Wildlife Conservation Society ANNUAL REPORT 2012
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Wildlife Conservation Society ANNUAL REPORT 2012 SAVING WILDLIFE AND WILD PLACES [ COVER ] In 2012, close to [ BACK COVER ] Bands applied 2,000 Kihansi spray toads to flamingos in the Bahamas bred at the Bronx and will enable WCS researchers Toledo Zoos were released to monitor their migrations into their former habitat in throughout the Caribbean. Tanzania after going extinct in the wild. [ INSIDE COVER ] WCS works with local governments across Africa to protect elephants targeted by poachers to feed the growing demand for ivory. annual report 2012 The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education, and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes toward nature 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. contents 4 OUR COnservatiON / / FOOtprint 6 TRUstees 10 28 7 President/CEO Chapter 1 Chapter 2 & CHair Letter WCS STORY Financial RepOrt 8 WCS BY THE NUMbers 34 Q&A: Saw HtUN 44 Q&A: KatHleen LAMattina 62 Q&A: Janet GibsON 78 Q&A: Pat THOMas 80 wcs staff 96 aniMal censUS Note to Readers: Additional information about WCS, including lists of projects in our zoos, aquarium, and field sites; and our professional publications for 2012, can be found online at: wcs.org. / / / 36 46 64 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 GOvernMent COntribUTORS WCS & POlicY RepOrt COnservatiON Partners our ConserVATION FootprInt 1 3 2 4 NEW JERSEY 6 5 7 NEW YORK 8 9 10 WCS ZOOS & AQUariUM 11 12 12 4 13 2012 rt O ep R al NOrtH AMerica U WCS Landscapes Africa nn & Seascapes 1 Arctic – USA 15 Cross River – Cameroon & Nigeria A Y 2 Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – USA 16 Yankari – Nigeria T E ci 3 Ontario’s Northern Boreal – Canada 17 Central Cameroon – Cameroon O Landscapes S 4 Adirondacks – USA 18 Ndoki – Congo ON ON Seascapes 19 Boma-Jonglei – South Sudan Latin AMerica & THE Caribbean ati Country 20 Ituri – Democratic Republic of Congo 5 Maya Biosphere Reserve – Guatemala ERV S 21 Nyungwe-Kibira – Rwanda & Burundi 7 Central-Western Andes – Colombia ON 22 Southern Highlands – Tanzania C 8 Greater Yasuni – Ecuador FE FE 23 Tarangire – Tanzania I 9 Greater Samiria – Yavari – Peru 25 MaMaBay – Madagascar LDL 10 Greater Madidi-Tambopata – Bolivia & Peru wi 11 Andean Patagonia Steppe – Argentina 13 Karukinka – Chile 29 30 28 31 32 27 33 34 35 16 36 15 17 19 37 38 18 20 39 14 21 2324 40 41 22 25 26 5 tprint FOO N O asia Marine Since its founding 27 Western Ghats – India 6 Glover’s Reef – Belize in 1895, the Wildlife nservati 28 Changtang – China 12 Patagonia Coast – Argentina, Islas Conservation Society CO 29 Eastern Steppe – Mongolia Malvinas/Falkland Islands R 30 Sikhote-Alin – Russia 12 Patagonia Coast –Chile has committed itself OU 31 Northern Forest Complex – Myanmar 14 Congo Basin Coast – Gabon & Congo to ground-breaking, 32 Nam Et-Phou Louey – Lao PDR 24 Kenya Coast – Kenya 33 Tenasserims – Thailand 26 Antongil Bay – Madagascar science-based 34 Northern Plains – Cambodia 37 Aceh-Weh – Indonesia conservation, both 35 Eastern Mondulkiri Forests – Cambodia 41 Karimunjawa – Indonesia in its parks and in 36 Tonle Sap Floodplain – Cambodia 42 Vatu-i-ra – Fiji 38 Gunung Leuser, Sumatra – Indonesia the field globally. 39 Endau-Rompin – Malaysia 40 Bukit Barisan Selatan, Sumatra – Indonesia Cristián Samper and Ward Woods at Central Park Zoo’s Allison Maher Stern Snow Leopard Exhibit. BOard OF TRUstees Dr. Kate D. Levin Judith H. Hamilton Honorary Trustees (December 31, 2012) Commissioner, Department of Brian J. Heidtke Mrs. Charles A. Dana, Jr. Cultural Affairs, City of New York John N. Irwin III William E. Flaherty Officers Rubén Díaz, Jr. Hamilton E. James Robert Wood Johnson IV Ward W. Woods Bronx Borough President Anita L. Keefe James M. Large, Jr. Chair of the Board Marty Markowitz Ambrose K. Monell Eugene R. McGrath Antonia M. Grumbach Brooklyn Borough President Mrs. Gordon B. Pattee Frederick A. Melhado Vice Chair Dr. Cristián Samper Ogden Phipps II Richard A. Voell Brian J. Heidtke President and CEO, Wildlife Alejandro Santo Domingo Treasurer Conservation Society David T Schiff Andrew H. Tisch Walter C. Sedgwick Secretary Trustees Caroline N. Sidnam Christopher J. McKenzie Frederick W. Beinecke Andrew H. Tisch Deputy Secretary Rosina M. Bierbaum Roselinde Torres Eleanor Briggs Ronald J. Ulrich Ex Officio Trustees Audrey Choi Ward W. Woods Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg C. Diane Christensen Barbara Hrbek Zucker Mayor of the City of New York Jonathan L. Cohen John C. Liu Katherine L. Dolan Life Trustees Comptroller of the City of New York Gordon E. Dyal Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman Christine Quinn Christopher J. Elliman Robert G. Goelet Speaker, New York City Council Thomas Dan Friedkin Howard Phipps, Jr. Veronica M. White Bradley L. Goldberg Julian H. Robertson, Jr. Commissioner, Department of Paul A. Gould Mrs. Leonard N. Stern Parks and Recreation, City of Jonathan D. Green Mrs. Richard B. Tweedy New York Antonia M. Grumbach dear friends, A tiny animal experienced a gigantic milestone in 2012 United States. This effort will help ensure that the most deep in the forests of Tanzania. The Kihansi spray toad, important Arctic wetlands and wildlife corridors for cari- no bigger than a fingernail, may have beaten extinction. bou and migratory birds will be protected from development. For the first time, an amphibian has been reintroduced WCS continued to address the global crisis in wildlife into nature after it was declared extinct in the wild. The trafficking on several fronts. In Mozambique we negotiated habitat of the Kihansi spray toad had been altered by the an agreement with the government to co-manage the construction of a hydroelectric dam that eliminated the Niassa National Reserve to combat elephant poaching in heavy natural mist – necessary for the animal’s survival – that country’s largest protected area. In multiple land- from the spray zone of the Kihansi Falls. scapes, we deployed a new wildlife protection initiative, At the request of the Tanzanian government, staff from SMART (the Spatial Monitoring and Recovering Tool), the Bronx Zoo’s Department of Herpetology went to the which helps park and community rangers fight traffick- Kihansi Gorge to collect the last remaining wild toads ing by identifying poaching hotspots, improving rapid in November 2000. The toads were brought back to the response measures, and calculating anti-poaching efforts United States, where the Bronx and Toledo Zoos worked in order to maximize results. out elaborate husbandry protocols with specific environ- At the same time, WCS conservationists have been mental parameters designed to meet the unique require- successful in places like Zambia in helping former poach- ments of the toads. ers find alternative livelihoods that generate income for As the Tanzanian government set up artificial misting their families while relieving pressure on local fauna. systems to replicate the animals’ original habitat, WCS’s We love to tell stories describing how WCS’s components Bronx Zoo and the Toledo Zoo bred toads in specially complement one another. We are especially pleased to designed biosecure facilities in New York City and Toledo explain how zoos are more important than ever as partners with the hope that they could one day be returned to their in global field conservation. As wild landscapes shrink African home. It was zoological science and husbandry at and disappear, the knowledge and skills we have devel- their best. At 2 p.m. on October 30, 2012, close to 2,000 oped in our zoos are vital to the care and management of Kihansi spray toads were reintroduced back into the wild. wildlife forced to live in ever smaller spaces. The Bronx In a truly extraordinary and historical moment, a missing Zoo has been a leader in developing this know-how as piece of nature’s puzzle was put back into place. zoos evolve into scientific powerhouses and strategic set- The story of the Kihansi spray toad is key to understanding tings to raise assurance colonies of threatened species. what differentiates the Wildlife Conservation Society Other distinguishing characteristics of WCS have been from other conservation organizations. Since our found- the vision, commitment, and creativity of our leaders ing in 1895, we have harnessed our expertise in zoological through the decades – beginning with New York Zoo- 7 husbandry, conservation biology, and veterinary science logical Society founding director William Hornaday and to save wildlife and wild places. Now well into our second continuing to the present. This year marked a major tran- century, WCS continues to excel in all three disciplines to sition for WCS as Dr. Steven Sanderson retired after lead- tter get the conservation results that count. ing our organization for more than a decade. During his LE Indeed, our history is packed with stories describing tenure, Steve expanded our global conservation program air H how we have combined our many strengths to fulfill our fivefold and shepherded a magnificent renaissance at the C mission. In addition to our work this year to protect the Bronx Zoo. It was his leadership that helped knock down O & & O Kihansi spray toad, we launched a bold strategy to save the walls between our zoos/aquarium and our field work ce the 25 most endangered turtle species and we continued – enabling us to take on challenges and create amazing / efforts that date back to the early 1900s to protect the success stories like the Kihansi spray toad. American bison. We take inspiration from our past as we recommit our- We also continued our efforts to protect large wild selves to protecting our threatened planet for generations president places across the globe in areas as varied as Afghanistan, to come.