Wildlife Conservation Stories

  • Protecting pangolins from wildlife crime

    WWF Magazine: Spring 2016
    Pangolins defy the imagination—long, sleek, and covered head-to-toe in elegant scales. WWF Board Chair Neville Isdell and I revel in a shared quest to see a pangolin.
    Pangolin
  • Empty Quarter sand dunes, Saudi Arabia
  • WWF’s two-part plan to save the Javan rhino

    WWF Magazine: Spring 2016
    WWF’s approach is based in the fact that when geographically bound rhino populations reach the limit of numbers their habitat can support, reproduction drops.
    Javan Rhino
  • What’s black and orange and in the wild?

    On Halloween, we’re all searching through our clothing for the perfect black and orange outfit. Some animals in the wild already sport the colors. From swimming the seas to flying through the skies, these creatures don Halloween fashion all year round.

    Monarch Butterfly
  • Where do tigers live? And other tiger facts

    Tigers are the most iconic of the big cats. With their gorgeous black-and-orange coats and long, white whiskers, they invoke in many a feeling of wonder and admiration. But though they are adored, they’re also vulnerable to extinction. 

    Bengal tiger on a creek bank
  • Thailand Destroys Elephant Ivory Stockpile

    August 25, 2015

    Over two tons of elephant tusks, carved ivory, and trinkets in Thailand—most of it from elephants poached a continent away in Africa—made its way into a machine that ground the ivory into chips. The solemn ceremony to destroy Thailand’s illegal ivory follows a number of important laws the country passed to crack down on the illegal elephant ivory trade.

    prepping ivory to crush
  • Elephant Ivory Crush in New York City

    June 19, 2015

    An enormous machine roared to life pulverizing more than one ton of illegal elephant ivory tusks, trinkets and souvenirs in the heart of New York City today. The ivory crush in Times Square sent a dramatic message to the world that the United States will not tolerate elephant ivory trafficking. 

    african elephant
  • Rare Video of Amur Tiger Family

    February 19, 2015

    Footage of a tiger and her playful cubs caught by a WWF camera trap is the first video evidence of wild Amur tigers in China. The footage was captured almost 20 miles from the Russian border late last year. In the past, tiger footprints were the only indicators of Amur tigers in China.

    Amur tiger family in China
  • Longing for Love

    February 05, 2015

    The romantic ideal of finding one mate for life is primarily a human aspiration. Animals which are believed to "mate for life" comprise only a handful of species.

    penguins touching wings
  • Finding love in the wild

    From the underwater dance of seahorses to the enthusiastic leg-lifts of the peacock spider, the animal kingdom is full of quirky and intriguing methods to impress the opposite sex.

    prairie chicken mating dance
  • Thai Citizens Say No to Elephant Ivory

    January 27, 2015

    With demand for elephant ivory at an all-time high, the campaign asks people to imagine a life without elephants by publicly removing the Thai letter representing elephants—“Chor Chang”—from their names. The Thai word for elephant, “Chang,” starts with the letter in the Thai alphabet called “Chor”. By removing Chor Chang from their names, Thai people are making a statement that they want the illegal trade in elephant ivory to stop or their beloved national animal—the elephant—could disappear.

    African elephants at watering hole
  • lisa steel
  • How bison survive winter in the Northern Great Plains

    Despite roaming vast distances in the Northern Great Plains, bison do not move south as the weather grows cold and inhospitable, though they may move to lower elevations where snow is not so deep. Temperatures plummet well below zero, bitter winds whip across the landscape, and bison still remain.

    bison covered in snow
  • More Tigers in American Backyards than in the Wild

    July 29, 2014

    One of the world’s largest populations of tigers exists not in the wild—but in captivity in the United States. With an estimated 5,000 tigers, the U.S. captive tiger population exceeds the approximately 3,200 tigers in the wild. 

    Captive Tiger
  • Citizen Scientists Saving Snow Leopards

    July 15, 2014

    WWF has found a way to protect the snow leopard while also benefiting nomadic herders. As part of the USAID-funded Conservation and Adaptation in Asia’s High Mountain Landscapes and Communities (AHM) project, local herders like Byambatsooj are now being trained and equipped to collect basic data on the remote mountains they know better than anyone else.

    camera trap set up
  • Meet the bison: facts about America's national mammal

    Bison are the largest native grazers of America’s Northern Great Plains. Take a look at why bison are unique to our landscape and what WWF is doing to help.

    big bison sitting
  • Where do red pandas live? And other red panda facts

    Red pandas roam the Eastern Himalayas. Here are a few things you should know about the species.

    red panda in tree