High-Tech Tools

Wildlife Health Science

The Wildlife Conservation Society established an unwavering commitment to the health of wild animals over one hundred years ago with the creation of the Bronx Zoo and the hiring of their first full-time zoo veterinarian, Dr. Reid Blair. Today, the Wildlife Health Sciences division is responsible for the health care of more than 20,000 wild animals of almost 1,400 species in five Living Institutions in the city of New York. In addition, our services and critical research efforts benefit free-ranging wild animals in native habitats around the globe.

The Wildlife Health Center (WHC) is a 30,000-square-foot medical and applied research facility located on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo. The facility houses specialized areas for the performance of pathology exams as well as suites for sterile surgery and medical imaging. It includes laboratories in Clinical Medicine, Histopathology and Field Veterinary Programs as well as conference rooms, offices, and a library for professional health staff. Specialized animal enclosures are an integral part of WHC, with environments available for quarantine and isolation of new additions to the WCS collections as well as care for ill animals from the zoos and aquariums.

Landscape Ecology

Landscape ecology is the study of how ecosystems are arranged and how their arrangements affect the wildlife and environmental conditions that comprise them. An ecologist might study a population of wildlife species in a given habitat, while a landscape ecologist looks at how the holistic patterns of the land, such as its topography, water, forest cover, and human uses, affect wildlife populations. Wildlife Conservation Society’s Landscape Ecology Program looks at entire landscapes to determine how to best protect wildlife. As a discipline, landscape ecology is quite young, but already many conservation biologists have found its essential elements extremely useful in their work.

Distance Learning

Take your students on a trip to the Zoo without setting foot outside your own classroom! Using two-way videoconferencing technology, the Bronx Zoo can bring engaging programs for K-12 students right into your own classroom—live! All Distance Learning Expeditions include several live animal "guests"—gorillas, alligators, owls and more. Programs are 45 minutes to an hour and all include extensive teacher support materials. These time-tested, teacher-endorsed programs are aligned with the National Science Education Standards and have received rave reviews from students and teachers alike.

WCS Working Papers

The WCS Working Papers series represents preliminary results of basic and applied field work supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The purpose of WCS Working Papers is to distribute project reports, benchmark data sets of historical significance, and other timely technical material in its entirety, and with as little delay as possible.