Wildlife Conservation Society

WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society (NYZS) and currently works to conserve more than two million square miles of wild places around the world. The organization is led by President and CEO Cristián Samper, former Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Based at the Bronx Zoo, WCS maintains approximately 500 field conservation projects in 65 countries, with 200 PhD scientists on staff. It manages four New York City wildlife parks in addition to the Bronx Zoo: the Central Park Zoo, New York Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo. Together these parks receive 4 million visitors per year. All of the New York City facilities are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The Wildlife Conservation Society was originally chartered by the state of New York on April 26, 1895. Then known as the New York Zoological Society, the organization embraced a mandate to advance wildlife conservation, promote the study of zoology, and create a first-class zoological park. Its name was changed to the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1993. Among the founders of WCS were Andrew H. Green, best known as the father of greater New York City, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Columbia University professor and curator of the American Museum of Natural History, and George Bird Grinnell, founder of the Audubon Society and editor of Forest and Stream Magazine. Theodore Roosevelt, members of the Boone and Crockett Club, and other notable New Yorkers were also involved in the Society's creation.

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