News From the Wild Archive 2005

New Protected Areas Keep Madagascar’s Conservation Vision On Track The government of Madagascar has scored a significant victory for conservation by bringing one million hectares of wild landscapes and seascapes under national protection. Together with Masoala National Park, the newly established Makira Protected Area now forms the island’s largest contiguous tract of safeguarded rain forest, which contains an estimated one percent of the world’s biodiversity.

Kong’s Kin at the Bronx Zoo So what’s all this hubbub about King Kong coming to New York? Many of his kin already live very close by—on a clear day, within view of the Empire State Building where Kong takes his last stand.

State of the Wild 2006: Reflecting Back, Looking Ahead A new publication by WCS, State of the Wild 2006: A Global Portrait of Wildlife, Wildlands, and Oceans, balances the grave reality of a battered planet with a refreshing attitude towards the power of environmental resurgence.

Looking to Nature for a Cure: Developing the Human Pandemic Influenza Vaccine As the public health community gears up to fend off the latest threat to the wellbeing of wildlife, livestock, and humans around the globe, the World Health Organization has turned

The Voice Behind the (Scuba) Mask Like many teenagers growing up along a coastline, Nyawira Muthiga loved the beach. After her family moved from Kenya to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, weekends were spent swimming, collecting shells,

WCS and the 92nd Street Y Present “True Tails from the Bronx Zoo” Monday, November 28, 8:15 p.m. What do you get when you combine a panel of wry Bronx Zoo staffers with moderator and renowned Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee in the lecture hall of the 92nd

Tiger Gadgets for a New Generation A trio of blue-eyed, precocious-pawed Siberian tiger cubs recently born in the Russian Far East are now wearing tiny radio collars, which will help provide conservationists with crucial insights into the lives of these threatened cats.

‘Girls for Planet Earth’ Is Queen It could have been called the Mother Earth Award. This fall, at the 81st annual conference of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) picked up

Tying Animal Health to Natural Wealth It’s not just the paper kind of green that makes the world go round. There’s an equally vital resource growing scarcer by the moment: space—verdant, abundant wilderness. As the tide

WCS Turns to a New Study Subject: The American ZooGoer What are your favorite zoo and aquarium memories? Class trips, family outings, the time you were kissed by a sea lion at a training demonstration? The Wildlife Conservation Society’s five

High on Conservation The view from the skies above the African continent varies from desert to grassland to rain forest, from beaches dotted with elephant seals to plains crisscrossed by farm plots. Wildlife

SuperShark Her route was strikingly direct, her pace astoundingly swift. The female great white shark traveled farther than any other shark previously known to science, from the waters off South Africa

Gorilla Tool Kit Before the advent of ape powertools, our closest ancestors discovered termite fishing-sticks and stone-nutcrackers. Now, gorillas have proven they are just a few steps away from the depth gauge and

WCS Seeks Clear Visions for Clean Water: New Funds for Bronx River Restoration A River Runs Through It If you’ve traveled through the Bronx, you’re probably familiar with the whiz of traffic along its miles and miles of highways, the clatter of its

Good News for Great Apes Tune out the car alarms, the drone of your computer, the noise of traffic around you, and imagine for a moment that you are trekking through one of the last

Bear-Tested, Bear-Approved In a scene reminiscent of the famous Samsonite luggage commercial in which a gorilla puts the product’s durability to the test, four grizzly bears at the Bronx Zoo gave a bear-proof food canister for backpackers a real beating.

Feline Family Portrait In front of the camera, these cats were not shy—they pushed their wide black noses and whiskery cheeks right up to the lens. In life, however, their appearances in this isolated region of Iran are extraordinarily rare.

Thar She Blows! The White Giraffe! What do an African researcher and the fictional character Captain Ahab have in common? Both were searching for a legendary white beast, and whereas Ahab searched for his white whale, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) researcher Charles Foley sought--and finally found--his white giraffe.

Wildlife Conservation Society Announces Advisory Council For Conservation Lands in Tierra Del Fuego Council includes distinguished Chilean Citizens The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today the creation of an advisory council that includes of some of Chile’s most distinguished citizens in the scientific and business communities to cooperate

WCS Continues Commitment to Madagascar’s Forests The future is looking greener for red-ruffed lemurs, aye-ayes, serpent eagles, and red owls, among other rare and endangered species that inhabit Madagascar’s Masoala National Park. The global hotspot of

Migration Mystery He traveled thousands of miles, circumventing half a continent in the course of a remarkable journey. The leviathan took off from the sheltered waters of Madagascar’s Antongil Bay, breaching, lob-tailing,

A Grizzly Man Roams Our Own Turf There are the grizzly men who roam the wilderness of Alaska, where dangerous and awesome wildlife encounters with animals that seldom lay eyes on people abound along every uncharted path.

Where Avian Flu Pandemic Looms, A Global Effort Is Underway The culprit: avian flu, a budding pandemic in Asia. The agent: farms and markets across the continent, the junctions where humans, livestock, and wildlife cross paths. The investigators: New York-based

Fortified and Enriched Underwater dolphin keyboards, perfumed tiger exhibits, playtime for polar bears—these were just a few of the topics discussed at the seventh annual International Conference on Environmental Enrichment (ICEE) hosted by

Vote Now for the Spicy Solution to Elephant Conservation What do hot sauce aficionados and African elephants have in common? They both feel the burn of chilli peppers, the key ingredient for resolving human-elephant conflicts in Africa while raising money for farmers and conservation.

Shark Attack! …Or Attack on Sharks? It’s summertime, and you’re enjoying a day at the shore, relaxing on the sand, jumping around in the waves, getting back in touch with nature. But as you wade deeper

Sympathy for the Devil? The Legacy of Jaws 30 Years Later Ramón Bonfil, PhD It was 30 years ago that the first rightfully called “summer blockbuster” hit the screens: Spielberg’s Jaws was a transcendental event. As a kid in my native Mexico City, I

A Giant Sucking Sound for Sea Turtles -- Nicaragua's Rich Sea Grass Beds Last Stop for Endangered Green Turtles Sea turtles that receive the highest protection in Costa Rica and other neighboring countries are dying by the thousands at the hands of unregulated - and unsustainable - commercial fishing in Nicaragua, according to a study by the Bronx Zoo based Wildlife Conservation Society.

SAVED BY THE MICROCHIP: A rare “royal” turtle is returned after narrow escape from soup-pot An extremely rare "royal" turtle narrowly escaped a trip to a Chinese soup-pot, thanks to a tiny microchip implanted in its skin, according to experts from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), who rediscovered the species four years ago in Cambodia.

Controlling Wildlife Trade Key to Preventing Health Crises, Study Says According to a study by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, controlling the movements of wildlife in markets is a  cost-effective means of keeping potential deadly pandemics such as SARS

Global Awards Given to Aspiring Conservationists: Program to Announce New Five-Year Initiative The BP Conservation Programme, a partnership of BP, Wildlife Conservation Society, BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International and Conservation International, marked 15 years of environmental achievement as it awarded $600,000

Siberian Tigers Hang Tough: Results of Latest Survey Show Tiger Numbers in Russia Stable Results of the latest full range survey indicate that tiger numbers in Russia appear to be stable, say the coordinators of a 2005 winter effort to count the animals, led

WCS Wildlife Health Experts, In Foreign Affairs Lead Story, Urge Global Solution To Emerging Disease Crisis The threat of potential pandemics such as Ebola, SARS, and avian influenza demands a more holistic approach to disease control, one that prevents diseases from crossing the divide between humans,

Wildlife Protectors Receive Honors in Congo Within the parks of the Congo Basin, environmentalism is more than just conservation of wildlife – it’s a matter of survival for the guards, wardens and forest park rangers risking their lives to protect some of the world’s richest ecosystems. Five of those men were honored today with the Abraham Conservation Award in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa.

Lights, Camera, Action! Behind the Scenes of Madagascar Roll out the red carpet for one of New York’s biggest stars - the Central Park Zoo! Fondly dubbed “the jewel of Manhattan,” the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Central Park Zoo roared onto the big screen this week with the opening of the summer’s first family blockbuster, Madagascar.

Scientists Discover Odd-Ball Rodent Is it a squirrel? A rat? A Guinea pig? Try none of the above. A team of scientists working in Southeast Asia have discovered a long-whiskered rodent with stubby legs and a tail covered in dense hair.  But don’t call it a squirrel.  Or

Wildlife Protector Wins Goldman Prize Corneille Ewango of the Wildlife Conservation Society today received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for risking his life helpingto protect one of Africa’s environmental gems—the Okapi Faunal Reserve—from the depredations

A New Species of Monkey is Discovered in Tanzania: The First in Africa for More Than 20 Years Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, working in conjunction with other partners, have discovered Africa’s first new species of monkey in over 20 years, marking the third monkey WCS scientists have found in the last six months.   The new species is described in the current issue of Science.

WCS researcher featured on upcoming NATURE series, “Deep Jungle” WCS researcher Steve Blake will be featured on the upcoming Nature miniseries “Deep Jungle,” which premieres on Sunday, April 17th on PBS (check local listings).   Blake executes a dangerous plan

Legendary Siberian Tiger, Olga, Killed by Poachers Olga, the first Siberian tiger ever fitted with a radio-collar, is dead, according to officials from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society, who have been tracking the big cat for the past 13 years.  The 14-year-old tiger, missing since January, is presumed killed by poachers who destroyed her radio collar.

Jaguar Vamps for the Camera ~ Camera-struck big cat poses in South American park He’s beautiful and he knows it. A male jaguar recently acted like he was on a fashion runway in Manhattan, rather than his home in Kaa-Iya National Park in Bolivia,

Alan Rabinowitz Receives George B. Rabb Conservation Award Wildlife Conservation Society’s Director of Science and Exploration Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, is the first recipient of the George B. Rabb Conservation Award presented by the Chicago Zoological Society, which manages the Brookfield Zoo. Dr. Rabinowitz is best known for his conservation and protection of big cats native to Asia and South America.

$650,000 Bid Wins Auction to Name New Monkey Species The right to name a new species of monkey discovered by the Wildlife Conservation Society in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park, sold for a whopping $650,000 in an online auction hosted

Wild Woman of WCS Because March has been designated National Women’s Month, the Wildlife Conservation Society would like to take the opportunity to pay special tribute to its female employees. From accounting to zookeeping,

Going Once, Going Twice....Name That Monkey! Don't miss your chance to name a new species of monkey while protecting its magnificent rain forest home. Madidi National Park is also home to healthy population of jaguars, giant river otters, over 1,000 bird species and many varieties of rare orchids and other unique plants.

As Seen on 60 Minutes II: WCS Auctions Name of New Monkey Species As seen on the Feb. 2nd broadcast of 60 Minutes II, the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in partnership with Bolivian protected area authorities, announced today a one-of-a-kind international

Grauer's Gorillas Survive in War Ravaged Congo An isolated population of rare Grauer’s gorillas, living among rebel armies and bands of poachers, has managed to survive in one of the most dangerous regions in Africa, and may

WCS Conservationist Wins Biodiversity Leadership Award WCS conservationist Graham (Guillermo) Harris has won the Biodiversity Leadership Award in recognition for his work in protecting wildlife in the southern cone of South America. The awards are presented by The Bay Foundation, and the Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation¡ªboth pioneers in promoting conservation.

After the Tsunami: An Update on Our Staff in South Asia WCS works in many of the regions devastated by the recent earthquakes and Tsunami. Thankfully, our staff escaped injury, but it is with sorrow that we have learned that some of our colleagues lost family and homes.