Park Headquarters Destroyed by Bandits in Epulu, Democratic Republic of Congo  Attack on Okapi Faunal Reserve leaves guards and villagers dead and wildlife slaughtered  WCS staff working in the park safe and accounted for  Funds desperately needed to rebuild park facilities and resume conservation of wildlife  New York (June 29, 2012)—The Wildlife Conservation Society reports that all WCS staff members working in the Okapi Faunal Reserve ...

A Statement Issued by Dr. James Deutsch, Executive Director for the Africa Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society NEW YORK (June 28, 2012)—“Gabon becomes the second African country, after Kenya, to completely reject the ivory trade by burning their valuable stockpiles of confiscated and recovered elephant ivory. When Kenya first did this in 1989, it helped lead to an international ban on trade in ivory, and that led to a collapse in the price of ivory and a remarkable rec...

First camel born at Bronx Zoo since 1982 now on exhibit at Wild Asia Bronx, NY – June 22, 2012 – A male dromedary camel calf at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo stays close to its mother in Wild Asia. This calf is the first camel born at the Bronx Zoo since 1982. It weighed approximately 80 pounds at birth on March 16, and could grow to be over 1,500 pounds as an adult. Dromedary camels are native to Northern Africa and Arabic regions of Asia. They have one...

WASHINGTON (June 20, 2012) — Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Programs approved an FY13 appropriations bill that would slash critical funding for some of the world’s most threatened species, including rhinos, tigers, elephants, great apes, and marine turtles. The subcommittee mark up of the bill recommends a cut of 21 percent below the FY12 enacted level for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) programs. Among the conservation programs that wo...

No elephants are immune from increased poaching in the Republic of Congo. WCS advocates doubling the number of guards monitoring the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and surrounding areas, one of the few safe havens where elephant numbers have remained stable.

NEW YORK (June 7, 2012)—The loss of 5,000 forest elephants to poachers in northern Republic of Congo over the past five years makes protected areas for Africa’s dwindling wildlife more important than ever, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. Conservationists recommend that guard strength in northern Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, where elephant numbers have remained stable, should be doubled immediately to protect the park’s estimated 2,300 individuals. In addition, protecti...

Gland, Switzerland, 5 June, 2012 (IUCN) — Increasing alarm for the fate of the two rarest rhinoceros species, and growing concern over the increased illegal hunting of rhinos and demand for rhino horn affecting all five species, has prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia to declare 5 June 2012 as the start of the International Year of the Rhino. President Yudhoyono took this step at the request of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and other conservation orga...

Coquerel’s sifaka and collared lemur join the Bronx Zoo’s Madagascar! exhibit View the videos at: http://youtu.be/psckL953QZM (sifaka) http://youtu.be/YbX1XGC5_UE (collared lemur) Bronx, NY – June 1, 2012 – ATTACHED PHOTOS: A Coquerel’s sifaka, born this spring, clings to its mother’s back as she perches on a branch in the Madagascar! exhibit at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo. A collared lemur, also born this spring, curls up to its mother as...

More Than 10 Million Sold Since September Debut Stamps May Be Purchased at Post Offices Nationwide and USPS.com Fiscally Responsible Bill Supported by Senate International Conservation Caucus Co-Chairs WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 21, 2011) – The Wildlife Conservation Society applauded today’s Senate introduction of a bill to reauthorize the Save Vanishing Species postage stamp.The stamp features an illustration of a tiger cub and supports efforts to save species like elephants, tigers, and great ape...

WCS and partners recommend focusing on carcasses rather than live animals for samples NEW YORK (May 16, 2012)—Response efforts to outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Africa can benefit from a standardized sampling strategy that focuses on the carcasses of gorillas, chimpanzees, and other species known to succumb to the virus, according to a consortium of wildlife health experts. In a recently published study of 14 previous human Ebola outbreaks and the responses of wildlife teams collecting...