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.

Local and international support crucial to continued protection for Cross River gorilla according to revised conservation action plan NEW YORK (March 20, 2014)—In spite of the continued threats of poaching and habitat destruction, future prospects for the world’s rarest gorilla have improved but are still dependent on continued local and international partnerships, according to a new action plan published by the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and the Wildlife Conservation Society, and produce...

WCS-led satellite tracking study charts humpback whale movements and identifies overlap with offshore ocean industries Half of monitored animals unexpectedly travel north of coastal Gabon, perhaps toward an unknown breeding ground for humpbacks NEW YORK (February 5, 2014)—Scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Oregon State University, Stanford University, Columbia University, and the American Museum of Natural History have found that humpback whales swimming off the coast of western...

NEW YORK (December 20) – SILVER BELLS, SILVERBACK -- The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released this stunning camera trap photo of a silverback Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) taken in Nigeria’ s Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. Cross River gorillas are the rarest of the four gorilla subspecies – numbering fewer than 300 individuals and found only in the forested, mountainous border region of Nigeria and Cameroon. WCS conservation work at this site is supported by Save our Sp...

American Association of Zoo Veterinarians presents Emil Dolensek Award to Bonnie Raphael DVM, Dipl. ACZMBronx, NY – Nov. 12, 2013 – The American Association of Zoo Veterinarians has honored Dr. Bonnie Raphael, a veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo, as the 2013 recipient of the Emil Dolensek Award. The prestigious award was created in honor of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s former Chief Veterinarian Dr. Emil Dolensek after his death in 1990. The prize recognizes members of the American Association...