Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced the results of an international investigation finding that online trade of jaguar parts are openly detectable on multiple online platforms, representing an emerging and serious threat to jaguar populations across the range of this Latin American wildlife icon.

Conservationists have conducted the first comprehensive review of national laws across the range of the jaguar (Panthera onca) to show opportunities for strengthening legal protections of the largest cat species found in the Americas.

WCS scientists working in the vast Amazon Basin have contributed more than 57,000 camera trap images for a new study published in the journal Ecology by an international team of 120 research institutions.

By analyzing records in countries of the Amazon and Orinoco basins—which include Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador—a paper published today in Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation, categorized 85 past and present initiatives or projects that work to preserve the South American River Turtle, or charapa (Podocnemis expansa), a critically endangered species. These projects are protecting more than 147,000 female turtles across the basin, an unprecedented figure.

July 1, 2015—The tree-climbing lions of Uganda and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s efforts to save them will be featured on National Geographic’s “Biggest and Baddest,” a new show about the world’s most legendary predators.

WCS is working to save the “real” Paddington Bear, the Andean bear.  Check out some rare glimpses via video camera traps along with new scientific findings. News release, recent study, and links below.  

Flushing, N.Y. – June 16, 2014 -- Bouba, a young Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus), goes for a swim at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Queens Zoo. Bouba is a 2–year-old male that made his debut at the Queens Zoo in the fall. He shares a habitat with a female Andean bear named Spangles. The Andean bear is the only bear species endemic to South America. It is native to Andean lowlands in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina. The species is classified as “Vulnerable” by th...

Andean bears are the only South American bear species Populations are declining due to habitat loss and hunting B-Roll Video Download HD Andean Bear at Queens Zoo b-roll.mov Interview With Queens Zoo Director Scott Silver www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFfI8WU5CXI Flushing, N.Y. – Nov. 14, 2013 - The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Queens Zoo is home to a new Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus), the only bear species endemic to South America. The Andean bear is native to Andean lowlands in Venezuela, ...

WCS stop-action images reveal rare bear species in Bolivian park attempting to destroy hidden cameras.Watch videoWCS’s studies bears and other wildlife in the Greater Madidi Tambopata Landscape – one of the world’s most wildlife-rich regionsNEW YORK (October 22, 2013) — A series of camera-trap images released by the Wildlife Conservation Society today shows rare Andean bears acting like angry Hollywood celebrities – at least when it comes to having their picture taken.The stop-action images rev...

Photo Credit: Judith Wolfe © Wildlife Conservation Society See the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijhYVDNMe7k Three young, playful mountain coatimundi have a new home in the Tropic Zone exhibit at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo.  Mountain coatis live in large groups in the mountains of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. They have long, flexible noses for sniffing and rooting out food from fallen leaves in the forest and they hold their striped tails up in the ...