A new study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions predicts massive range declines of Africa’s great apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – due to the impacts of climate change, land-use changes and human population growth.

The African savannah elephant and the forest elephant have now been classified as Endangered and Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species^TM. 

A study by WCS and partners produced new analyses to pinpoint the most important forests for biodiversity conservation remaining in Central Africa.

Three WCS rangers have won the African Ranger Award, which recognizes and supports the achievements and efforts of rangers working to combat the precipitous decline of Africa's wildlife species due to poaching, habitat loss, and the illegal wildlife trade.

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.

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.

May 7, 2015 - Inaoyom Imong of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Nigeria Program has won a prestigious Whitley Award for his work in protecting the Cross River gorilla, Africa’s most endangered great ape. 

The number of gorillas and chimpanzees in Central Africa continues to decline due to hunting, habitat loss, and disease, combined with a widespread lack of law enforcement and corruption in the judicial process, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF, and partners in a new conservation plan.

A recent study by Drexel University, WCS, and other groups shows that the world’s least known chimp  may become threatened due to climate change.

The Cross River gorilla is one of the world’s largest gorillas and also the rarest, but recently conservationists have made important achievements to help protect this species.