Sharks and rays are one of the most endangered groups of animals on the planet.There are more than 1,000 species of sharks and rays living today.Approximately 100 species of sharks and rays are regularly traded for their fins and meat.Since 2013, CITES began to list regularly commercially traded species of sharks and rays under the convention’s appendices, mainly under CITES Appendix II, which is about sustainable trade and utilization.There are 18 species up for listing at CITES Cop 18 (a...

Government delegates attending CITES CoP18 (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 18th Conference of the Parties) approved greater trade protections for all nine subspecies of giraffes.

Mako sharks, also known as the ‘cheetahs of the sharks,’ are the fastest of all shark species, but they cannot outswim the threat of overfishing in the world’s oceans, say conservation experts from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other groups who applaud plans by government delegates to increase protection for makos and other sharks and rays fishes at CITES, convening this week in Switzerland.

The fate of the saiga, a prehistoric antelope species, found on the windswept steppes of Central Asia, will be decided as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) gathers for its 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) August 17-28 in Geneva. The saiga is on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered and is vital to the ecosystem of Mongolia’s steppe.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published final rules that significantly weaken the implementation of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA).

he largest study ever conducted of its kind has identified where and how to save coral reef communities in the Indo-Pacific, according to an international group of scientists from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other conservation NGOs, government agencies, and universities. The study outlines three viable strategies that can be quickly enacted to help save coral reefs that are threatened by climate change and human impacts.  

The release last week of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN's) assessment of giant guitarfish and wedgefish identifies these flattened sharks as the world's most threatened marine fish.

All You Need to Know about the Aug. 17-28 Wildlife Trade Conference in Geneva, Switzerland

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.

— The new Boma-Badingilo Landscape program was launched by the US Government, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Government of South Sudan, and Local Community Representatives, on June 18^th, 2019 at the Boma National Park Headquarters, South Sudan.