The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
is a non-governmental, science-based conservation organization that
works in over 50 countries around the world. Founded in 1896 as the New
York Zoological Society, its mission is to conserve wildlife and
ecosystems by generating and applying innovative scientific and
field-based solutions to critical problems.
The WCS approach to
conservation is rooted in our belief that good conservation requires a
sound understanding of the ecology and threats to conservation targets.
Our credibility is established through scientific work, which acts as a
basis for the development of conservation plans that will work in the
real world.
The WCS Russia Program works
to protect the extensive forest and tundra ecosystems of the Russian
Far East and the myriad species whose survival depends on these intact,
functional ecosystems. We use science as a foundation for designing and
implementing appropriate conservation actions for numerous species of
wildlife, including Amur tigers, Far Eastern leopards, Kamchatka brown
bears, and Blakiston’s fish owls. We focus on key species and critical
landscapes as a means to achieve biodiversity conservation throughout
the region.
WCS, initially as the Hornocker Wildlife Institute, has been active in Russia since 1992, the start of the
Siberian Tiger Project, the longest running radio-telemetry-based tiger research and conservation project in the world.
Read about
what we have accomplished in Russia.