Republic of Congo creates Ntokou-Pikounda National Park to safeguard thousands of great apes Park contains massive ape population discovered by WCS in 2008, and is home to hundreds of elephants and chimpanzees NEW YORK (DATE) — The Republic of Congo has declared a new national park that protects a core population of the 125,000 western lowland gorillas discovered by WCS in 2008. Called Ntokou-Pikounda National Park, the new protected area spans some 4,572 square kilometers (1...

The thick-coated mountain gorilla only inhabits two places on Earth: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the Virunga Volcanoes in the African nations of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

New estimate brings world population of mountain gorillas to 880 NEW YORK (December 3, 2012)—A 2011 census of mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has confirmed that the great apes there have increased in number since the last count in 2006, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which provided support for the census. Recently released by the Uganda Minister for Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities and the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the new census reveal...

SMART Technology Unveiled at World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea Strategic Tool Designed to Identify Poaching Hotspots JEJU, REPUBLIC OF KOREA (SEPT. 11, 2012) – A free high-tech tool to combat the wildlife poaching crisis was offered to grassroots rangers by a consortium of conservation organizations at the World Conservation Congress. SMART, the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool, is designed to help park and community rangers fight illegal wildlife trade by identifying p...

Presented by Delta Airlines Lifelike LEGO® wildlife sculptures on display at the Bronx Zoo with activities for all ages Professionally built sculptures include: zebra, tiger, gorillas, lemurs, giraffe, rhinoceros, flamingos, hornbills, and more Activities include: LEGO® Master Builder demonstrations, interactive LEGO® Construction Zone, Wildlife Theater, Animal Activity Trail presented by Empire BlueCross BlueShield, and encore performances of Avenue Zoo Sat...

Forest elephants congregate en masse within TNS, a new World Heritage Site, sometimes in groups of 100 or more. Nowhere else in the world are this many forest elephants spotted together. 

SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (July 2, 2012) – A Central African protected area that straddles three countries and teems with gorillas, elephants, and chimpanzees has been named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. Called the Sangha Tri-National Protected Area complex (known by its French acronym TNS) the site consists of a 25,000 km2 (10,000 square-mile) contiguous area across the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroon, and the Centra...

WCS VP for Species Conservation Liz Bennett details efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade and highlights the urgent need for additional security forces to slow and ultimately reverse the decimation of myriad charismatic species.

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...

First camera trap video footage of Cross River gorillas reveals candid behaviors of elusive animals and threat of poaching NEW YORK (May 8, 2012)—Conservationists working in Cameroon’s Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary have collected the first camera trap video footage of the Cross River gorilla. With fewer than 250 individuals remaining, Cross River gorillas are the world’s rarest gorilla and a notoriously elusive species rarely observed directly by field researchers. Collected from one of ...