Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Feb. 9, 2024 -- A Wildlife Conservation Society delegation is heading to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals CoP14, Feb. 12-17, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The WCS delegation will be led by Dr. Susan Lieberman, WCS VP of International Policy, and includes WCS scientists and experts from WCS International Policy, WCS Sharks and Rays, WCS Argentina, WCS Brazil, WCS Mongolia, WCS Afghanistan, WCS Temperate Asia, and WCS-EU. Lieberman is available for inter...

A new study, featuring more than 150 researchers worldwide, including Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists who collected data at WCS programs in Mesoamerica, South East Asia, Melanesia and East Africa, says overfishing is driving reef sharks toward extinction.

With the final adoption of proposals to regulate the trade of requiem sharks and hammerheads as governments conclude the 19^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP19), the following statement was issued by Luke Warwick, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Shark and Ray Program:

Research led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Instituto Oceanográfico de Moçambique (InOM), using baited remote underwater video (BRUV) surveys to assess sharks and rays off southern Mozambique, has recently recorded a tagged young white shark matched to an earlier record of the same individual in a BRUV survey off Struisbaai, in South Africa, in May 2022.

“This remarkable commitment is a major step toward sustainably managed seas which is so critical to nature, people and climate.” Simon Cripps, Executive Director of the WCS Marine Program

The Protecting Our Planet Challenge will invest at least $1 billion USD to support the creation, expansion and management of marine protected areas and Indigenous and locally governed marine and coastal areas by 2030.

In response to the alarming decline of global shark populations, a group of countries from around the world have today announced a groundbreaking effort to control the unsustainable global trade in shark fins, which threatens to push these ecologically important predators to extinction.

A conservation coalition consisting of WCS, WWF, Elasmo Project, and James Cook University have launched the Shark and Ray Recovery Initiative (SARRI) as a global response to bring sharks and rays back from the brink.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) launched a new, visual identification tool to enable trade inspectors and customs officials to quickly identify and seize illegally obtained or traded shark products.

Gabon's network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provides a blueprint that could be used in many other countries, experts say.