Wildlife Conservation Society

On #EndangeredSpeciesDay, we have an exciting update. These are recent camera trap images of a Cross River gorilla in Nigeria. These animals are rarely seen as there are less than 300 of them left. In fact, they were once presumed extinct in the country. Today, they live in a highly inaccessible, mountainous region and shy away from humans due to years of persecution. There is hope. Our @wcsnigeria team works with local conservationists and communities dedicated to the gorilla's conservation.

“These ecosystems create the second lung of the world,” researcher Aristide Mouele says of the Congo Basin. A new article in @telegraph details a network of Indigenous communities in Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park there that believes conserving their pristine environment is a safer bet than resource extraction for long-term prosperity. “The forest is our school of life,” Gaston Abea, a Ba’aka and the first member of an Indigenous community to become a published academic author, tells the paper. Read the article via the link in our bio. CREDIT: Will Burrard-Lucas © WCS

On behalf of WCS and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, we congratulate President @bernardoarevalogt and the Government of Guatemala for their commitment to conserving and restoring the Maya Biosphere Reserve during this Global Big Day. #GlobalBigDay #BirdsConnectUs

Bison are iconic. Symbols of unity, resilience, and a commitment to healthy landscapes and communities. Today marks 10 years since the American bison was designated as the U.S.’s National Mammal. We were proud to lead a coalition of 60 organizations to achieve this. WCS’s history of bison conservation goes back much further. In 1905, the American Bison Society formed at our @BronxZoo to begin efforts to reverse their impending extinction. Zoo Director William T. Hornaday served as the first president and Theodore Roosevelt was named honorary president. Two years later, the ABS shipped 15 bison from the zoo to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve in Oklahoma. It was the first animal reintroduction in North America. All told, these efforts, alongside the work of countless partners, helped reverse the bison’s decline. Today, the National Mammal stands as an example of conservation success. CREDIT: Julie Maher © WCS #bison #nationalmammal #Buffalo #America250

Wood Thrushes are beloved birds whose ethereal flute song fills the forests of the eastern U.S each summer. But where do they go when temperatures drop? 1 in 4 Wood Thrushes overwinter in the 5 Great Forests of Central America (swipe to see the map). Wood Thrushes that breed across almost a million square miles of North America crowd into just 46,000 square miles in the 5 Great Forests during fall and winter. These forests are shrinking from deforestation, illegal cattle ranching, and wildfires. This means that restoring each acre there safeguards even more birds than the same area elsewhere. Big Day starts tomorrow, May 9, when the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Team Sapsucker begins their quest to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours to raise funds for bird conservation. This year Team Sapsucker will split into two groups highlighting the “sister landscapes” for Wood Thrushes and other migratory birds. One will head to the Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests where they’ll be joined by partners @appalachian_org . The other will go to the Maya Forest in Guatemala, where local experts and partners @thewcs will join them to highlight efforts to protect, conserve, and restore the wintering grounds of so many beloved bird species. Help us cheer Team Sapsucker on May 9!

🎂 Happy 100th birthday to Sir David Attenborough! From Joe Walston and all of us at WCS. Today, we are working in the places and on the species you inspired us to save.

Hope for one of the world’s rarest turtles. Cambodia’s General Department of Fisheries recently released 20 Critically Endangered royal turtles into the Sre Ambel river system — the only place in Cambodia where the species still survives and breeds in the wild. Once feared extinct in Cambodia, the royal turtle is showing early signs of recovery thanks to years of collaboration between local communities, conservationists like our WCS Cambodia team, and government partners. In 2024, conservationists recorded the first nest laid by a reintroduced female in the wild. Over the past decade, more than 200 turtles have been returned to the wild — but protecting nesting beaches and river habitats remains critical for the species’ future. #cambodia #turtles #endangered

🐦Cada primavera, millones de #avesmigratorias regresan a ciudades como #NuevaYork. Pero su supervivencia depende de lo que ocurre meses antes en bosques como la #SelvaMaya de #Guatemala. Sin estos bosques, ese viaje no sería posible. – 🐦 Every spring, millions of #migratorybirds return to cities like #NewYork. But their survival depends on what happens months earlier in forests like the #MayaForest in #Guatemala. Without these forests, that journey would not be possible. #BirdsConnectUs #GlobalBigDay #GBD2026 #LasAvesNosConectan Conap Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas MARN INGUAT

An integrated method for land-use planning could greatly benefit the planet, a new study co-authored by WCS shows. The study, which appeared recently in Nature Communications, provides a framework for such planning that considers the often-overlapping needs of nature conservation, agriculture, and renewable energy. “It's essential to plan carefully otherwise, as a society, we might succeed at one set of goals (say, achieving climate targets) but at the cost of other goals, such as biodiversity or food security,” says WCS co-author Dr. Rachel Neugarten. The authors also offer guidance for decision-makers to make informed choices about how to allocate one of our scarcest resources—land—and to reduce trade-offs as much as possible. Read it via the link in our bio. CREDITS: G. Dubourthoumieu © WCS; Tom Vierus © WCS; ©American Power Association/Unsplash

Khulan, or Asiatic wild ass, have returned to Eastern Mongolia after a 65-year absence showing clear signs of re-establishing a population there. For decades, fencing along the Trans-Mongolian Railway restricted the movement of migratory species. Recent efforts by @wcs.mongolia and the government to create safe crossing points are now allowing animals to move more freely across this barrier. Maintaining connectivity through this landscape is critical for khulan, allowing them to move between seasonal grazing areas and water sources in a highly variable and arid environment, and supporting the broader functioning and resilience of Mongolia’s steppe ecosystem. “The return of khulan to eastern Mongolia reflects years of collaborative work with provincial authorities, border protection agencies, and railway managers, as well as careful testing of temporary fence gaps that showed wildlife could cross safely without increasing train collisions,” said WCS’s Justine Shanti Alexander. It also demonstrates that restoring connectivity in fragmented landscapes can support population recovery for wide-ranging species, adds Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar.

Storytelling through film has the power to move people to act for the environment. Thank you to @christiancooperbirder for helping us celebrate powerful wildlife films this past weekend at @reelwildfilmfestival . Lights. Camera. Take action.

Great news: The U.S. House has shelved a proposed bill that would have weakened protections from the Endangered Species Act. This is a huge victory for wildlife conservation. Thanks to all of you who spoke out to make it happen. Your voice was heard. CREDIT: Julie Larsen © WCS