QUEENS, NY – May 23, 2019 – Two Andean bear cubs (Tremarctos ornatus) born at the Queens Zoo are ready to make their New York City debut. The cubs, one female and one male, were born in January to mother, Nicole (6), and father, Bouba (8). After spending several weeks in their den bonding with their mother, they have now started venturing into the zoo’s outdoor habitat. Queens Zoo animal care staff have named the cubs Brienne and Benny, and are closely monitoring their health a...

WCS Bolivia issued the following report on the great success achieved by residents of La Paz as they excelled in the global “City Nature Challenge,” coming in second with 46,931 observations of nature. The world-wide challenge is organized by the California Academy of Sciences and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.

For the past 20 years, members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) have celebrated our planet with annual Party For The Planet^® events. The New York Aquarium will commemorate the annual Party for the Planet® celebration with two events. On June 1^st there will be a volunteer clean-up of Coney Island Creek, bringing attention to this urban waterway that is now the focus of a revitalization effort. On the following Saturday, June 8th, the aquarium will celebrate World Ocean’s Day with a “March for the Ocean”, a parade on the Coney Island Boardwalk to highlight the challenges posed by plastic waste to the waters of New York and celebrate New York’s commitment to healthier, cleaner waters. 

 

Scientists with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and WCS Ecuador Program publishing in the journal BioTropica say that subsistence hunting in Neotropical rain forests – the mainstay of local people as a source of protein and a direct connection to these ecosystems – is in jeopardy from a variety of factors.

Project TRUE – Teens Researching Urban Ecology will be featured in the 2019 STEM for All Video Showcase funded by the National Science Foundation.  The event will be held online May 13th -20th at https://stemforall2019.videohall.com. The presentation, entitled Project TRUE -- Teens Researching Urban Ecology, looks at an immersive summer research mentoring program for NYC high school students aimed at training the next generation of STEM professionals. The project is based at the Bron...

The WCS New York Aquarium’s breeding program for the African black-footed penguin (Spheniscus demersus) has successfully added four more chicks to its colony.

The Bronx Zoo’s Zoological Health Program veterinarians and Mammalogy Department curators have implemented a cutting-edge technology designed for humans to help them monitor and treat cardiac issues in geladas (Theropithecus gelada). “The Bronx Zoo is recognized worldwide for its leadership in the care and welfare of its animals,” said Jim Breheny, WCS Executive Vice President and Bronx Zoo Director. “We often consult with medical doctors and specialists to explore treatm...

The following statement was released by the Wildlife Conservation Society today in regard to a landmark report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES):

Statement from The Bronx Zoo “This afternoon the Bronx Zoo was contacted by the Animal Care Centers of NYC, regarding a young male wallaby that it had received earlier today from a private individual who could not provide proper care for it. Wallabies are mid-sized marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea.  “The wallaby was taken to the Bronx Zoo’s Wildlife Health Center where it will undergo a routine 30-day quarantine so that the zoo’s veterinarians can a...

Over 11 field seasons, between 1999 and 2010, ornithologist Çağan Şekercioğlu trekked through the forests and coffee fields of Costa Rica to study how tropical birds were faring in a changing agricultural landscape. Through painstaking banding of individual birds, Şekercioğlu asked whether the expansion of coffee plantations is reducing tropical bird biodiversity. The answer, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is no. And yes. Sun coffee plantations are able to h...