"I first saw 'Jaws' during its theatrical debut in 1975 when I was 15," writes WCS's Hans Walters in a new op-ed for the New York Daily News as Shark Week begins and the film celebrates its 50th anniversary. "The previous year," continues Hans, "family friends had loaned me Peter Benchley’s novel. The book and film terrified me. But I had been a shark-obsessed kid for years, so fascination outweighed fear. Fifty years later, as a shark biologist, and with the summer’s annual Shark Week starting tomorrow, I think about how our views on sharks have changed over the last five decades. And how they haven’t."

WCS is at the forefront of pioneering collaborative approaches that unite sport anglers, scientists, policymakers, and conservationists under a shared mission to protect sharks and the oceans they inhabit, writes WCS's Juan Martin Cuevas in a new opinion essay at Medium.

This summer, city drones are spotting more sharks off Rockaway and other beaches, prompting multiple temporary closures and stirring unease among beachgoers. WCS's Hans Walters joins the NYC Now podcast to discuss shark behavior and the kinds of sharks near New York, and busts some of the biggest myths about these ocean predators.

In his fifth blog documenting the Llanos de Moxos expedition, Rob Wallace explores the Gran Mojos Municipal Protected Area. This area is home to one of the three most important populations of blue throated macaws and is therefore a major conservation priority.

Over its nearly 30 years, the WCS Graduate Scholars Program program has awarded 163 scholarships to conservationists from 42 different countries to pursue advanced degrees. With those skills, recipients are able return home and make a significant impact on their countries. They now lead conservation efforts in governments, universities, local organizations, and WCS itself—building lasting conservation capacity from within and delivering tangible conservation results on the ground. WCS Wild Audio's Dan Rosen speaks to WCS's Richard Malonga and other graduates of the program in this episode to learn more.

In 2022, WCS began investigating just how much untreated sewage was flowing into the reefs around Malindi and Watamu, along Kenya's northern coast. A combination of open dumpsites, flood-prone latrines, and illegal sewage disposal appeared to be introducing high levels of bacteria and nutrients into the water, risking coral disease, algae blooms, and reduced reef resilience. To respond, WCS partnered with Sanivation, a social enterprise transforming human fecal waste into biomass briquettes. Read the story by WCS's Rosanna Hine.

Some conservationists and researchers propose that exploitation of pangolins is primarily driven by overseas demand for pangolin scales used in traditional medicine, But a new study by WCS's Charle Emogor challenges this view and suggests that African pangolin exploitation is motivated more by local demand for meat than international demand for scales.

A new book explores what the wolf’s return to the continent means for people who have never known its presence. Read the review in The Atlantic by WCS's Jonathan Slaght

Participants from around the world gathered in Nice this month for the third United Nations Oceans Conference. It was an opportunity to assess the current state of marine conservation and seek ambitious new opportunities to achieve progress toward ocean protection. WCS Global Marine Program Executive Director Stacy Jupiter was there with some members of her team and a big announcement to make.

On May 28, " writes WCS India's Thasmai H S in a new essay for Down to Earth, "we celebrate World Dhole Day; a day to perhaps appreciate all the complexities that encapsulate this much-maligned predator and our arduous efforts to save the endangered dogs of Asia, one pack at a time."

The Amazon Basin is home to the largest freshwater system on Earth. These waterways don’t just support rich biodiversity—they’re a vital source of food and nutrition for millions across South America, where fish are often the most affordable and accessible source of protein. But this life-sustaining resource is under threat. Mercury contamination, overfishing, and the pressures of a globalized food market are putting fish populations—and the health of the people who rely on them—at risk. In this episode, WCS Wild Audio explores how conservationists are working to reimagine food systems in the Amazon—blending traditional knowledge with science to protect rivers, restore fisheries, and ensure a healthy, sustainable future for communities and ecosystems alike.

For the BBC's Science in Action podcast, Roland Pease talks to WCS's Sue Lieberman, who was in the trenches of the World Health Organization's Pandemic Agreement negotiations, and shares some of her hopes for its success.

The idea of integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems is often well-intentioned, but ultimately misguided, writes WCS's Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle and her colleagues in a new commentary for Mongabay. As part of a collaborative project by WCS-Canada and the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation in the Yukon, they produced a new study offering an alternative approach, in which these knowledge systems can exist independently and simultaneously, without seeking to control or validate one another.

The World Health Organization’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body recently reached consensus on a draft pandemic agreement with member states that endorses the reality that human contact with live wildlife must be regulated or curbed as part of prevention of pathogen spillovers. Read the essay by Chris Walzer, Sue Lieberman, and Christine Franklin for Mongabay.

A leopard. A giant pangolin. A group of forest elephants. They can be almost impossible to spot in the wild. But in February, WCS and wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas released a series of high definition camera trap photos of these species and more from the Republic of Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. The hope is that sharing these remarkable pictures of rarely seen animals in their natural environment will inspire people to protect them. WCS Wild Audio's Dan Rosen has the story.

For four decades, the Conservation Leadership Programme, or CLP, has been providing critical early career funding awards to emerging conservationists. Born out of a partnership between Birdlife International, Fauna & Flora, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, the CLP has opened the door countless scientists working across the globe in countries rich in biodiversity but often lacking resources for their protection. As the program turns 40, WCS Wild Audio checked in with a few alumni to hear how the program has helped them to advance in their journey to become conservation leaders.