He’s a father of 20 from nine different mothers. He’s a fierce defender of his family and helped nurse two of his offspring back from leopard attacks. He likes to nap with his feet in the air, and he hums while he eats. Meet Kingo, a wild silverback gorilla who is celebrating his 40^th birthday.

 

WASHINGTON (May 22, 2018) – WCS VP of Species Conservation Liz Bennett addressed the House Foreign Affairs Committee to stress the need for dedicated U.S. government investment to combat wildlife trafficking.

A massive decade-long study of Western Equatorial Africa’s gorillas and chimpanzees has uncovered both good news and bad about our nearest relatives. The good news: there are one third more western lowland gorillas and one tenth more central chimpanzees than previously thought. The bad news: the vast majority of these great apes (80 percent) exist outside of protected areas, and gorilla populations are declining by 2.7 percent annually.

OUESSO, Republic of Congo (February 23, 2018) – Three poachers responsible for slaughtering eleven elephants in and around Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in January were convicted to five years’ imprisonment by the local district court last week, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). The poachers, who had ventured deep into the remote Ndoki forest and spent three weeks killing elephants for their ivory, walked into an ambush setup by park rangers as they exited the forest on February 2nd. Three of the six poachers were apprehended.

Bronx, NY, Dec. 31, 2017 — WCS President and CEO Cristian Samper released the following statement today as China honors its 2017 New Year's resolution to make the sale and processing of ivory illegal.

December 21, 2017 — A group of scientists now considers a little-known dolphin that only lives along the Atlantic coasts of Western Africa to be among the continent’s most endangered mammals, a list that includes widely recognized species such as gorillas, African wild dogs, and black rhinos, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and the IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Cetacean Specialist Group.

December 15, 2017 – A local court sentenced a notorious elephant poacher and ivory trafficker to five years in prison and a fine of 1,200,000 XAF (~2100 US$). 

December 11, 2017 – He’s tall, muscular and has striking black hair. He is shy, known locally as “Ichi,” and he’s looking for a mate. Please leave him alone.

November 14, 2017 – WCS has released heartbreaking footage of rescued African gray parrots from the Republic of Congo where thousands were destined for the illegal pet trade. 

October 27, 2017 – The following statement is from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)’s Dr. Elizabeth Bennett, Vice President for Species Conservation.  WCS works on elephant conservation in 12 countries in Africa.