contribute to the campaign here. 

Tigers4ever aim to do two things with this campaign:

1. Replace the broken solar panels so that water under the ground can be pumped to the surface again – then the animals will have a source of water and won’t need to go into villages looking for water.
   
   
2. Put up fencing around the solar pump that’s elephant proof so that the solar pumps will be protected.   They are looking at using chilli fences and beehive fences to deter the elephants but these will need to be funded.

Anyway, the tigers and the other animals in the area would really appreciate your help.  They want and need access to water to survive and thrive.  Please help them and contribute towards giving them water.

Please donate to help the tigers' ongoing water appeal here

Have you ever stopped to think about the impact rat poison has on rats?

Two inspiring women, one in her teens, have put a website together called Rat Poison Facts to help people understand the impact.

They want to bring an end to animal mistreatment and the poisoning of the ecosystem by stopping the use of rat poison.

So the goal of Rat Poison Facts is to raise awareness:

• How some rodent control methods are inefficient
• How some rodent control methods could be dangerous for children, pets and other wildlife
• How some rodent control can harm our ecosystems
• How cruel and inhumane some methods to get rid of rats can be
• Humane alternatives to dealing with rats

When a rat takes in rat poison, there are all sorts of possible implications for the rat, such as internal bleeding, dehydration and dramatically bloated stomachs from overfeeding substances containing gas).  Death can be very slow and painful.

Rat poison can be dangerous to people as well – young children end up in hospital every year because of it.  Pets may eat it by mistake.

The site has very helpful education resources, with useful links, including how you can get rid of rats in a humane way, with humane ways to keep your house rat-free that work.

You can find more information  on RatPoisonFacts website.

WCS Argentina has a new initiative!  And it involves dogs, sheep and pumas.

WCS is working to reduce conflict between herders and the wild carnivores who stalk their sheep flocks. 

The dogs are a mix of Anatolian shepherd and Great Pyrenees.   They watch over the domestic goats and sheep herds, protecting them from pumas, foxes, condors and other predators.

And because the dogs are protecting their flocks, the herds have stopped resorting to shooting, poisoning or trapping wildlife.  And there are a couple of wins here:

• Wild carnivores have a better future – many are endangered, such as the Andean cat
• Herds don’t need so many animals in a herd – and that means there’s less overgrazing and desertification is reduced.

Find out more from WCS Argentina