The New York State Supreme Court in Orleans County today ruled that a habeas corpus petition filed by the NonHuman Rights Project (NRP) -- claiming Happy, a 47 year old Asian elephant at the Bronx Zoo, should have the same rights as a  person – would be more properly heard in Bronx County. Today’s ruling is the latest in a long series of losses for this group as they desperately seek ways to use the courts to advance their agenda. Similar petitions brought by NRP in all four judicial departments in the State of New York, as well as a court in Connecticut, have been rejected on the merits.

The Government of Argentina has created two massive offshore marine parks in the southwest Atlantic that will help protect the diverse marine life of the Patagonian Sea, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and a host of other partners who have worked for years to protect these biodiverse seascapes.

On Saturday, Dec. 15, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and officials from WCS’s Bronx Zoo will join Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Bronx Zoo to distribute toys to local Bronx military families in need this holiday season. This event has become an annual tradition in the Bronx. The partnership between the Bronx Zoo and the Borough President is in its ninth year. The Bronx Zoo serves as a collection point for new, unwrapped toys donated by members of the community for distribution to families of veterans and active duty members of the military.

A coalition of major public aquariums has announced that they are opposed to the federal government’s pending issuance of permits to allow repeated seismic blasting along the East Coast in search of offshore oil and gas. Marine scientists are concerned that the prolonged and extreme noise pollution introduced into already highly stressed ocean environments will disturb marine life from tiny plankton to commercially valuable fish stocks and even giant whales.

A study by an international team of conservation scientists found that a dam built in Thailand 31 years ago has caused the local bird population to collapse.

The WCS Myanmar Program released a video celebrating its 25th year of conservation.Watch the video here.

Four poachers responsible for killing elephants in the periphery of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the local district court on Thursday the 22^nd of November. 

A study of 89 fishing communities in East Africa has found that good neighbors who agree with common proposals to improve shared fisheries management are uncommon, illustrating that the “tragedy of the commons” dilemma is alive for many fisheries facing sustainable use challenges.

Over 200 individuals from conservation organisations, governments, companies and financial institutions have joined in a “Call to Action” for greater efforts to secure “Biodiversity Net Gain” in the context of development.

Over 2,200 runners and volunteers from 24 countries worldwide have Run for the Wild organized to support the conservation of orang-utans, sharks and rays -- an annual run organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Program (WCS Malaysia) in partnership with Swinburne Sarawak and Sarawak Biodiversity Centre.