Belinda Anne Irene Wright (born 1953) is a prominent wild life photographer and
wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...
ist in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. She is the Executive Director of the
Wildlife Protection Society of India
The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) was founded in 1994 by Belinda Wright, its Executive Director, who was an award-winning wildlife photographer and filmmaker till she took up the cause of conservation. From its inception, WPSI's ...
(WPSI).
Parents
Belinda's mother Anne Wright is a founder trustee of
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
(WWF) India, which she helped set up in the late 1960s. She was a member of the Tiger Task Force that was commissioned by the late Indian Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, to select nine tiger reserves for the launch of
Project Tiger
Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of the Bengal tiger in its natural habitats, protect ...
in 1973. She served for twenty-three years on the Indian Board for Wildlife and was closely involved with the passing of the Wild Life (Protection) Act. Anne has also served on the wildlife boards of nine states in North East and Central India. In the early 1980s, Anne was awarded the title of Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, or
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
, for her efforts to preserve India's environmental heritage and her conservation work with the Government of India. She is currently the chairperson of the Rhino Foundation.
in 1988 Belinda's father Robert Hamilton Wright received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire or
OBE for his dedicated service to British citizens in India. Bob headed the British Citizens' Association for decades and served on the board of Dr. Graham's Homes in Kalimpong in North Bengal. He spent a lot of his time working with the East India Charitable Trust, which runs old people's homes, and several charity schools and hostels. Bob was also the Chairman of a Historical Cemeteries Association and was a steward of the
Royal Calcutta Turf Club for many years. Since the early 1980s, Bob's love for the wild had been nurtured by the setting-up and management of
Kipling Camp. He spent time every month at the Camp. Bob Wright died on 19 April 2005.
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Career
Belinda has spent her entire life in India working on wildlife issues, and is one of India's leading wildlife conservationists. She works actively to increase the dialogue and communication on Indian wildlife conservation issues, especially Indian tigers.
Belinda spent her childhood in the jungles of Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
, particularly around the area now under Palamu Tiger Reserve. She saw her first wild tiger when she was 3 months old and photographed her first wild tiger when she was 16 years old. She worked for many years with National Geographic and made films for BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. In 1985 she won two
s and 14 other major international awards for her National Geographic film ''Land of the Tiger''. To make this film she spent more than two years following the secret lives of wild tigers in
.
In 1994, she founded the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) with the aim of helping to avert India's wildlife crises by providing support and information to combat poaching and the escalating illegal wildlife trade – particularly wild tigers, for which Belinda has had a lifelong passion. In her capacity as WPSI's executive director, she travels the length and breadth of India to assist and support conservation efforts and to help enforce the law. In June 2003, Belinda followed in the footsteps of her parents and was appointed an OBE for her "services to the protection of wildlife and endangered species in India".