This is our friend, JK Thimma of the Jenu Kuruba tribe. Like his ancestors before him, he worships the tiger, and his people have called the Nilgiri forests of southern India home since time immemorial. 

“Protecting the forest, birds and animals is part of our way of life and we’ve always done it,” JK told Survival. “If you look at every corner of this world, wherever there is forest, there will be Adivasis [indigenous people].”

Today is International Tiger Day. We should be thanking the Jenu Kuruba for protecting the tigers.

Instead, the Indian government is trying to kick them out of their homelands in the name of “conservation.”

And the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is guilty of using U.S. federal money to “facilitate” these illegal evictions.

WCS has led the call to remove tribal people from India’s tiger reserves for years and claims the evictions are “voluntary relocations.”

But there’s nothing “voluntary” about them. 

The Jenu Kuruba say, “WCS go to the Forest Department and bring officials and come here to tell us to leave.” Six months ago they wrote to the US government objecting to its funding of “relocations.” They’ve had no reply. 

Evicting tribes from their ancestral lands destroys them. It’s also bad for the tigers and conservation. It’s land theft, and it’s illegal under Indian and international law.

Please help stop these evictions that devastate lives. Please write, today, to those responsible.

With many thanks,

Alice

To: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Stop supporting illegal evictions in India’s tiger reserves 

Dear Dr Samper and Secretary Bernhardt, 

I am very alarmed to hear that WCS, with financial aid from the U.S. government, is supporting the eviction of tribal peoples from India’s tiger reserves. 

In January 2020, the Jenu Kuruba wrote to the U.S. government and made clear they do not consent to leaving their forest. They said the use of federal money in this way is “aiding and abetting the government and WCS’s plans to evict us from our forests.”

I am shocked that the Jenu Kuruba have not received a response.

As you will be aware, relocating indigenous people without free, prior and informed consent is illegal under Indian and international law. 

Such evictions destroy lives. They are also disastrous for conservation, as tribal peoples are the best conservationists. 

I urge WCS and the US government to stop supporting illegal evictions in India’s tiger reserves and respect the rights of the country’s tribal peoples to live in and protect their forests.