Apes
Apes are our closest wild relatives, but we are pushing them to the brink. Today, they 're among the most endangered groups anywhere. WCS continues to help lead the fight to save them.
Why WCS?
18 of 22 species
WCS is leading the effort to stabilize existing populations, working directly to conserve 18 of 22 ape species, including all four subspecies of gorilla and three of four chimpanzee subspecies. We are active in much of the north of the Republic of Congo, where perhaps half of all wild gorillas live in less than 10% of their total range.
1959 study
In 1959, WCS Senior Conservationist George Schaller became the first person to study mountain gorillas in the wild, conducting seminal studies in Africa’s Albertine Rift. In the process, he changed our collective impression of gorillas forever—from fearsome, savage beasts to “gentle giants.”
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Community-Run African Reserve that Stores Almost a Billion Tons of Carbon Quietly Celebrates its 20th Anniversary
As the world’s climate leaders gather in Glasgow for the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (CoP26), a little-known Community Reserve in the Republic of Congo – that helps store some 30 billion tons of...
Read the storyFirst-Ever Africa-Wide Great Ape Assessment Reveals Human Activity, not Habitat Availability, is Greatest Driver of Ape Abundance
The first-ever Africa-wide assessment of great apes – gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees – finds that human factors, including roads, population density and GDP, determine abundance more than ecological factors such as forest cover.
Read the storyGorilla Coffee Alliance to Enhance Rural Livelihoods and Wildlife Conservation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Gorilla Coffee Alliance was launched today by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Nespresso; Olam Food Ingredients (OFI); international nonprofits, TechnoServe and the Wildlife Conservation Society; and Congolese...
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