Wildlife Conservation Stories

Whales are awe-inspiring and often elusive creatures. Their distribution and critical feeding areas are currently poorly understood, and as climate change and krill fishing increase, our time to learn more about these giant mammals is running out. However, with the help of Dr. Ari Friedlaender, a whale ecologist and National Geographic Explorer, WWF is using whale tagging to discover a wealth of new information.

What do a primate biologist in Brazil, a GIS specialist in Nigeria, and an artificial intelligence developer in Silicon Valley have in common? You can find them all on WILDLABS.NET.

Grassland birds have taken a nosedive in recent decades: They’re the fastest-declining bird group in North America.

In the first project of its kind in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve, WWF—along with the Kenyan Wildlife Service and Narok County Council—is now collaring elephants.

Busch assumed the helm of the Endangered Wolf Center, and she was determined to instill a strong educational component into its core mission. She believes in the power of local conservation.

On a river in Brazil, a quadcopter drone whirred over the water, transmitting a stream of images to a computer. Researchers and the small aircraft had the same job: spotting river dolphins.

The halls of Congress came alive on Tuesday as dozens of WWF activists from across the country met with their representatives to advocate for international conservation funding on Lobby Day 2017.

In 2016 alone, 1,054 rhinos were reported killed in South Africa.This figure represents a loss in rhinos of approximately 6% in South Africa, which is close to the birth rate, meaning the population remains perilously close to the tipping point.

Phuchung Lachenpa and his team are using local knowledge to set up camera traps throughout their region, laying groundwork for improving snow leopard conservation efforts. 

According to a new report, the world’s most rare marine mammal is growing closer to extinction with a population drop of 50% in the last year alone.  

When WWF staffers noticed Wusa, a dedicated gorilla mother, had her wrist caught in a snare, they knew they needed to help her. 

WWF is partnering with the Kenyan Wildlife Service and Narok County Council to collar matriarch elephants in the Maasai Mara reserve to track them as they move inside and outside of the reserve, in order to better understand how to mitigate human wildlife conflict and to maintain vital wildlife corridors.

The Iberian lynx is one of the world’s most endangered cat species. Once found in Spain, Portugal, and parts of France, this small, short-tailed carnivore is now mostly confined to a few regions of Spain.

The Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan, which focuses on actions for the two U.S. subpopulations in Alaska, stresses the importance of climate change mitigation in curbing the loss of the polar bear’s sea ice habitat.

Nicholas Hoult traveled to Chitwan National Parkin in Nepal to learn about Nepal's and WWF's conservation efforts to protect the greater one-horned rhinos that are threatened by poaching and habitat loss, among other dangers. 

Through the release of its new film, Born in China, Disneynature takes moviegoers on a journey into the wilds of China. The film will support WWF’s comprehensive conservation efforts in China and funds raised from Born in China will focus on improving landscape connectivity and integrity across three landscapes that are home to the species in the film and covering the traditional range of the giant panda. 

WWF’s African Elephant Program funded a research project that used techniques from economics and statistics to better understand the value of elephant conservation to local economies in Africa.

Who doesn't love the big, burly white bears of the north? Polar bears—at the top of the food chain and vital to the health of the Arctic marine environment—are important to the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples. 

 

In the 19 years Tenzin has been working in conservation, Wangchuck Centennial National Park's first ever population survey of snow leopards has been the most challenging project, but also the most satisfying. 

Snow leopards scale the great, steep slopes of mountains in Central Asia with ease, blending into the landscape. But these endangered cats face many threats including habitat loss, reduced prey and retaliatory killings. WWF works to reduce human-leopard conflict and protect the fragile snow leopard habitat.

There are thousands of captive tigers throughout the country. You can fi nd them in backyard enclosures, petting zoos, and even truck stops.

WWF's groundbreaking program to reintroduce Persian leopards to the Caucasus, where the cats were once abundant.

Over five days in February 2016, five rhinos were moved from Chitwan National Park to a new home in Bardia National Park.

The Wildlife Crime Technology Project (WCTP) designs and builds cutting-edge technologies to combat wildlife poaching.