New study in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences documents growing success of WCS project in Africa that benefits local people and wildlife Aerial surveys show that wildlife including zebra, wildebeest, eland, and other species have stabilized or are increasing WCS’s COMACO program in Zambia transforms poachers into organic farmers Thousands of snares and guns voluntarily turned over to join program NEW YORK (EMBARGOED UNTIL:...

Republic of Congo sentences Chinese smuggler to four years in prison Ivory poaching is decimating elephants worldwide NEW YORK (August 18, 2011) – The Wildlife Conservation Society today applauded the Republic of Congo for its sentencing of an ivory smuggler to four years in prison. The sentence, handed down on August 10th, marks a growing commitment by Congolese officials to crack down on poaching that is decimating local wildlife. The trafficker was cau...

The Republic of Congo sends a Chinese ivory smuggler to jail, an example of the tough law enforcement that WCS recommends for combating the illegal wildlife trade.  

Tropical forests with multiple access points for hunters have fewer elephants  NEW YORK (August 16, 2011)—The survival of the forest elephants of Central Africa depends on limiting access to rain forests via roads, settlements, and other entry points to otherwise inaccessible habitat, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other partnersThe study says that entry points to the rain forests facilitated by roads, rivers, or oth...

Photo Credit: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS New York, NY- August 15, 2011: Biru, a 1-year-old red panda, rests in a tree in his new home at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo. He recently joined his female companion, Amaya, in the Temperate Territory of the zoo. Red pandas are endangered due to habitat loss caused by deforestation for timber, fuel, and agricultural use. It is estimated that fewer than 2,500 remain in the wild. The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx, Prosp...

WCS marine scientists provide a color code for coral conservation by mapping out the stress loads of the world's reefs.

WCS Run For The Wild dedicated to saving turtles and other species– including the world's 25 most endangered turtle/tortoise species, as listed in a recently released report co-authored by WCS Register online at: www.wcsrunforthewild.org. Brooklyn, N.Y. – Aug. 9, 2011- An alarming report issued earlier this year, co-authored by the Wildlife Conservation Society, listed the 25 most-endangered turtles and tortoises around the world. Many of these have been decimated by factors i...

WCS veterinarian Dr. Paul Calle recently traveled to Grand Cayman to conduct health examinations on a group of captive-bred blue iguanas before their release into the wild. Through an emergency response effort led by the Blue Iguana Recovery Program, Calle and his colleagues have helped this critically endangered species rebound from near-extinction.

Wildlife Conservation Society, University of Oxford, and National Museums of Kenya investigate first known mammal to use plant poison in defense NEW YORK (August 2, 2011)—Woe to the clueless predator trying to make a meal of the African crested rat, a rodent that applies poisonous plant toxin to sponge-like hairs on its flanks, a discovery recently made by Jonathan Kingdon and colleagues from the National Museums of Kenya, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the University of Ox...

Scientists discover the first mammal, an African rat, to use a poisonous plant to defend itself from predators.