Op-Eds, Blogs & Podcasts


The Megamouth Shark: Gentle Giant of the Deep
by Dave Beuningen, Rhett Bennett, Abdalla Abdulla
Although the megamouth shark grows to an impressive 8 metres (26 feet) in length and has an enormous, gaping mouth, only around 270 have ever been recorded. As Dave Beuningen, Rhett Bennett, and Abdalla Abdulla note in a new commentary at Medium, unlike most sharks who actively hunt their prey, the megamouth is a filter feeder — one of only three filter feeding sharks (the others being the whale shark and basking shark). This discovery in Tanzania emphasizes the fact that sharks and rays are an important socioeconomic resource in the country that needs sustainable management solutions.
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Protecting WCS's Film History to Inform Its Conservation Future
by Leopold Krist
Film Archivist Leopold Krist has been steeped in a century’s worth of WCS history as he catalogues and digitizies historic archive films documenting conservation work globally, and across New York’s zoos and aquariums. Thanks to funding from the Leon Levy Foundation, which allowed WCS to create the Shelby White and Leon Levy WCS Archives Film Initiative, he is preserving footage of everything from studies of biomechanics of crabs, to the growth of the Bronx Zoo, to polar research expeditions.
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Tackling the Fin Trade with CITES
by Luke Warwick
From a young, says WCS's Luke Warwick in a new episode for the World of Sharks podcast, he was passionate about protecting the ocean as a whole – not a particular species or group of species – and saw his career in campaigning and policy-making as a route to do that. Along the way, sharks and rays found him. Quickly, these became the focus of all of his time, as more and more decision-makers, scientists and conservationists realized that there was a very small window to save endangered sharks and rays from going extinct.
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The United Nations Development Programme Has a Nature Pledge
by Midori Paxton
The United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, works in 170 countries and territories around the world to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. Not surprisingly, that work aligns in a variety of ways with nature conservation. Leading the UNDP’s Nature Hub is Midori Paxton. WCS Wild Audio checked in with her to discuss the work of the hub and the implementation of its Nature Pledge.
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For the Safety of the Whales: Keeping Ship Traffic Under Control in Canada’s Arctic Ocean
by William Halliday
In a new opinion essay for Canadian Geographic, WCS Canada's Bill Halliday describes how Wildlife Conservation Society Canada researchers are working to identify possible collision areas between ships and whales using satellite data.
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New Beyond Value Chain Mitigation Guidance from the Science Based Targets Initiative
by Daniel Zarin
Above and Beyond: An SBTI Report on the Design and Implementation of Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM) is launching in a context of burgeoning public and private sector interest in “contributory” climate- and nature-positive finance (vs. “compensatory” offsets), writes WCS's Dan Zarin. This shift, he says, represents growing recognition that ecosystem services, especially climate regulation and biodiversity conservation, underpin our economies although no one is paying for them.
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Rare Megamouth Shark Found in East Africa for the First Time
by Rhett Bennett
A rarely seen megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) was recently spotted in east Africa for the very first time. It was recorded in a market in Zanzibar, where it was being sold after being captured and killed. The recent sighting was only the sixth time a megamouth had ever been found off the coast of Africa. WCS's Rhett Bennett explains the implications of the find.
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Sand Tiger Shark: An Endangered Migratory Species in Need of Strong Protection
by Juan Martin Cuevas, Dana Tricarico
Sand tiger sharks are top predators throughout their extensive range, which spans from the continental coasts of Australia, South Africa, the United States of America, the Southwest Atlantic and at least other 50 countries. Yet as Juan Martin Cuevas and Dana Tricarico write in a new essay for PBS Nature, the global population is assessed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN red list due to an estimated population reduction of more than 80 percent in 74 years. As parties to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals gather this week in Uzbekistan for CMS CoP14, there is an opportunity for CMS Governments to fully protected this species wherever it migrates.
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Amazon Catfish Must Be Protected by the Convention on Migratory Species COP-14
by Mariana Varese
At the coming Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals meeting (COP-14) taking place in Uzbekistan this month, writes WCS's Mariana Varese in a new essay for Mongabay, parties to the convention must pass proposals to protect two catfish species with extraordinary migrations, the dorado and piramutaba (manitoa).
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The Push to Unite the Amazon Basin Around a Pair of Catfish Species
by Mariana Montoya
Many people think of the Amazon as this vast, highly intact tropical forest, but it is also the largest freshwater system in the world. It’s the most biologically diverse place on Earth. Home to hundreds of Indigenous Peoples and traditional cultures. And also, two important species of catfish. Those will be up for discussion at the upcoming Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals meeting. Wild Audio spoke to WCS Peru country director Mariana Montoya to learn more in this special episode
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We Can Be the Generation That Holds on Tight to Our Natural Wealth
by Dan Kraus
In a new op-ed for Canada's National Observer, WCS Canada's Dan Kraus writes, "We can be the generation that holds on tighter to our collective natural wealth. There is reason for hope. Past conservation actions have prevented the extinction of wildlife ranging from pronghorn antelope, to eastern bluebird. But we need to amplify these actions and make wildlife conservation an integral part of our economy and society."
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There Is Still Time for Coral Reefs, If We Act Soon
by Tim McClanahan, Antha Williams
In a new essay for The Economist, WCS's Tim McClanahan and Bloomberg's Antha Williams note that there are reefs all over the world that aren’t avoiding heat, but are actively resisting it. Evolved adaptations are allowing those corals to take hot-water events in their stride and defy bleaching and other impacts. There are still more reefs that have bleached during warm-water events only to shock communities and scientists by recovering. These climate refuges have the ability to survive and fight back against the impacts of climate change—if we find them and protect them.
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 More than Minerals at Stake in Ontario’s Claim-Staking Boom
by Constance O'Connor
In a new commentary for Canada's National Observer, WCS Canada's Constance O'Connor argues that while Ontario's northern peatlands are key to Canada meeting its climate commitments, they are threatened by a recent boom in mineral claims.
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Support for Rangers Is Critical to Meet Tiger Recovery Goals and Biodiversity
by Dale Miquelle, Mark Booton and Sugoto Roy
This week marks the inaugural Asian Ranger Forum in Guwahati, India, with the theme “Asia’s Biodiversity Guardians for 30X30.” For the first time, rangers across Asia have gathered to share their knowledge, successes and challenges. WCS's Dale Miquelle and colleagues argue in a new essay for PBS Nature that professional workforce is essential to secure landscapes where tigers can thrive.
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Bronx Zoo Attends This year's COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai
by Kelly Aylward
Kelly Aylward discusses WCS's presence at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai on Suzanne Colucci on Newsline with Brigitte Quinn.
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How the Global Push for Protected Areas Can Benefit the Oceans’ Most Endangered Species
by Jonathan Booth, Luke Warwick
Two new MPAs in Papua New Guinea have developed the country’s first-ever rules protecting sawfish and their relatives, the Critically Endangered rhino rays, making them also the first MPAs in the world with specific measures designed to protect the most threatened group of sharks and rays. Learn more from this commentary by WCS's Jonathan Booth and Luke Warwick.
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