Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 0925495

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has worked to save wildlife and wild places since 1895, the beginning of the American conservation movement. In the early 20th century, we successfully led a national campaign to reintroduce bison to U.S. government-sponsored refuges, saving this uniquely North American symbol from the brink of extinction. WCS has maintained a position of pre-eminence in the field with a mission to save wildlife and wild places through careful science, international conservation, education, and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Our work focuses on four global challenges: sustainable development and human livelihoods, global climate change, wildlife health and well-being, and natural resource use and exploitation. These activities change attitudes toward nature and help people realize a world in which humans and wildlife may live sustainably on a local and global scale, and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth. WCS works in more than 60 countries to protect wildlife and wild places and supports local communities in managing and protecting their natural resources. We have programs in places where few others venture including Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iran, Southern Sudan, and Cuba. In Southern Argentina, Borneo, Gabon and the Russian Far East, WCS is protecting vulnerable species and habitat, ranging from the Siberian tiger of the Amur valley to the forest elephants and humpback whales of equatorial Africa’s jungles and coasts. In the United States, WCS educates and engages the public through its Living Institutions and education programs. Our Living Institutions in New York bring together curatorial and keeper excellence in animal care and husbandry, scientific leadership in veterinary medicine and animal enrichment, and superior exhibit design and horticulture. The animals at WCS’s Living Institutions act as ambassadors for their wildlife counterparts, helping to make the crucial link between zoo animals and animals in the wild and inspiring visitors to care about and take action to protect wild species and landscapes. We are the only global organization with an audience of four million visitors each year at our five urban wildlife parks, including the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium, where we strive to enhance the public’s knowledge about and commitment to conservation.