Findings from a new paper published in Cat News have identified the first ever report of Pallas’s cat on Mount Everest, in the Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal. This groundbreaking finding is a result of the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition, the most comprehensive single scientific expedition to the mountain in history. From April 7 […]
Wildlife Conservation Society
New Survey Confirms that Gabon is the Largest Stronghold for Critically Endangered African Forest Elephants
LIBREVILLE, Gabon (November 18, 2021) – The most comprehensive survey conducted of elephant numbers in the Central African nation of Gabon since the late 1980s has found elephants occurring in higher numbers than previously thought. The study, which was conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Gabon’s National Park Agency (ANPN) and Vulcan using a new non-invasive survey […]
African great apes to suffer massive range loss in next 30 years
LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom, June 7, 2021 – A new study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions predicts massive range declines of Africa’s great apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – due to the impacts of climate change, land-use changes and human population growth. For their analysis, the authors compiled information on African ape occurrence held in […]
Study Finds Only 2.5 Percent of the World’s Coral Reefs Are Currently Being Actively Protected
June 19, 2020 — A new global study has found that only 2.5 percent of tropical reefs are formally protected and conserved through laws and regulations. These numbers are significantly lower than previous estimates, and highlight an urgent need for governments, communities, and partnering organizations to create and expand marine reserves to protect these ecosystems […]
Wildlife Supply Chains for Human Consumption Increase Coronaviruses’ Spillover Risk to People
HA NOI, June 17, 2020 – A new study found that animals sampled in the wildlife-trade supply chain bound for human consumption had high proportions of coronaviruses, and that the proportion of positives significantly increases as animals travel from traders, to large markets, to restaurants. The study, which appears in the pre-print journal bioRxiv, is by […]
“Ruminant Plague” Threatens Populations of Wildlife and Livestock
March 17, 2020 – A disease already known for causing massive die-offs of wildlife in Asia is spreading. Publishing their findings in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, a team of scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and more than 20 other organizations say that the spillover of the Peste des Petits Ruminants virus (PPRV) […]
Study Predicts Unique Animals and Plants of Africa’s Albertine Rift Will be Threatened by Climate Change
NEW YORK, March 9, 2018 — A new study by scientists from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other groups predicts that the effects of climate change will severely impact the Albertine Rift, one of Africa’s most biodiverse regions and a place not normally associated with global warming. Of the species existing within this region, the […]
New maps show shrinking wilderness being ignored at our peril
NEW YORK, December 12, 2017 – Maps of the world’s most important wilderness areas are now freely available online following a University of Queensland and Wildlife Conservation Society-led study published today. The authors have made the maps available to assist researchers, conservationists and policy makers to improve wilderness conservation. UQ School of Earth and Environmental […]
Potential Impacts of Planned Andean Dams Outweigh Benefits, Scientists Say
Aug. 24, 2017 – An international team of scientists investigating the effects of six planned or potential Andean dams on the Amazon river system has found that major negative ecological impacts can be expected both above the dams and throughout the lowland floodplains and the Amazon Delta, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), the Instituto […]
The World’s Longest Freshwater Fish Migration
New York February 6, 2017 – An international team of scientists has confirmed that the dorado catfish (Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii) of the Amazon River basin holds the record for the world’s longest exclusively freshwater fish migration, an epic life-cycle journey stretching nearly the entire width of the South America continent. The finding, published today in the journal […]
Natural World Heritage Sites Getting Hammered by Human Activities
NEW YORK (January 30, 2017) – A new study warns that more than 100 natural World Heritage sites are being severely damaged by encroaching human activities. The study, led by an international team of researchers from the University of Queensland, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), University of Northern British Columbia and the International Union for Conservation […]
Andean Bears Widespread in Peru’s Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
New York (January 26, 2017) – A recent wildlife survey led by SERNANP (Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado) and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) in the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in Peru has confirmed that the world-famous site is also home to a biologically important and iconic species: the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus). […]
Guns, nets, and bulldozers: Three-quarters of the world’s threatened species are imperiled from agriculture, land conversion, overharvesting
NEW YORK, Aug. 11, 2016 – Less than a month away from the kick-off the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, a team of scientists report in the journal Nature that three quarters of the world’s threatened species are imperiled because people are converting their habitat into agricultural lands and overharvesting their populations. The team, […]