JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - September 26, 2016 - Unless the government of Madagascar takes swift action to enforce international anti-poaching and anti-trafficking laws, the country’s largest tortoise—the ploughshare tortoise (or angonoka tortoise)—will likely go extinct in the wild within the next two years. 

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – (September 23, 2016) – Lao PDR’s announced a decision at CITES CoP17 to end the practice of breeding tigers for commercial purposes.

New York, NY (Sept 22, 2016) – Man. District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) Commissioner Basil Seggos, and Wildlife Conser- vation Society (“WCS”) Executive Vice President of Public Affairs John Calvelli, today announced the indictment of an antiques store, its owners, and a salesperson for selling and offering for sale illegal elephant ivory worth more than $4.5 million.

WASHINGTON (September 21, 2016) – WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) applauded the U.S. Congress's passage of the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act today. The bill now moves on to the White House for the president’s signature.

(Fairbanks, AK  September 21, 2016)  WCS reported today that in the late summer of 2016, a WCS field team led by Dr. Trevor Haynes monitored Caspian tern chicks through to fledging in Cape Krusenstern National Monument in Alaska. This discovery of Caspian terns breeding above the Arctic Circle in the Chukchi Sea is nearly 1,000 miles farther north than previously recorded – a strikingly large jump in the range of nesting for this (or any) species. 

WASHINGTON (Sept. 21, 2016) – The fourth time is the charm for the American bison – our national mammal – as the U.S. Senate for the fourth time in four years agreed to a resolution designating National Bison Day as the first Saturday in November, which falls this year on November 5th.

New York, NY (September 20^th, 2016) – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) today honored President Juan Manuel Santos for his role in expanding the national park system in Colombia.

Bronx, NY – Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 – Two rare Malayan tiger cubs (Panthera tigris jacksoni) born at WCS’s (Wildlife Conservation Society) Bronx Zoo are making their public debut at the popular Tiger Mountain exhibit.

The cubs, Nadia and Azul, are both female and were born in January. In the days following the birth, their mother was not providing suitable maternal care so Bronx Zoo keepers intervened and hand-raised the cubs until they were fully weaned. 

BOZEMAN, MT. (September 19, 2016) –A new paper released by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), National Park Service and Cornell University provides a method for integrating human perspectives into finding pathways for wildlife moving through privately-owned lands.

WASHINGTON (September 16, 2016) – WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) applauded the Senate’s passage of the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act. The legislation is led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and would bolster wildlife trafficking law enforcement and increase support for wildlife rangers, including the transfer of military equipment for ranger use. The bill will now return to the House for final passage.