Dec. 21, 2015 – The following statement was released today by John Robinson, WCS Chief Conservation Officer, and Executive Vice President for Conservation and Science:

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Dec. 21, 2015 – A Hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) was born at WCS’s (Wildlife Conservation Society) Prospect Park Zoo and is making his public debut.  

WASHINGTON (December 18, 2015) – The Senate voiced its support for cleaner waterways and healthy wildlife by passing the Microbeads-Free Waters Act. The legislation, led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the Senate and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) in the House, bans the use of tiny plastic particles from use in certain personal care products that are harming aquatic wildlife and polluting waterways. The vote follows passage by the House of Representatives earlier this month. The bill will now go to the President for signature.

Dec. 18, 2015 – Two Bronx Zoo herpetologists rescued an Indian cobra (Naja naja) which was a stow away on a container ship destined for the APM Terminals at the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal in New Jersey.

WASHINGTON (December 18, 2015) – WCS regards Congress and the Administration’s agreement on an omnibus federal budget as a win for wildlife, as the sides struck a balanced approach that was free from most harmful policy riders and maintained or increased funding to stop wildlife trafficking by terrorist networks and other conservation priorities, including supporting the Global Environment Facility.

December 17, 2015 - An international group of carnivore biologists, writing in the journalScience, say that policies regulating the hunting of large carnivores do not always align with basic scientific data.

Belize City, Belize, December 16 — The first season of Punta Fuego may have come to a close, but thanks to its roaring success it will officially be back on air next June! By the end of its first season the hit radio show has given us many causes for celebration, including elevating the importance of ordinary Belizean fishers and of sustainable fishing practices.

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA/BEIJING, CHINA, December 16, 2015 –The Science for Nature and People (SNAP) partnership announced it has convened a new Expert Working Group, which will result in one of the most comprehensive studies to date of China’s illegal trade in ivory.

 

NEW YORK (December 15, 2015) – The Criminal Investigation Division of the Indonesian National Police and the WCS’s Wildlife Crimes Unit (WCU) announced today an enforcement action against a major tiger skin trader and an intermediary who offered tiger skin products to potential buyers. Both were  arrested in Jakarta, on December 11, 2015. 

December 14, 2015 -- There’s a feeling of hope, and rightly so, coming out of Paris this past weekend: The climate accord, signed by 195 countries, shows a commitment by the global community to reduce the greenhouse gases warming our planet.