Belinda Wright (Special Tiger Award)

(2005)

Belinda Wright She is a dismantler of the illegal wildlife trade, a warm-hearted conservationist and a passionate champion of nature. Founder and Executive Director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), this die-hard wildlifer was decorated with the Order of the British Empire in June 2003 by the Queen of England “for the protection of wildlife and endangered species in India.

“Working with WPSI colleag ues and with allies across the globe, she recently exposed the hideous trade in tiger, leopard and other wild animal skins being exported to Tibet. Using a spycam, she exposed the Tibet skin trade route (Sanctuary Vol. XXV No. 5, October 2005) and her investigative work unveiled the links that tied the tragic death of the tigers of Sariska to Tibetans, for whom ‘chubas’, made from skins have become a dangerous fashion. Belinda is the daughter of Ann Wright who was a wildlife activist in the 1960s and ’70s and the famous Bob Wright who loved and worked for Kanha till the day he died. She has spent her entire life in India, guided by her passion for the tiger.

She has often risked her life working undercover against lethal foes and has actually stared at the wrong end of a gun barrel in her quest to stem the tiger bone trade. In 1985, she won two Emmy Awards and 14 international awards for her National Geographic film ‘Land of the Tiger’. She has co-authored five books. Her writings grace books, magazines, exhibitions and scientific journals across the world. She is a dismantler of the illegal wildlife trade, a warm-hearted conservationist and a passionate champion of nature. She is effective and fearless when taking on well-connected criminals and those with vested interests in the process of defending the wild animals she cares so much about.