Latest Wildlife Conservation Society Stories

Madagascar's turtles and tortoises, which rank among the most endangered reptiles on earth, will continue to crawl steadily toward extinction unless major conservation measure are enacted, according to a recent assessment by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups.The groups, which met for four days in Madagascar's capital city Antananarivo, said there is still hope to save these ancient animals, but time is running out as their habitat continues to shrink and illegal hunting...

This holiday season brings the saddest of news: A Siberian tiger mauled three visitors at the San Francisco Zoo, killing one, before being trapped and killed in turn by local police. Of course, everyone's heart goes out to the families of the victims and the victims themselves. A smaller percentage of Americans, enlightened to the suffering animals endure in captivity, mourn as well not only the passing but the life of Tatiana, the Siberian tiger who escaped her cage under the inadequate...

NEW YORK -- Outbreaks of the notorious crown of thorns starfish now threaten the "coral triangle," the richest center of coral reef biodiversity on Earth, according to recent surveys by the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.The starfish "“ a predator that feeds on corals by spreading its stomach over them and using digestive enzymes to liquefy tissue "“ were discovered in large numbers by the researchers in reefs in...

Study finds coyote densities more than 30 percent lower in wolf territoryNEW YORK  -- While the wily coyote reigns as top dog in much of the country, it leads a nervous existence wherever it coexists with its larger relative, the wolf, according to a new study from the Wildlife Conservation Society. In fact, coyote densities are more than 30 percent lower in areas that they share with wolves. The paper, which appears in the most recent edition of the Journal of Animal Ecology, details the...

Six previous unknown animal species, including a new species of bat, were found during an expedition to the Democratic Republic of Congo this year. A Wildlife Conservation Society expedition found the six new species in a region of the African country that had not been explored by researchers in 47 years due to civil unrest, the BBC reported Wednesday. The discovery of the new bat species, along with a new rat species and two species of frogs and shrews, has researchers pondering what other...

World's most endangered big cat is assessed by experts then releasedNEW YORK -- Just three days after catching a Siberian tiger in the Russian Far East, an international team led by biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society captured another species last week that carries the dubious distinction of being the world's most endangered big cat: an extremely Far Eastern leopard.One of only 30 left in the wild, the animal was captured in a "trapline" "“ a series of snares set out...

By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The remains of 100 African elephants killed for their tusks have been found in Chad not far from Sudan's troubled Darfur region, conservationists said on Wednesday. The discovery was made earlier this month by a team led by Mike Fay, a renowned conservationist and explorer with the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and National Geographic. "... his team discovered five separate elephant massacre sites totaling 100 individuals during...

By Ed StoddardJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The remains of 100 African elephants killed for their tusks have been found in Chad not far from Sudan's troubled Darfur region, conservationists said on Wednesday.The discovery was made earlier this month by a team led by Mike Fay, a renowned conservationist and explorer with the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and National Geographic."... his team discovered five separate elephant massacre sites totaling 100 individuals during a...

By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The remains of 100 African elephants killed for their tusks have been found in Chad not far from Sudan's troubled Darfur region, conservationists said on Wednesday. The discovery was made earlier this month by a team led by Mike Fay, a renowned conservationist and explorer with the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and National Geographic. "... his team discovered five separate elephant massacre sites totaling 100 individuals during...

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A lethal algal bloom dubbed "Red Tide" by scientists caused a mysterious mass die-off of sea turtles on the Pacific shores of El Salvador, a U.S. conservation group said on Friday. "A 'Red Tide' event that occurred off the coast of El Salvador late last year directly caused the deaths of some 200 sea turtles," the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement. WCS said the cause of death was revealed by tests on tissue samples from the...