News Releases

August 11, 2016

For World Elephant Day and Beyond, WCS’s Zoos Try to Break Jumbo-Sized Record

August 11, 2016 – Just in time for World Elephant Day, this Friday, August 12^th, WCS’s 96 Elephants campaign announced an ambitious effort to break the Guinness World Records™ for the largest display of origami elephants to draw attention to the plight of Africa’s elephants, which continue to be wiped out by ivory poachers.

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July 27, 2016

International Efforts Needed to Save World’s Largest Mammals, Scientists Say

July 27, 2016 – A team of conservation biologists is calling for a worldwide strategy to prevent the unthinkable: the extinction of the world’s largest mammal species.

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June 15, 2016

FIGHT THE CRIME: WCS Kicks off Third Phase of 96 Elephants Campaign

June 15, 2016 – WCS has kicked off the third phase of its 96 Elephants campaign focusing on fighting wildlife crime that continues to slaughter 96 elephants each day in Africa.

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June 02, 2016

WCS Applauds Historic, Groundbreaking US Ivory Ban

June 2, 2016 – WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), founder of the 96 Elephants campaign, applauded the Obama Administration’s announcement of a near-total ban on the interstate trade in ivory. The final revision for of the 4(d) rule of the Endangered Species Act for African elephants allows for exceptions for items containing de minimis amounts of ivory and documented antiques.

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May 12, 2016

Poaching of old forest elephant matriarchs threatens rainforests

May 12, 2016—Scientists working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Stirling, and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants say that the high levels of poaching forest elephants will result in a loss of the oldest, wisest matriarchs, who are living libraries of their vast rainforest domain. Without these mothers, forest elephant social lives and their understanding of their ecosystem will be lost. This exacerbates the ongoing loss of ecosystem function already underway by the loss of these most effective seed dispersers and forest gardeners.

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April 07, 2016

Laos, China and Viet Nam Enhance Cooperation to Combat Transnational Wildlife Trafficking Networks

April 7, 2016 – Frontline enforcement officers from key provinces, ports and border posts in Laos, China and Viet Nam completed an inter-agency field mission this week to share experiences, approaches and update the situation on wildlife smuggling networks along the major Indo-Burma trade route.

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January 19, 2016

New Book on How to Save Forest Elephants Published as Extinction Crisis Deepens

January 19, 2016—A newly published book focused on promoting research and conservation methods and strategies for the African forest elephant arrives at a crucial time for this species, which is being decimated by poaching, habitat loss, and other threats, according to authors from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organizations.

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July 25, 2015

WCS Comments on Obama's Ivory Remarks from Kenya

New York - July 25, 2015 –The following statement was released today by WCS President and CEO Cristián Samper, who also serves on the U.S. Federal Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking. Samper’s statement concerns remarks by President Obama delivered in Kenya on ivory.

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June 10, 2015

African Elephants Get Support From Brooklyn 5th Graders In “One Special Elephant: The Story of Penelope Petunia”

NEW YORK (June 10, 2015)—A group of Brooklyn students are using their pens and imaginations to help ensure a future for African elephants with help from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the 96 Elephants campaign. With help from WCS scientist and elephant expert Andrea Turkalo, a group of 5^th graders from Brooklyn’s Public School 107 John W. Kimball Learning Center have written and published a book titled “One Special Elephant: The Story of Penelope Petunia,” inspired by a real baby elephant living in the rainforests of Central Africa.

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March 11, 2015

March 11 -- WCS Testifies in Support of Connecticut Ivory Ban

The following testimony was submitted today by Sara Marinello, WCS Executive Director of Government and Community Affairs, before the Connecticut General Assembly Committee on Environment:

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