A new study by WCS looks at the job satisfaction of front line conservation rangers working in challenging conditions at a national park in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and identifies ways to improve motivation to make them more effective at enforcing the law.

Her Excellency Rosalie Matondo, the Republic of Congo’s Minister of Forestry Economy, the US Ambassador, Todd Haskell, the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Congo program, and local authorities gathered in Sibiti in the Lekoumou Department to create, by official decree, Congo’s fifth national park - the Ogooué-Leketi National Park.

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.

 

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 (March 9, 2018)— Conservationists from the WCS Congo Program have captured incredible video of a western lowland gorilla newborn living in the rainforests of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. The infant was barely a week old when the footage was shot last month, according to the WCS scientists who managed to capture the footage.

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.

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.

Sept. 11, 2017 – The following statement was issued today by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) upon the United Nation’s General Assembly adoption of its third resolution on illegal wildlife trade. Building on two earlier General Assembly resolutions adopted in 2015 and 2016, the 2017 resolution is the most comprehensive on the issue so far. 

July 19, 2017 – Researchers from WCS’s Congo Program released touching footage of two sibling western lowland gorillas in a tender embrace.

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo (May 26, 2017) – A new study by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) has revealed how mining for valuable minerals in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a major driving factor in the illegal hunting of great apes and other wildlife for food.