National Geographic World Talk
XM Satellite Radio channel 133, February 5, 8:00 p.m.
WCS Madagascar Country Program Director Helen Crowley was featured in a 15-minute interview about WCS’s work in Madagascar. National Geographic World Talk is a one-hour, weekly talk show that reaches out to explorers, conservationists, and scientists all over the world.

Search for New Birds of Paradise Also Yields Strange Frogs and Giant Flowers
Cornelia Dean/The New York Times, February 7, 2006
In an article about the discovery of several new species of plants and wildlife during an expedition to New Guinea, Colin Poole, director of the WCS Asia, was consulted on the existence of unrecorded species in the world’s remaining wild places. When it comes to new species, he said: “The challenge is not finding them but working out how to protect them. When we find them, that’s when our job begins, working with the government to say, ‘How can we help you protect these areas?’”

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: “Clean Up Zookeeper to Turn Him into a Keeper”
Bravo Channel/February 7 Premier, with multiple reairings
The Fab Five visit the Bronx Zoo! This make-over with BZ Keeper Carlos Flores was a hilarious hit that featured an excellent tour of the Zoo.

Poultry, Not Wild Birds, Most Often Carries Deadly Avian Flu to Africa
David Brown/Washington Post, February 15
It is likely that trade, not nature, was responsible for introducing H5N1 to Africa this month. Better control of trade in domesticated birds may be able to limit the virus’s spread there and on other continents, according to public health experts like Dr. William Karesh, WCS field veterinarian.

Fighting (and Learning About) Bird Flu
Letter to the Editor/Washington Post, January 18, 2006
William Karesh, Director of the WCS Field Veterinary Program, commends Congress on taking an important first step in fighting bird flu by including provisions for international scientific surveillance of wild bird diseases in recently passed legislation on pandemic flu preparedness.

A Walk Through The Bronx
Premiered Monday, December 5 on WNET/Channel 13
The tenth program in Thirteen’s popular Walking Tour series, hosted by David Hartman and historian Barry Lewis, explored the history and cultural treasures of the Bronx. The show takes viewers along on trips to the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, Orchard Beach, Woodlawn Cemetery, Bartow-Pell Mansion, and other historic sites. As Lewis and Hartman discover, the borough is an exciting, vibrant place that has much to offer. Dr. Steve Sanderson was interviewed in a segment that focused on the history and conservation mission of WCS as well as the attractions of the Bronx Zoo.

Madagascar on Track To Triple Its Nature Reserves
Tim Cocks/Reuters, January 9, 2006
With the recent declaration of the Makira Protected Area in Madagascar, the country has reached a milestone in its plan to triple its protected areas by the end of 2008. Herilala Randriamahazo, marine director for the WCS Madagascar Program, said the government was on track to meet President Ravalomanana’s pledge after the plan was finalized last year, and spoke of the importance of local community involvement in conserving the country’s treasured wildlife.

A New Home on the Range? Wild Animals of Ages Past Might Find a Habitat in America’s Heartland, If This Concept Takes Hold
Bryn Nelson/Newsday, August 18, 2005

This article responds to a scientific paper entitled “Re-wilding North America,” published in the journal Nature and written by a group of conservationists that included WCS scientist Joel Berger. The article offered an alternative vision for 21st century conservation biology, in which large wildlife species long extinct from North America would be re-introduced to the Great Plains. The conservationists’ somewhat satirical vision nonetheless represents a serious concern with our ecosystem’s bleak forecast, and an attempt to provoke a much-needed debate over the future of wildlife conservation and ecology—successfully, as proven by this article and the many other popular media outlets that responded to it.

World Briefing | Asia: Vietnam: Rare Turtle Saved From The Soup
Andrew C. Revkin/The New York Times, July 19, 2005

Rare Cambodian Turtle Saved from Chinese Soup Pot
USA Today, July 20, 2005

Microchip Saves Turtle from Soup Pot
CNN, July 20, 2005

Microchip Saves Rare Cambodian Turtle
MSNBC, July 20, 2005

In the past month, as many as 19,000 media outlets ran this story about the rescue of one of Cambodia’s last surviving royal turtles, thanks to a microchip implanted in its skin. WCS scientists rediscovered the species four years ago in Cambodia, and are working with this country's National Fisheries Department to protect turtle nesting beaches and reduce local hunting and egg collection.
 
Veterinarian Need Seen as Tied to Security
John Nielsen/All Things Considered, July 18, 2005

A shortage of veterinarians is said to be hampering national efforts to counter emerging medical threats, including everything from mad cow disease to bioterrorist attacks. WCS chief veterinarian Bob Cook was interviewed for this story.
 
Where the Human Footprint Is Lightest
Bill Marsh/The New York Times, July 31, 2005

WCS, with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University, has assembled satellite and land-use data to plot the extent of the global human footprint, and discover the last of the truly wild. Pristine lands, by the strictest definition, no longer exist, scientists say. Globally, the Society found that 17 percent of land is still virtually untouched—mostly because it is inhospitable to humans.

New Monkey  Species Is Found in Tanzania
Cornelia Dean/The New York Times, May 19,  2005

Two teams of American scientists, one led by Dr. Tim  Davenport of WCS, working independently hundreds of miles apart in Tanzania,  have identified a new species of monkey, the highland mangabey. It is the  first new primate species to be identified in Africa in 20  years.

Interviews:  Taking a Tally of the Siberian Tiger
Radio  Expeditions, NPR, June 17, 2005
 
Alex Chadwick talks with Dale Miquelle, director of  the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Russia program and project director of the  Siberian tiger survey, about the remarkable survey effort of Siberian tigers  in the Russian Far East. Contrary to expectations, conservationists have  determined that the numbers remained about the same as a decade  ago.

For Congo’s  Forests, The War Isn’t Over
John A.  Hart/International Herald Tribune, June 7, 2005 

(This article was authored by WCS scientist John Hart,  who has worked in Congo's national parks over the past three  decades.)

Park Wardens  Preserve, Protect
Associated Press (Ran in Chicago  Sun-Tribune, CNN), June 2, 2005
 
Thirty courageous park guards and wardens of eastern  Congo’s Virunga National Park were honored by conservation groups for  protecting the country’s six national parks—home to endangered gorillas and  other game—from bandits and poachers through nearly a decade of war. “They’re  extremely courageous, have a vision and really care. It made sense to  recognize them,” said Terese Hart, director for the WCS Congo country program.  WCS, together with the Congolese Institute for the Protection of Nature and  the Alexander Abraham Foundation, will also present posthumous awards to  guards and wardens who've been killed or who have disappeared on  duty.

Letter to the Editor: The Ivory Billed Woodpecker
Steven Sanderson/The New York Times, April 30, 2005
The rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker is miraculous testament to the essential mystery of nature and its ability to surprise us. But it also warns us of the peril of undoing our system of national wildlife refuges.

Keeping Tabs on Feathered Waistlines
John Freeman Gill/The New York Times, May 8, 2005
WCS ornithologists Chad Seewagen and Eric Slayton were featured in the City section for their project to monitor the effectiveness of New York City parks as stopover feeding points for migrating songbirds traveling the  Atlantic Flyway.

A Lens on Zoo Animals, but Not Exactly a Close-Up
Lynda Richardson/The New York Times, May 15, 2005
WCS landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson discussed his  project to test the usefulness of remote satellites to monitor wildlife in  remote places by experimenting with the satellite Quickbird, which  photographed Bronx Zoo animals from 280 miles above the earth.

Oddball Rodent’ Is Called New to Science
John Noble Wilford/The New York Times, May 12, 2005
Meet the Kha-Nyou of Lao
Juliet Eilperin/The Washington Post, May 16, 2005
A team of WCS scientists working in Southeast Asia have discovered a long-whiskered rodent with stubby legs and a tail covered in  dense hair that is neither rat nor squirrel nor guinea pig or chinchilla. In  fact, the new species, called Kha-Nyou by local people, is so unique it  represents an entirely new family of wildlife. The species was discovered by WCS researcher Dr. Robert Timmins in a hunter’s market in Central Laos. WCS is working in Laos to help enact an aggressive program designed to halt illegal wildlife trade where poaching has devastated animal populations. 

Drilling in the Refuge: To the Editor
Bill Weber/The New York Times, March 14, 2005
WCS North America Program Director Bill Weber responds to an editorial by Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton about the oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Zoologist’s Dedication Led to Wilderness Reserves Protecting Rare Big Cats
William Mullen/Chicago Tribune, April 1, 2005
WCS Director of Science and Exploration Alan Rabinowitz received the Brookfield Zoo’s prestigious George B. Raab Conservation Award for his most notable accomplishments, tracking down remnant populations of some the rarest, most endangered big cats—particularly Latin American jaguars and Indochinese tigers. Once found, he has imaginatively found ways to persuade the Third World nations they reside in to set aside wilderness reserves to protect them.

Animals Survive Tsunami -- Can They Sense Natural Disasters?
World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, January 4, 2005
Director of WCS Field Veterinary Studies and field veterinarian William Karesh names animals’ popularly debated sixth sense as “common sense,” remarking on their alertness to environmental change, and heightened senses to such clues of disaster as vibrations in the ground and unusual noises, to which they are more tuned in than humans.

Did Animals Sense Tsunami Was Coming?
Maryann Mott, National Geographic News, January 4, 2005
WCS Director of Science and Exploration Alan Rabinowitz offers insight as to how animals can sense impending danger by detecting subtle or abrupt shifts in the environment, such as the vibrational changes that earthquakes cause on land and in water. Rabinowitz suggests that at one point, humans had this “sixth sense” too, but lost the ability when it was no longer used.

Tsunami Animals: A Sixth Sense?
Catherine Donaldson-Evans, Fox News, January 09, 2005
Scientists and animal behavior experts, including WCS’s own Diana Reiss, director of marine mammal research at the New York Aquarium, discuss the remarkably refined sensory abilities of animals, which allowed them to overwhelmingly survive December’s tsunami devastation. Also debates the potential to harness such refined sensory awareness to help humans detect oncoming natural disasters.

New Hope for Coral Reefs Amid Warming Oceans
Cornelia Dean, The New York Times, January 15, 2005
WCS Marine researcher Andrew Baker led a study on the responses of coral reefs to the devastating effects of global warming, and has discovered that heat-tolerant algae may move in to replace algae strains—the corals’ life-giving partners—lost in bleaching events, making corals more resilient to the threat of warming waters than previously thought. Such a finding buys researchers time to address the other threats to corals, such as pollution, development, and overfishing.

Stocky Monkey in Himalayas Becomes Newest Primate Species
New York Times
Scientists from WCS and other organizations have discovered a new species of monkey in the mountainous Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, providing hope that undiscovered habitats still remain despite the destructive activities of people.

Rwandan, Kenyan Named Winners of 2004 Conservation Award
National Geographic Society
Michel Masozera, Rwanda country director for WCS, was one of two winners of the National Geographic Society/Buffett Award for Leadership in African Conservation.

Zoos: High-Sky Bird's Eye
Newsweek
WCS scientists are tallying Bronx Zoo animals from photos generated by a satellite orbiting the zoo, as a test of how effective satellite cameras may be in tracking wildlife in remote parts of the world.