WCS President and CEO Cristián Samper recognizes the outstanding leadership of Gabon president Ali Bongo Ondimba and Michel Djotodia, acting president of the CAR transitional government, in confronting the urgent wildlife emergency in Dzanga Bai and restoring security to the area.

WCS builds assurance colonies in its zoos and in the field to help restore endangered turtles May 23, Thursday: World Turtle Day NEW YORK (May 23, 2013) — The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today progress in its effort to restore some of the world’s most endangered turtles , an effort that combines the creation of assurance colonies at its zoos with in-country field conservation work. The announcement comes on World Turtle Day – a global celebration to bring...

NEW YORK (May 18, 2013) —The following statement was released today by the Wildlife Conservation Society President and CEO Cristián Samper in response to the news that Gabon has agreed to help improve the management of the Central African Republic’s protected areas, which are currently threatened by large-scale elephant poaching for ivory, and that security has returned to Dzanga-Sangha National Park. At least two dozen elephants were killed in Dzanga-Sangha National Park in the Central African...

PLOS ONE study with largest dataset on forest elephants ever compiled reveals a loss of more than 60 percent in the past decade Decline documented throughout forest elephant’s range in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Republic of Congo Conservation scientists urge immediate measures to save the species Elephants are being discussed at CITES meeting in Bangk...

Forest elephants could be extinct in DRC within a decade if current slaughter continues NEW YORK ( Feb. 28, 2013 ) — The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) largest remaining forest elephant population, located in the Okapi Faunal Reserve (OFR), has declined by 37 percent in the last five years, with only 1,700 elephants now remaining, according to wildlife surveys by WCS and DRC officials. WCS scientists warn that if poaching of forest elephan...

A new survey conducted by WCS and partners reveals that, since 2004, poachers have slaughtered 11,000 forest elephants in a Gabonese national park. Until recently, elephant herds were thought to be less impacted by poaching in Gabon than in other parts of Africa.

WCS scientists confirm Africa’s largest elephant population cut by at least half in ten years Gabon’s Minkebe National Park has been decimated by poachers for ivory trade LIBREVILLE, GABON (February 6, 2013): The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that a national park, once home to Africa’s largest forest elephant population, has lost a staggering 11,100 individuals due to poaching for the ivory trade. The shocking figures come from Gabon...

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...

Efforts include breeding at zoos combined with intensive field conservation work WCS will take direct responsibility for the continued survival of at least half of the 25 most endangered species of turtles and tortoisesWCS working with Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), Turtle Conservancy (TC), and the Asian Turtle Program (ATP) in global effort NEW YORK (April 11, 2012) – The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today a new strategy that draws on all of th...

New study finds 87 marine mammal species consumed by people in 114 countries New York (January 24, 2012)—The fate of the world’s great whale species commands global attention as a result of heated debate between pro and anti-whaling advocates, but the fate of smaller marine mammals is less understood, specifically because the deliberate and accidental harvesting of dolphins, porpoises, manatees and other warm-blooded aquatic denizens is rarely studied or monitored. To shed more light on the i...