New York, NY -- June 19, 2015 -- WCS President and CEO Cristián Samper issued the following statement today on on the crush of 1 ton of confiscated ivory in New York City's Times Square.

June 18, 2015– Forest rangers from the Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP), the Government of Indonesia, and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Wildlife Crimes Unit (WCU) announced today the arrest of two suspects engaged in the illegal trade of helmeted hornbill beaks. The suspects’ operation involved 30 hunters who poached the birds inside Indonesia’s Leuser landscape—a continuous forest covering more than 25,000 square kilometers, most of which lies in the provin...

June 17  - Days ahead of the U.S. Times Square ivory stockpile destruction, Stop Ivory, along with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Save the Elephants, are appealing to NGOs around the world to heed the call of eight African countries to join the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) to stop the wholesale slaughter of elephants which threatens is decimating elephant populations across Africa.

NEW YORK June 4, 2015) One day before China crushed 660 kg of ivory and indicated it would move to stop the processing and domestic sale of ivory, Beijing Customs launched a campaign called “Customs Actions to Protect Endangered Species – Bring No Ivory Home”  The event was a joint effort between Beijing Customs, (WCS) Wildlife Conservation Society. WildAid and the CITES Management Authority of China, and was held at Beijing Capital Airport on May 28th.  At the event,...

The following statement was released today by WCS President and CEO Cristián Samper, who also serves on the U.S. Federal Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking. The statement concerns the ivory crush that took place in China today and comments from the Chinese Government on ivory:

   (NEW YORK- May 25, 2015) – The Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), San Diego Zoo Global and WCS’s Bronx Zoo announced today that working in conjunction with Changsha Zoo, Suzhou Zoo and the China Zoo Association, a female Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei)—potentially the last female of her species—has been artificially inseminated. The procedure, which brought together top scientists from China, Australia and the United States, provides a ray of h...

The Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Division (BARESKRIM MABES POLRI), the Government of Indonesia, and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Wildlife Crimes Unit (WCU) today announced the seizure of a shipment of pangolins headed to China and valued at approximately 1.8 million US dollars (USD). 

 WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) announced today that 60 captive-raised Myanmar roofed turtles—a species once thought extinct—have been released into their native habitat in Myanmar. More than 350 villagers, government representatives, and religious leaders attended ceremonies for the release.

A new study led by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), University of Montana, Qinghai Forestry Bureau, Keke Xili National Nature Reserve, and other groups finds that climate change and past hunting in the remote Tibetan Plateau is forcing female wild yaks onto steeper and steeper terrain.

New York – Mar. 2, 2015 – Brooklyn just received another 3.5 inches of snow. The WCS Prospect Park Zoo is always a beautiful place to visit no matter the weather.