Wildlife Conservation Society
A New York-based global conservation nonprofit that operates wildlife parks and protects species and wild places in more than 50 countries.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a United States-based nonprofit conservation organization whose stated purpose is to protect wildlife and wild places around the world. Headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, it combines field conservation, scientific research, public education, policy work, and the operation of accredited zoological and aquarium facilities. Its New York portfolio consists of the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, New York Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo, and Queens Zoo. Together, these facilities attract roughly four million visitors annually and provide a public-facing platform for conservation education, animal care, and fundraising. WCS was chartered by New York State on April 26, 1895, as the New York Zoölogical Society. The organization was established to advance zoological science, promote the protection of native wildlife, and create a major public zoological park. The Bronx Zoo, then known as the New York Zoological Park, became the central institutional expression of that mission. William Temple Hornaday served as its founding director and general curator, while early society leaders included Andrew H. Green, Levi P. Morton, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Madison Grant. Some of these founders made important contributions to wildlife preservation while also expressing racial and eugenic views that are now recognized as deeply discriminatory. WCS’s institutional history therefore includes both influential conservation achievements and serious ethical legacies. During its early decades, the society used research, public exhibitions, publications, and political advocacy to draw attention to species decline. Hornaday helped publicize the disappearance of American bison and supported efforts to establish protected herds. In 1905, he and Theodore Roosevelt helped establish the American Bison Society; the Bronx Zoo subsequently supplied bison for reintroduction efforts at government reserves. The organization also supported field science. William Beebe’s expeditions, including his pioneering deep-sea bathysphere work off Bermuda, expanded knowledge of marine life and helped establish WCS as a research institution as well as a zoo operator. After the Second World War, WCS broadened its field programs and increasingly presented zoos as conservation organizations. Under leaders including Henry Fairfield Osborn Jr. and William G. Conway, it developed habitat-oriented exhibits, supported endangered-species breeding and field research, and expanded work across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other regions. WCS helped establish the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, later incorporated into Grand Teton National Park, and from the late 1950s sponsored surveys and conservation projects in countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula. The organization changed its name to Wildlife Conservation Society in 1993 to reflect its growing international conservation role. WCS’s current work is organized around landscapes and seascapes with high ecological value. Programs have included gorilla conservation in Africa, tiger conservation in Asia, macaw conservation in South America, protection of jaguar habitat in Belize, forest protection in Madagascar, and marine and terrestrial conservation in Melanesia. Its work may involve protected-area development, biodiversity monitoring, community partnerships, anti-trafficking and anti-poaching initiatives, climate-related conservation, and support for science-based public policy. WCS has also operated in difficult settings, including Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar, where conservation agreements can intersect with local governance and peacebuilding. The organization has supported digital and analytical projects such as the Mannahatta or Welikia Project, which reconstructs the historical ecology of the New York region, and Last of the Wild, a global dataset mapping human influence and remaining wild areas. As of July 1, 2025, WCS is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Adam Falk. It remains an active international conservation institution with a dual identity: a network of public wildlife facilities in New York and a field-based organization working to preserve species, habitats, and ecological processes worldwide.
History
The Wildlife Conservation Society began as the New York Zoölogical Society, chartered by New York State on April 26, 1895. Its founding mandate joined zoological research with public education and wildlife preservation. The society sought to establish a major zoological park accessible to the public, and New York City provided land and some public support while private donors financed much of the construction and operation. The resulting New York Zoological Park, now the Bronx Zoo, became the organization’s principal facility. William Temple Hornaday, the park’s founding director and general curator, made wildlife depletion a central public issue through surveys, reports, books, and legislative advocacy. His campaigns helped build support for the protection and recovery of American bison. In 1905, Hornaday worked with Theodore Roosevelt and others to form the American Bison Society. The Bronx Zoo later sent bison to the Wichita Reserve, contributing to a broader government-supported reintroduction effort. These actions became an important example of coordinated captive management, public advocacy, and habitat protection. The society’s early history also contains major ethical and historical controversies. Several influential early figures, including Madison Grant and Henry Fairfield Osborn, supported eugenic theories and used racial hierarchies in some conservation arguments. In 1906, the Bronx Zoo exhibited Ota Benga, a Mbuti man from the Congo, in a display that treated him as an object of public spectacle. WCS apologized for the exhibition in 2020. Contemporary accounts of the organization increasingly address these legacies while distinguishing the importance of historic conservation work from the discriminatory beliefs and practices that accompanied it. Scientific exploration became another defining part of the institution. William Beebe, an early bird curator, conducted extensive field research in Asia and later directed the Society’s Department of Tropical Research. Between 1930 and 1934, his bathysphere expeditions off Bermuda made repeated deep-sea dives and documented marine organisms in their natural environment, including bioluminescent fish and species not previously observed by humans in the deep ocean. The bathysphere is now displayed at the New York Aquarium. During and after the Second World War, the society modernized its public and scientific programs. Henry Fairfield Osborn Jr. and executive committee chairman Laurance Rockefeller supported changes in visitor access and exhibit design. The African Plains exhibit, opened in 1941, helped advance the presentation of animals in geographic and ecological groupings rather than only taxonomic arrangements. In 1946, WCS helped establish the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, which later became part of Grand Teton National Park in 1962. From the late 1950s onward, the organization expanded field surveys and conservation projects across Africa and Asia, including work in Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula. WCS sponsored George Schaller’s 1959 mountain-gorilla study in the Congo. Under William G. Conway, who became Bronx Zoo director in 1962 and WCS president in 1992, the organization promoted a model of zoos as active conservation institutions. New exhibits such as World of Darkness and World of Birds emphasized naturalistic environments and interpretation. WCS also became involved in breeding and conservation cooperation for threatened species. New York City subsequently entrusted WCS with the renewal and management of additional public wildlife facilities. The redesigned Central Park Zoo opened in 1988, followed by the Queens Zoo in 1992 and the Prospect Park Zoo in 1993. The organization changed its name from New York Zoological Society to Wildlife Conservation Society in 1993, reflecting its international field mission. WCS field work later contributed to the establishment of the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, an important protected area for jaguars. In the twenty-first century, WCS has combined its New York facilities with programs in more than 50 countries and hundreds of conservation projects. Its portfolio includes terrestrial and marine protected areas, species research, community-based conservation, climate-related initiatives, and work in politically unstable regions. Notable examples include the Makira Forest Protected Area in Madagascar, the Melanesia Program in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, and conservation efforts focused on gorillas, tigers, jaguars, macaws, and other threatened wildlife. WCS has also developed digital tools such as the Mannahatta or Welikia Project and the Last of the Wild dataset. As of July 1, 2025, Adam Falk leads the organization as president and CEO.
- 2025
Adam Falk leads WCS
[1]Adam Falk was identified as president and CEO as of July 1, 2025.
- 2020
WCS apologizes for Ota Benga exhibition
[1]The organization publicly apologized for the 1906 exhibition of Ota Benga at the Bronx Zoo.
- 2001
Makira forest protection program begins
[1]WCS worked with Madagascar’s environment authorities to launch a program establishing the 372,470-hectare Makira Forest Protected Area.
- 1993
Organization adopts Wildlife Conservation Society name
[1]The New York Zoölogical Society changed its name to Wildlife Conservation Society to reflect its international conservation mandate.
- 1992
William G. Conway becomes WCS president
[1]Conway became president while continuing to promote conservation-oriented zoological institutions and field programs.
- 1988
Central Park Zoo reopens after redesign
[1]The redesigned Central Park Zoo opened as part of WCS’s growing role in managing New York City wildlife facilities.
- 1959
George Schaller studies mountain gorillas
[1]WCS sponsored George Schaller’s influential field study of mountain gorillas in the Congo.
- 1946
Jackson Hole Wildlife Park is established
[1]WCS helped establish the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, which later became part of Grand Teton National Park.
- 1930
Bathysphere research begins off Bermuda
[1]William Beebe began a series of pioneering deep-sea observations using the bathysphere.
- 1907
Bronx Zoo supplies bison for reintroduction
[1]The Bronx Zoo sent 15 bison to the Wichita Reserve as part of government-supported efforts to rebuild wild herds.
Products and positioning
A science-led conservation nonprofit linking public zoological institutions with field programs, biodiversity research, community partnerships, and policy advocacy.
Zoological park
Bronx Zoo
WCS’s flagship zoological institution and headquarters campus in New York City. The Bronx Zoo combines animal care, public interpretation, conservation education, research, and habitat-oriented exhibits. It has historically served as a base for species recovery initiatives and as a public gateway to WCS’s international conservation work.
Aquarium
New York Aquarium
WCS’s marine-focused public facility in New York City. The aquarium supports public education about ocean wildlife and conservation while maintaining animal-care and interpretation programs. The historic bathysphere associated with William Beebe’s deep-sea research is displayed there.
Zoological park · 1988
Central Park Zoo
A WCS-managed New York City zoo that reopened after redesign in 1988. It provides urban visitors with wildlife exhibits, conservation interpretation, and animal-care programming in a compact city setting.
Zoological park · 1993
Prospect Park Zoo
A WCS-managed wildlife facility in Brooklyn that forms part of the society’s New York network of public zoos. Its role includes animal presentation, conservation education, and public engagement with wildlife issues.
Zoological park · 1992
Queens Zoo
A WCS-managed zoo in Queens and one of the organization’s four New York wildlife parks beyond the Bronx Zoo. The facility uses public exhibits and educational programming to connect urban audiences with wildlife and habitat conservation.
Conservation services
Global field conservation programs
WCS’s international portfolio covers protected areas, species research, biodiversity monitoring, community partnerships, conservation policy, and ecological restoration. Programs address threatened wildlife and habitats in more than 50 countries, including work on gorillas, tigers, jaguars, macaws, forests, and marine ecosystems.
Environmental data and education
Mannahatta and Welikia projects
Digital projects that reconstruct the historical ecology of the New York region before European colonization. The work uses maps and visualizations to illustrate the area’s former ecosystems and encourage public understanding of urban ecological change.
Environmental data
Last of the Wild
A global dataset and mapping initiative depicting the relative human footprint across the planet. It supports analysis of remaining wild areas, ecological condition, and the distribution of natural resources.
Controversies
2020
Institutional apology for Ota Benga exhibition
WCS apologized for its historical role in the exhibition of Ota Benga, acknowledging the cruelty and dehumanization involved.
2020
Wildlife Conservation Society apologizes for Bronx Zoo's treatment of Ota Benga
The Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the Bronx Zoo, apologized for the zoo's historical treatment of Ota Benga, an African man who was displayed in the zoo's Monkey House in 1906. The organization stated that it must confront its historic role in promoting racial injustice.
1906
Exhibition of Ota Benga at the Bronx Zoo
Ota Benga, a Mbuti man from the Congo, was displayed at the Bronx Zoo in a presentation that dehumanized him and reflected the racial attitudes of the period. The episode is one of the most serious ethical controversies in the institution’s history.
Racial and eugenic legacies among early leaders
Some early leaders, including Madison Grant and Henry Fairfield Osborn, promoted eugenic and racially discriminatory theories. These views influenced parts of early conservation rhetoric and remain an important subject in assessments of WCS history.
Marketing campaigns
- 2017Makira conservation carbon initiative
Madagascar · International
WCS partnered with Cool Effect to enable public support for carbon-reduction work connected with Makira Natural Park.
Outcome. The partnership created a public funding route for ongoing forest conservation and emissions-reduction activities.
- 2001Makira Forest protection program
Madagascar
WCS partnered with Madagascar’s environment authorities to create a large protected area in the Makira forest landscape.
Outcome. The program established the Makira Forest Protected Area and continued to support forest and climate-related conservation.
- 1905American Bison recovery campaign
United States
WCS leaders helped organize a national campaign to protect and reintroduce American bison through public advocacy, captive management, and transfers to government reserves.
Outcome. The campaign contributed to one of North America’s best-known wildlife recovery efforts.
- Melanesia Program
Fiji · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu
WCS’s Melanesia work combines terrestrial and marine conservation with community participation across the Bismarck Solomon Seas Ecoregion and Bismarck Forest Corridor.
Outcome. The program addresses habitat loss, environmental degradation, overexploitation, and climate change through science-based local conservation.
Brand decisions
1993
Rename the organization to Wildlife Conservation SocietyStrategyBackground
The former New York Zoölogical Society had developed a substantial international field-conservation portfolio beyond its original New York zoological mission.
Action taken
The organization adopted the Wildlife Conservation Society name.
Aftermath
The new name positioned WCS as a global conservation organization while retaining its New York zoos and aquarium.
1969
Develop immersive wildlife exhibitionsStrategyBackground
Under William G. Conway, WCS continued shifting toward exhibits that recreated aspects of animals’ natural environments.
Action taken
The Bronx Zoo opened World of Darkness for nocturnal species and later introduced World of Birds.
Aftermath
Naturalistic and habitat-based interpretation became a prominent part of WCS’s public conservation model.
1941
Adopt habitat-oriented exhibit designStrategyBackground
WCS sought to present animals in ways that communicated ecological relationships and geographic settings rather than relying only on taxonomic classification.
Action taken
The African Plains exhibit grouped animals by continent and ecosystem, helping establish a more naturalistic interpretive model.
Aftermath
The approach influenced later WCS exhibit development and its broader concept of zoos as conservation and education institutions.
Recent events
- 2025
Adam Falk becomes Wildlife Conservation Society president and CEO[1]
Leadership change
Adam Falk was identified as WCS president and chief executive officer as of July 1, 2025.
Wildlife Conservation Society continues global landscape and seascape conservation[1]
Other
WCS maintains conservation programs in more than 50 countries, addressing species protection, habitat loss, environmental degradation, overexploitation, and climate change.
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