Wildlife Protection Society of India

What Wildlife Protection Society of India does

The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) is a non-governmental, non-profit conservation organization founded in 1994 and headquartered in New Delhi. Its stated mission is to tackle India's growing wildlife crisis by providing support and information to government authorities to combat poaching and the escalating illegal wildlife trade, particularly in wild tigers, and to address human-animal conflict. The organization is led by founder and Executive Director Belinda Wright, an award-winning former wildlife photographer, and operates with a small staff of 11-50 committed environmentalists supported by an extended network of undercover investigators and informers.

WPSI's core operational offerings are organized around three pillars: (1) the Wildlife Crime Database, the most comprehensive in India with details of over 45,000 wildlife cases and mortalities and 39,000 alleged wildlife criminals, continuously updated by a country network of investigators; (2) Wildlife Law Enforcement Workshops, a training program that has delivered over 200 workshops across 17 Indian states and trained more than 8,000 forest, police, and customs officers, including specialist presentations to the National Police Academy, CBI, ITBP, and Customs and Excise; and (3) investigative and legal programs, including undercover investigations into tiger, leopard, elephant, and sea turtle trade, prosecution support, and petition filing on conservation policy issues. The organization also maintains interactive Crime Maps, publishes downloadable reports (including the 1997 "Fashioned for Extinction" shahtoosh report and the 2006 "Skinning the Cat" big cat skin trade report), and runs community conservation programs such as the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve initiative with 51 self-help groups and a micro-credit scheme.

WPSI is funded entirely through donations and grants from a wide range of Indian and international donors and is governed by a Board of conservationists and business leaders. Its go-to-market is community-led: it does not sell products or services commercially but collaborates directly with state and central government enforcement agencies, works with the Wildlife Institute of India and tiger reserve authorities, and partners with international organizations such as the UK's Environmental Investigation Agency on cross-border wildlife trade investigations. It serves two primary constituencies — government enforcement agencies needing training, intelligence, and prosecution support, and forest-fringe communities facing human-animal conflict — across multiple Indian states.

Name

Wildlife Protection Society of India

Legal name

Wildlife Protection Society of India

Website

https://wpsi-india.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WPSI is a New Delhi-based wildlife conservation NGO founded in 1994 that combats poaching and illegal wildlife trade in India through a 45,000+ case Wildlife Crime Database, an investigator network, and enforcement training programs delivered to government agencies across 17 states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Conservation Services

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAGAB

Wildlife Conservation & Species Protection

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Environmental & Conservation Organizations

Keywords

• Wildlife conservation
• Anti-poaching operations
• Wildlife crime enforcement
• Law enforcement training
• Illegal wildlife trade

Headquarters

HQ city

New Delhi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: WPSI 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.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

WPSI provides intelligence, investigation, training, and legal support to government enforcement agencies to combat poaching and the illegal wildlife trade in India. The society maintains the most comprehensive Wildlife Crime Database in India (containing over 45,000 cases and names of 39,000 criminals), runs Wildlife Law Enforcement Workshops for forest and police officers, and delivers species-specific conservation projects for tigers, elephants, sea turtles, red pandas, and other threatened wildlife.

Product overview

The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) is a conservation NGO, not a technology product company. WPSI operates as a single unified organization focused on combating wildlife crime in India rather than a platform with distinct commercial products. Its core offerings include the Wildlife Crime Database for tracking poaching cases, Wildlife Law Enforcement Workshops for training enforcement officers, the Legal Programme for prosecuting wildlife criminals, Tiger Poaching & Illegal Wildlife Trade Investigations through a network of field investigators, Conservation Projects for endangered species, Publications with downloadable reports, and Crime Maps for visualizing wildlife crime data. These services are offered to government authorities and forest fringe communities rather than as commercial software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wildlife Crime Database A comprehensive intelligence database cataloguing wildlife crime cases, criminal records, poaching incidents, and seizure details across India, available to government enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution support.
• Wildlife Law Enforcement Workshops Capacity-building workshops for forest, police, and customs officers covering wildlife law, investigation techniques, and prosecution support, delivered across 17 Indian states with over 8,000 officers trained to date.
• Legal Programme Legal aid and prosecution support provided to government enforcement teams handling wildlife crime cases, helping secure convictions in poaching and illegal trade prosecutions.
• Tiger Poaching & Illegal Wildlife Trade Investigations Undercover field investigations targeting organized poaching networks and illegal trade in tiger parts, shahtoosh, and other wildlife products, supporting government enforcement actions.
• Species Conservation Projects Field conservation programmes targeting threatened species including tigers, elephants, sea turtles, red pandas, and other endangered Indian wildlife, combining research, community engagement, and habitat protection.
• Publications on Wildlife Trade and Crime Investigative and policy publications exposing the illegal wildlife trade, including reports on the shahtoosh trade and tiger poaching for traditional Chinese medicine.
• Online Crime Maps Interactive online maps displaying the locations and details of wildlife crime incidents, poaching cases, and seizures across India, accessible via the WPSI website.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained over 8,000 forest, police and customs officers in wildlife law enforcement
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn 2005 and 2006, WPSI and EIA (UK-based) carried out joint investigation into tiger and leopard skin trade in Tibet Autonomous Region and other provinces in China. Findings revealed previously unknown scale of trade in Asian big cat skins. Results compiled in report 'Skinning the Cat: Crime and Politics of the Big Cat Skin Trade' published in 2006.
• State GovernmentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with state governments to monitor illegal wildlife trade and provide hands-on training and support to combat poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
• Wildlife Institute of IndiacoreTechnology or IntegrationWPSI works with Wildlife Institute of India on conservation projects including sea turtle conservation programmes like Operation Kachhapa in Orissa.
• Tiger Reserve AuthoritiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducts specialist presentations and provides support to tiger reserve authorities across India for anti-poaching and conservation efforts.
• Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProvides specialist presentations to CBI officials and assists in wildlife crime investigations.
• National Police AcademycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConducts specialist presentations for training at National Police Academy on wildlife crime enforcement.
• Customs and ExcisecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProvides training to Customs and Excise officials for wildlife product seizure and border control.
• Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDelivers specialist presentations to ITBP for border wildlife crime prevention.
• Indian Institute of CriminologyminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConducts specialist presentations on wildlife crime and enforcement for criminology professionals.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• WWF India: Indian arm of WWF focused on wildlife conservation, anti-poaching, and policy advocacy. Closely comparable in mission and Indian geographic focus, with significantly larger scale and funding.
• Wildlife SOS: India-based wildlife conservation NGO focused on rescuing and protecting wildlife, including bears, elephants, and big cats. Comparable in Indian NGO structure, conservation mission, and field operations.
• Panthera: Global wild cat conservation organization focused on tigers, leopards, and other big cats. Directly comparable to WPSI's big cat investigation and anti-poaching mandate, especially around tiger and leopard skin trade.
• Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA): UK-based NGO that conducts investigations into environmental crime including wildlife trade. WPSI has formal co-investigation partnership with EIA, and both share a fundamentally similar undercover investigation model.
• TRAFFIC: Global wildlife trade monitoring network that investigates illegal trade in wild animals and plants. WPSI's crime database and trade investigations closely mirror TRAFFIC's core monitoring function.
• Conservation India: India-focused conservation platform combining journalism, citizen science, and advocacy. Comparable to WPSI in Indian conservation focus, with overlap in wildlife crime reporting and public awareness.
• Wildlife Trust of India: India-based wildlife conservation NGO working on species recovery, habitat protection and wildlife crime. Directly comparable to WPSI in mission, India-only geographic focus, and NGO structure, but with broader species programs.

Broad incumbents

• Wildlife Conservation Society: Large global conservation organization with major field programs on tigers, elephants, and anti-poaching worldwide. Comparable in mission but operates at much greater scale and broader geographic footprint than WPSI.
• International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW): Global animal welfare and wildlife conservation NGO operating across multiple continents. Comparable in mission and NGO structure but operates broader portfolio beyond tiger/anti-poaching specialization.

Emerging players

• IUCN Species Survival Commission: International authority on species conservation status and policy. Comparable in conservation science and species-protection mandate, though operates as a scientific commission rather than field NGO.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Wildlifeprotectionsocietyofindia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wildlife-protection-society-of-india

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wildlife Protection Society of India