imported>BrownHairedGirl: removed Category:1994 establishments in India; added Category:1994 establishments in Delhi using HotCat

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removed Category:1994 establishments in India; added Category:1994 establishments in Delhi using HotCat

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{{Infobox organization
|name = Wildlife Protection Society of India
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|formation = 1994
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|type = [[Not for profit]]
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|location = [[New Delhi]], India
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|website = {{URL|http://www.wpsi-india.org/}}
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The '''Wildlife Protection Society of India ''' ('''WPSI''') was founded in 1994 by [[Belinda Wright (conservationist)|Belinda Wright]], its Executive Director, who was an award-winning wildlife photographer and filmmaker till she took up the cause of conservation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tully|first=Mark|title=Non-Stop India|year=2011|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New Delhi|isbn=9780670083893|pages=232–233}}</ref> From its inception, WPSI's main aim has been to bring a new focus to the daunting task of tackling India's growing wildlife crisis. It does this by providing support and information to government authorities to combat [[poaching]] and the escalating [[illegal wildlife trade]] - particularly in wild tigers. It has now broadened its focus to deal with human-animal conflicts and provide support for research projects.

With a team of committed environmentalists, WPSI is one of the most respected and effective wildlife conservation organisations in India. It is a registered non-profit organisation, funded by a wide range of Indian and international donors. The society's board members include leading conservationists and business people.<ref name="Giriraj Mundhra - (WPSI)">{{cite web|url=http://www.wpsi-india.org/wpsi/index.php|title=About Us...|last=Wildlife Protection Society of India|date=2009-01-09|publisher=WPSI|accessdate=2009-01-10}}</ref>

==Programs==
The WPSI works with government law enforcement agencies throughout India to apprehend tiger poachers and traders in tiger parts. WPSI also makes every effort to investigate and verify any [[seizure]] of tiger parts and unnatural tiger deaths that are brought to their notice.<ref name="Giriraj Mundhra - (WPSI)" />
;Investigation
WPSI maintains a network of [[undercover agent]]s and [[informant]]s who gather intelligence on the illegal trade in [[endangered species]].<ref name="Giriraj Mundhra - (WPSI)" /> WPSI's informers and agents are especially active in [[Uttarakhand]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Kerala]], [[Karnataka]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[West Bengal]] and the [[Sundarbans]] area.

In November, 2008, in one notable case, the notorious tiger [[poacher]], "Dariya", was arrested by the Katni Forest Department, with information and assistance provided by Wildlife Protection Society of India.<ref name="PR">{{cite news|url=http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/other/2008120816514.htm|title=Tiger Poacher Dariya Arrested|last=India PRwire|date=2008-12-08|work=Press release|publisher=India PR Wire|accessdate=2009-03-30}}</ref> Senior field investigators also maintain contact with personnel in lower courts, which is where most wildlife offences are tried. They liaise continuously with informers, forest officials and the police.<ref name="Poaching">{{cite web|url=http://www.wpsi-india.org/projects/poaching_investigation.php|title=Tiger Poaching & Illegal Wildlife Trade Investigations|author=Wildlife Protection Society of India|work=Projects|publisher=WPSI|accessdate=2009-03-30}}</ref> They are involved with elephant poaching and [[ivory trade]] investigations.<ref name="Giriraj Mundhra - (WPSI)" />
;Crime data
The WPSI Wildlife Crime [[Database]] has records of over 15,300 wildlife crimes involving more than 400 species that are targeted by wildlife traders and poachers. Data on wildlife crimes is received and processed daily with specially developed computer software. Important leads are verified and passed on to enforcement authorities for further action. In 2008 WPSI significantly expanded their database on tiger poaching and trade and related wildlife crimes. This data assists enforcement agencies in detecting wildlife crime and aids the apprehension and prosecution of criminals.<ref name="USFWS">{{cite news|url=http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/species/rhino/pdf/RTCF_Summaries_2008_Asia_Africa.pdf|title=India RT-0764RT-0764|last=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |date=2008|work=Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund Summary FY 2008 |publisher=Division of International Conservation |accessdate=2009-01-10}}</ref>
;Training
WPSI conducts Wildlife Law Enforcement Workshops for enforcement agencies. Since 2000, it has undertaken over 25 workshops in 12 states across India. WPSI has given specialist presentations to the [[Indian Police Service#Examination and Training|SVP National Police Academy]], the [[List of Indian agencies#Department of Internal Security|National Institute of Criminology]], the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]], the [[Indo-Tibetan Border Police]], [[Indian Revenue Service]], the [[Wildlife Institute of India]], tiger reserve authorities, and enforcement training centres.<ref name="WI">{{cite web|url=http://www.wild-india.com/WildCommunities/wild-protection-society-india.html|title=Wildlife Protection Society of India|last=Banerjee|first=Tapas |publisher=Wild India, New Delhi|accessdate=2009-01-10}}</ref>
;Conservation
WPSI supports conservation projects for species as varied as the tiger, [[otter]] and [[sea turtle]]. Among these projects are: Support to [[Bandipur Tiger Reserve]], Trade & Wildlife Crimes Grassroots NGO Support Network, Support to [[Corbett National Park|Corbett Tiger Reserve]] & Adjoining Forests, Support to [[Sundarbans National Park|Sundarbans Tiger Reserve]], WPSI Tiger Protection Awards, Award for Information that Leads to Seizure of Tiger Parts, ‘Operation Kachhapa’, Conservation of the [[Olive Ridley Turtle]], ‘Corridor to Survival’ - Landscape Conservation Plan for Elephant Management, [[Human-wildlife conflict|Human-Elephant Conflict]] & Elephant Mortality in [[North Bengal]], a film campaign on Otter Conservation, Indian [[Crane (bird)|Crane]]s and [[Wetland]]s Working Group and Animal- Human Conflict Management. They provide support to prosecution of wildlife court cases, public interest litigations, wildlife law publications and the Millennium Digest (1950-2003) on Wildlife & Ancillary Laws. They were instrumental in the resettlement of Van Gujjars outside [[Rajaji National Park]]. They have conducted research on Interactions between the [[Ladakh]] [[urial]] & livestock, interactions between [[snow leopard]] [[prey]] species & livestock, development of [[pugmark]]-based population monitoring, human-leopard conflict in [[Pune District]], [[Maharashtra]] and effects of forest resource extraction on [[biodiversity]].<ref name="Projects">{{cite web|url=http://www.wpsi-india.org/projects/index.php|title=Projects|last=Wildlife Protection Society of India|publisher=WPSI|accessdate=2009-03-30}}</ref>
;Education
WPSI is actively involved in all of India's major wildlife conservation issues and have been in the forefront of media campaigns to highlight the importance of wildlife protection. WPSI prints and distributes educational posters about tiger and wildlife conservation and laws. The posters target the general population, highlight the need for conservation and encouraging the protection of wildlife and spelling out penalties for poaching and trading. More than 40,000 posters have been distributed by state forest departments and local [[NGO]]s in seven languages - [[Hindi]], [[English language|English]], [[Kannada]], [[Odia language|Oriya]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Malayalam]].<ref name="Publications"/>
;Publications
Some of the WPSI publications include: [[Shatoosh - The Illegal Trade]], [[Skinning the Cat: Crime and Politics of the Big Cat Skin Trade]], WPSI-Ranthambhore Tiger Census, May 2005, India's Tiger Poaching Crisis, Tiger Poaching Statistics of India, A God in Distress: Threats of Poaching and the Ivory Trade to the Asian Elephant, Fashioned for Extinction: An Exposé of the Shahtoosh Trade, Handbook of Environment, Forest and Wildlife Protection Laws in India, Wildlife Crime: An Enforcement Guide (English & Hindi), Signed and Sealed: The Fate of the Asian Elephant, The [[Wildlife Protection Act of 1972]] - A Hand Guide With Case Law and Commentaries, A Brief Guide to The Wild Life (Protection) Act (English & Hindi), The Wild Life Protection Act - 1972 - as Amended with effect from 1 April 2003, Warden Alert (Newsletter on wildlife protection issues, English & Hindi editions) and Kachhapa (Newsletter on sea turtle conservation issues, in English).

They have produced documentary films including: Bones of Contention (a short film documenting the crises faced by wild tigers in India as a result of poaching and the illegal trade in tiger parts.), Birds of the Indian Monsoon (a 45-minute film on the lives of Kepladeo Sanctuary's birds), The Killing Fields: Orissa's Appalling Turtle Crisis (a documentary on the mass slaughter of olive ridley sea turtles along the coast of Orissa) and “…And Then There Were None” (a short documentary film which investigates the rampant poaching of otters in India).<ref name="Publications">{{cite web|url=http://www.wpsi-india.org/publications/index.php|title=Publication & Resources|last=Wildlife Protection Society of India|publisher=WPSI|accessdate=2009-03-30}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Animal charities based in India]]
[[Category:Wildlife conservation in India]]
[[Category:Environmental organisations based in India]]
[[Category:1994 establishments in Delhi]]

Wildlife Protection Society of India - Revision history

imported>BrownHairedGirl: removed Category:1994 establishments in India; added Category:1994 establishments in Delhi using HotCat