An Arctic Fox stretches near its den in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. WCS research in the region has revealed that oil infrastructure on the North Slope of Alaska has allowed red foxes to colonize and prey on this smaller species. WCS warns that absent a suitable plan, the ghosts of the oil industry will haunt Alaska’s wildlife long after the wells are gone.
A Bison photographed in Old Harbor, Kodiak Island, Alaska. WCS is working with local partners, including the Alutiic Tribe, to introduce wild bison to this landscape to offer alternative protein sources now that whaling and industrial-scale commercial fishing are fading as a way of life. Bison also offer an alternative to the region’s modern reliance on importing food at historically high expense.
This year, WCS and partners published a study confirming an amazing comeback of Amur tiger in northeastern China. Due to extensive land-use planning, improved habitat connectivity, restoration of prey, and reduction of human impacts, some 55 tigers now live in this region that 20 years earlier supported virtually none.
One of the great wildlife spectacles of Latin America is the nesting of more than 80,000 giant South American river turtles on the sandbanks of the Guaporé River on the Brazil/Bolivia border. WCS researchers monitor this species, which has been drastically reduced due to overharvesting for its meat and oil, and work with local communities to safeguard remaining populations.
WCS’s Nigeria program announced in July that camera trap surveys revealed that the tiny Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary supported a surprising array of wildlife including Cross River gorillas the world’s most endangered great ape numbering perhaps 300 individuals. The success of the sanctuary is a testimony to the dedication of local conservationists and surrounding communities committed to protecting its wildlife.
This photograph of bottlenose dolphins was taken in August, 2021, by the WCS Ocean Giants team as part of their work to determine the presence and behavior of whales and dolphins in the New York Bight in order to support the conservation of these amazing species.
A hatchling leatherback sea turtle makes it to its ocean home off the Solomon Islands. In support of leatherback and other marine turtle conservation, WCS provides both technical and financial support to the community ranger programs on Tetepare, Vangunu and Rendova Islands, where community rangers protect nests through regular beach patrols or through the establishment and management of turtle hatcheries.
Earlier this year, scientists described a new species of monkey called Schneider’s marmoset, living in the highly threatened, but little-studied forests of Mato Grosso State in Brazil. The discovery was made by a team of researchers led by Rodrigo Costa Araújo, currently an associate researcher at Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Araújo was funded in part by the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP), a capacity-building partnership between WCS, BirdLife International and Fauna & Flora International (FFI).
A stunning coral reef in Fiji’s Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park, which encompasses Vatu-i-Ra Island and its adjacent reefs, lagoons, terraces, and pinnacles off the northern coast of Viti Levu. WCS works with local communities, tourism managers, and government agencies to manage this protected area, which is threatened by invasive species, illegal fishing and climate change.
A forest elephant feeding in a grassy area in Gabon. WCS researchers and their partners developed a non-invasive method of counting this species, which can be surprisingly secretive and difficult to see in dense forests. In October, WCS released a study confirming 95,000 forest elephants live in this Central African nation making it a key conservation stronghold.
Just announced in December 2021, the Queens Zoo has two new Andean bear cubs. The cubs have started to venture outdoors and explore their exhibit. Andean bears are the only bear species native to South America and are threatened by human activities including deforestation and poaching.
North American river otters stand at attention along the Discovery Trail at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn. The zoo has a successful breeding program for the species.
An Amur leopard in JungleWorld at the Bronx Zoo. Amur leopards are considered one of the most endangered species of big cat. Estimates indicate there are fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild.
The Bronx Zoo announced the birth of a Coquerel’s Sifaka, a species of lemur native to the African island nation of Madagascar. The Bronx Zoo has 6 species of lemurs living in its Madagascar! exhibit.
The Bronx Zoo works with partners across New York State on a head start program that helps the conservation of Eastern Hellbenders. Eggs are collected, hatched in a special facility at the Bronx Zoo, and are raised for a few years before they are returned to the watershed. The program allows the Hellbenders to grow to a size where they are less likely to be predated.
A Komodo dragon emerges from an egg at the Bronx Zoo. This is one of six that hatched in November. The successful breeding is a first for the species at the Bronx Zoo. Komodo dragons are the largest living lizard on Earth and can grow to more than 10 feet in length.
Sydney, a harbor seal, was rescued from a beach in California as a newborn. After several months being nursed back to health at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, the young seal was transferred to the New York Aquarium where she joined the other seals
This juvenile puma was removed from a Bronx home and brought to the Bronx Zoo by authorities. After a short stay at the zoo, the cat was moved to its permanent home at a big cat facility in Arkansas.
An Amur tiger sits and relaxes in the water at Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo. Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are the largest living cat species on Earth.
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