BRONX, NY, January 21, 2026—A new peer-reviewed study published in Conservation Letters warns that targeted poaching of African lions for their body parts is escalating rapidly and could pose an existential threat to the species without urgent action. The research documents a growing, organized trade in lion bones, claws, teeth, and skins driven by demand in African and Asian markets, and calls for urgent, coordinated action across governments, conservation organization...

VIENTIANE, LAOS, January 21, 2026— New findings detailed in a recent report led by the Wildlife Conservation Society show how long-term, community-based conservation efforts in central Laos are helping restore one of the world’s most endangered crocodilians—the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis)—to wetlands where it had nearly vanished.  The research was published in the Newsletter of the Crocodile Specialist Group, part of the IUCN Species Survival Com...

BRONX, N.Y. — January 15, 2026 — Today, the Bronx Zoo announced the return of its beloved Name-a-Roach campaign, a Valentine’s Day tradition that welcomes fans near and far to ditch the chocolates and seal their love or loathing with a hiss. With the purchase of any Name-a-Roach package, donors can symbolically adopt and name a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach after someone on their mind, and receive a certificate to prove it. Donation levels start at $15 and include gifts like ...

New York, Dec. 23, 2025 — The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Communications Team today released its 12 favorite stories and photos of 2025, highlighting moments that inspired wonder, advanced science, and demonstrated tangible progress for wildlife and wild places around the world. DOWNLOAD PHOTOS Spanning WCS’s global conservation program and WCS’s zoos and aquarium in NYC, these stories and images highlight species making comebacks, innovative animal care, powerfu...

QUEENS, NY, Dec. 11, 2025 — The Queens Zoo today released a short, heart-warming video featuring two young Andean bears playing with a tree branch. The moment captured on video by a guest at the zoo, Ursula McDermott, shows the bears playing with a branch with a see-saw movement. The pair includes Coya a female bear almost two years old, and Ransisku, a male almost four years old. Coya is on the right and Ransisku is on the left in the video. “As young bears, Coya and Ransis...

Kampala, Uganda, December 10, 2025—The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been honored with the 13th Visionaries of Uganda Award, receiving the designation of “Wildlife Environmental Conservation Organization of the Year” from the Government of the Republic of Uganda. The award, presented at the national Visionaries of Uganda ceremony on 27 November 2025, recognizes WCS for its “Outstanding Contribution Towards Uganda’s Middle Income Status Aspiration and Vi...

Bronx, NY, December 9, 2025—The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) today offered the following tribute upon the death of Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, a towering figure in wildlife conservation whose research, passion, and leadership helped shape global efforts to protect elephants: “Iain Douglas-Hamilton was among the greatest conservationists of his generation. His pioneering fieldwork revealed truths about elephant society and population decline that the world could no longe...

Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Dec. 5, 2025 – As the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20) concluded, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) welcomed a series of landmark decisions that will strengthen trade regulations for threatened species—including many heavily targeted by the global pet trade—while also warning that several decisions could jeopardize hard-won conserva...

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan (December 3, 2025)—The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) today applauded the decision by Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to transfer both Galápagos marine and land iguanas from Appendix II to Appendix I—the highest level of protection under the treaty. The vote, taken during the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, recognizes the mounting pressu...

Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Nov. 28, 2025—The Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) commends today’s decision by Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to list the endangered okapi (Okapia johnstoni) on Appendix I. This highest level of international protection will prohibit all international commercial trade in okapi or their parts, as well as sub-pr...