2017 Conservation Impact Report We Stand for WildlifeSM CONSERVATION IMPACT | 1 FRONT COVER INSIDE FRONT COVER BACK COVER WCS conservation actions The WCS Marine Program This emu (Dromaius and interventions have is working across the novaehollandiae), a species Mission helped jaguar (Panthera onca) globe with government, endemic to Australia, populations to grow conservation, and community is a part of the Bronx Zoo’s WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide at an average annual rate partners to protect animal ambassador program, of nearly 8 percent across increasingly threatened established to help connect through science, conservation action, education, all WCS sites between coral species like these people to wildlife. and inspiring people to value nature. 2002 and 2016. in Indonesia. Vision WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. WCS.ORG | @THEWCS | @WCSNEWSROOM 2 | WCS CONSERVATION IMPACT REPORT 2017 Letter from the President/CEO & Chair The Burmese star tortoise, found only in Myanmar, was on Our four zoos—the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, a path to extinction in the mid-1990s due to the pet trade and Prospect Park Zoo—and our New York Aquarium extend in Asia. But its story did not end there. Our zoo and field our impact by welcoming more than 4 million guests a year conservation teams, along with partners, are making sure and bringing to them the magnificence of our world’s wildlife. that this beautiful tortoise gets a second chance. In 2018 we will open Ocean Wonders: Sharks! at the New York Aquarium, which will highlight our marine work globally, Currently, the tortoise population is back on the rise at a rate including in the New York seascape. of about 37 percent per year in captive breeding centers in Myanmar, and the long-term objective of restoring viable populations into protected areas is now biologically attainable. “We are proud of our This remarkable conservation effort is the result of our WCS Bronx Zoo and field conservation teams partnering with the impact working in nearly Turtle Survival Alliance and the Myanmar Government. 60 countries to help save The Burmese star tortoise’s comeback is just one example of positive conservation impact that we share in this report. the world’s biodiversity.” In the Conservation Impact section, you will learn more about how WCS is restoring populations of jaguars in Latin America; We are proud of our global field, zoo, and aquarium colleagues’ savannah and forest elephants in Africa; and corals at WCS sites successful efforts to save wildlife. With species across the world Contents across the tropics. vulnerable to threats such as habitat loss, illegal hunting, and climate change, WCS’s work is more critical than ever—and we WCS has been using the power of science, conservation, and couldn’t do it without you as We Stand for WildlifeSM. education to save wildlife and wild places for more than a century, dating back to our work to breed and reintroduce 5 Conservation 3 President/CEO & Chair Letter ABOVE the American bison. Thanks to the support from our donors Antonia M. Grumbach Cristián Samper Hyacinth macaws and partners, we work in nearly 60 countries to help save Chair of the Board President & CEO Impact 24 WCS at Work (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), the world’s biodiversity. native to central and eastern South America, 26 2017 WCS Conservation Highlights are the largest flying parrot 31 Financial species and currently 28 Animal Planet’s THE ZOO listed as Vulnerable by Report the International Union for Conservation of 64 Map: WCS Priority Regions/ Nature (IUCN). Landscapes/Seascapes 37 Contributors RIGHT Dedicated conservation efforts by WCS and partners have brought the Burmese 58 WCS Trustees star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) back from & Leadership the brink of extinction (see page 20). Additional information about WCS, including a list of our professional publications for 2017, can be found online at: wcs.org. PRESIDENT/ CEO & CHAIR LETTER | 3 Conservation Impact — WCS has worked for over a century to protect wildlife and wild places. We developed some of the world’s first conservation programs in collaboration with local, scientific, and government partners. WCS now works in nearly 60 countries and across the world’s ocean, concentrating on the planet’s most important, ecologically intact places with the greatest biodiversity and resilience to climate change. Our goal is to conserve more than half of all animal and plant species and the world’s largest wild places. Our conservation solutions draw on the unrivalled expertise of our field biologists and our zoo- and aquarium-based veterinarians, curators, and animal care staff. Our work is grounded in best-in-class science, and in strong partnerships that build the conservation capacity and livelihoods of local communities and indigenous groups. We stay as long as it takes to get the job done because conservation is not a short-term endeavor. To design effective programs with clearly defined goals and measurable outcomes, WCS conservationists build upon the efforts of their predecessors with new knowledge gained working in the field. Most have deep connections to the places where they work, whether by birth or as forged over decades of contact with local colleagues. LEFT The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) has experienced grave losses To celebrate the impact we have achieved, we highlight four species due to poaching in the past few decades, but with better the conservation of which has long been championed by WCS: Latin enforcement on the ground America’s mighty jaguar; Africa’s spectacular elephants; our ocean’s and greater international cooperation to close fragile corals; and Myanmar’s resurgent Burmese star tortoise. domestic ivory markets, conservationists’ hopes for the animal’s long-term survival continue to grow. 4 | WCS CONSERVATION IMPACT REPORT 2017 CONSERVATION IMPACT | 5 SPOTLIGHT SPECIES Jaguar The top carnivore of the tropical Americas, the jaguar Panthera( onca) occupies almost two-thirds of its pre-1900 range between the semi-arid scrub forests of Mexico and the flooded forests of the Amazon. Two threats have taken a heavy toll on the Americas’ largest cat species: habitat depletion due to the conversion of forest for development and agriculture, and killing in response to the loss of livestock. The jaguar is now nearly absent from the United States in the northern part of its range and restricted to the extreme northern limits of Argentina in its southern range, while it has been eliminated across much of its historic range in Central America. 6 | WCS CONSERVATION IMPACT REPORT 2017 CONSERVATION IMPACT | 7 Meico Belize Maya Forest Honduras La Moskitia Gatemala ATLANTIC OCEAN Nicaragua El Salador Costa Rica Panama Venezuela Guyana French Giana Colombia Suriname Pambilar-Cotacachi Llanganates- Ecador Amazonas Brazil Yasuni PACIFIC OCEAN Brail Peru Madidi-Tambopata Boliia Gran Chaco Where WCS works to conserve jaguars Chile Paraguay Argentina For more than three decades, WCS has worked to conserve jaguars in their critical strongholds. Because large top carnivores need a lot of space, successful conservation requires keeping substantial areas of forest habitat intact, including beyond the boundaries of protected areas. Jaguar Density in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park 12 To this end, we have worked to support indigenous peoples who 2 manage lands that neighbor protected areas. For example, in Bolivia’s 10 Greater Madidi landscape, WCS has supported the Tacana and Road to Recovery other local people in securing land rights, reducing deforestation 8 in their territory, and maintaining suitable habitat for jaguars. Jaguar populations remained stable or grew 6 We complement this effort with assistance for improving law steadily at all WCS sites enforcement and ranching practices to reduce human-jaguar conflict. 4 All told, we are working with our partners to protect 5,000 jaguars between 2002 and 2016. and 400,000 square kilometers of jaguar habitat—from northern THE POPULATION GROWTH 2 Paraguay to northern Central America. RATE AVERAGED 7.8 Number of aguars per 100 km PERCENT A YEAR across all 0 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 Jaguar populations remained stable or grew steadily at all WCS of our sites, with a 3-fold sites between 2002 and 2016. These results bode well for the future Year of jaguars. increase in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park alone. 8 | WCS CONSERVATION IMPACT REPORT 2017 CONSERVATION IMPACT | 9 SPOTLIGHT SPECIES African Elephants The African elephant population declined from about 1.3 million to 415,000 between 1979 and 2016 despite an international ban on commercial ivory trade adopted in 1989 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). As criminal trafficking networks expanded to meet rising demand for ivory in Asia, WCS launched its 96 Elephants campaign, which helped achieve U.S. bans at the federal and state levels, while our International Policy team led in advocating for similar domestic bans through CITES and across the globe. On the ground in 15 African elephant range states, WCS is continuing to: help local communities co-exist with elephant populations; train ecoguards; implement new technologies to aid local law enforcement; and assist governments in disrupting criminal trafficking networks. 10 | WCS CONSERVATION IMPACT REPORT 2017 CONSERVATION IMPACT | 11 Nieria South Sudan Ethiopia Murchison Falls Cameroon Uganda Kena Somalia Republic of Greater Virunga the Congo Queen Elizabeth National Park Gabon Rwanda Democratic Republic Tarangire National Park of Congo INDIAN OCEAN Tanania Ruaha-Katavi Zambia Niassa Malawi Luangwa Valley Where WCS works to conserve savannah elephants Mozambique Savannah Elephants Tarangire Ecosystem Elephant Trends The expanding elephant poaching crisis of the mid-2000s, combined with the loss of habitat, led to a steady decline in savannah elephant 4500 4000 populations in most parts of Africa—Southern Africa being 3500 an exception.