Illegal orangutan owner and trader prosecuted in Sumatra NEW YORK (February 23, 2012) – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) announced today Sumatra’s first ever successful sentence of an illegal orangutan owner and trader in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.The seven-month prison sentence is only the third for Indonesia, despite orangutans being strictly protected under Indonesian law since 1924. Although there have been over 2,500 conf...

The Government of Bangladesh declares three new wildlife sanctuaries for Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins. A WCS collaborative study with the Bangladesh Forest Department helped pinpoint the locations of the new protected areas.

Half of fishermen will not give up their livelihood in the face of drastically declining catches according to research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). A new report, published today by PLoS ONE, challenges previously held notions about poverty and adaptation by investigating why fishermen in developing countries stick with their trade.Lead author Dr Tim Daw from UEA’s School of International Development said: “We found that half of fishermen questioned would not be tempted to seek out...

Researchers from WCS, Columbia University, and other institutions find an unusual divide in song themes sung by humpback whales in Madagascar and Western Australia.

New study finds 87 marine mammal species consumed by people in 114 countries New York (January 24, 2012)—The fate of the world’s great whale species commands global attention as a result of heated debate between pro and anti-whaling advocates, but the fate of smaller marine mammals is less understood, specifically because the deliberate and accidental harvesting of dolphins, porpoises, manatees and other warm-blooded aquatic denizens is rarely studied or monitored. To shed more light on the i...

Southern River terrapin, fixed with a satellite transmitter, is set free to breed in the waters of Cambodia Wildlife Conservation Society, Cambodian Fisheries Administration, and Wildlife Reserves Singapore will monitor turtle Less than 200 adult individuals remain in the wild NEW YORK (January 18, 2012) – The Wildlife Conservation Society, in conjunction with the Cambodian Fisheries Administration and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, announced today the successful release of a Southern River terrap...

Honor Awarded by Rare in Partnership with National GeographicWCS's "Bycatch Escape Gaps for Fish Traps" Takes Top Honor NEW YORK, (January 10, 2012) -- The Wildlife Conservation Society has won top honors from Rare, in partnership with National Geographic, for an innovative marine program operated in Curacao and Kenya. WCS won the grand prize in the contest called "Solution Search: Turning the Tide for Coastal Fisheries."The Wildlife Conservation Society’s winning solution is entitled “...

A WCS marine project to reduce bycatch in Kenya and Curacao through a low-cost, low-tech fish trap design takes the top honor in a contest sponsored by Rare, in partnership with National Geographic.

Trained observers will collect data for more effective fisheries and marine ecosystem management NEW YORK (January 4, 2012)—The Wildlife Conservation Society recently collaborated with Gabon’s Department of Fisheries, the Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership, Defra’s Darwin Initiative at the University of Exeter (UK), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the USA (NOAA) to organize a land-mark fisheries observer training course for Central Afri...

Researchers find that fishery closures in Belize’s Glover’s Reef help barracudas, groupers, and other predatory fish recover while the parrotfish and other herbivores essential for reef recovery still need more protection.