Latest Wildlife Conservation Society Stories

Scientists have discovered that some penguins are suffering from a mysterious condition which causes them to lose their feathers. Researchers are puzzled by the appearance of "naked" penguins on both sides of the South Atlantic. This "feather-loss disorder" has been found to afflict penguin chicks in colonies in both South Africa and on the coast of Argentina. Dee Boersma, from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said there were fears the condition was spreading to...

Awestruck researchers add Afghan natural wonder to list of behemothsResearchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society have stumbled upon a geological colossus in a remote corner of Afghanistan: a natural stone arch spanning more than 200 feet across its base.Located at the central highlands of Afghanistan, the recently discovered Hazarchishma Natural Bridge is more than 3,000 meters (nearly 10,000 feet) above sea level, making it one of the highest large natural bridges in the world. It also...

Study by Wildlife Conservation Society, AMNH, on dolphins finds invisible oceanographic factors that keep populations separateConservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and other conservation and research groups have discovered that groups of dolphins in the western Indian Ocean do not mix freely with one another. In fact, dolphin populations are kept separate by currents and other unseen factors.Specifically, the researchers have found...

Wildlife Conservation Society researchers urge protection and management for Indian Ocean coral reefs most likely to persist into futureResearchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society have developed a "stress test" for coral reefs as a means of identifying and prioritizing areas that are most likely to survive bleaching events and other climate change factors. The researchers say that these "reefs of hope" are priorities for national and international management and...

Fish are not as dumb as people sometimes think: marine scientists have found that fish that are regularly hunted with spearguns are much more wary and keep their distance from fishers.In investigating the effects of marine areas closed to fishing by customary laws, an international team of researchers working in the Pacific found that fish exposed to speargun fishing take flight much earlier when a diver approaches compared with those living in protected zones.To assess the effectiveness of...

Wildlife Conservation Society and partners find endangered cat species beyond the mountains in Patagonian steppe Once thought to exclusively inhabit its namesake mountain range, the threatened Andean cat"”a house cat-sized feline that resembles a small snow leopard in both appearance and habitat"”also frequents the Patagonian steppe at much lower elevations, according to a new study published by the Wildlife Conservation Society and partners. The finding represents a range extension...

A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society reveals the critical importance of western Arctic Alaska's Teshekpuk Lake region to tens of thousands of birds that breed in the area during the brief, but productive arctic summers, and makes clearer the case for permanent protection of the area.Results of the four-year study"”the first to look at the full suite of bird species from around the world that descend on the Teshekpuk Lake region"”showed that the region contains some of the...

Some turtle species number less than 5 individualsA report issued Monday, co-authored by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) working in conjunction with the Turtle Conservation Coalition, lists the 25 most endangered turtle species from around the world "“ some of which currently number less than five individuals.Decimated by illegal hunting for both food and the pet trade along with habitat loss, many turtle species will go extinct in the next decade unless drastic conservation...

Study finds seine net elimination an important step to the recovery of robust fish communitiesMarine conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society working in Kenya have found that better fisheries management that includes restricting fishing gear is producing more predatory and longer-lived species and is improving fishing even in adjacent areas where no management is taking place.During a 10-year study, conservationists recording fish catches found that the implementation of...

Researchers at Australia's leading coral reef research centre have developed a way to protect both coral reef fish - and the interests of fishers.In pioneering research carried out in Fiji in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the CoECRS team has reported a new approach that enables communities to balance the need to protect the environment with the need to maintain local food supplies and incomes.Concern over the worldwide decline of coral reefs has prompted many...