Blue Iguanas Back From The Brink  
Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi ) are found only on the island of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. Once numbering in the thousands, the population rapidly declined and by 2002 less than 20 remained in the wild. The Cayman Islands Blue Iguana Recovery Programme was founded in response, with WCS providing veterinary support. Despite facing significant challenges including an infectious disease outbreak and deadly feral dog attacks, the breeding program is a tremendous conservation success story and this summer achieved a huge milestone of the 1000th iguana released back to the wild!
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Using E-DNA To Find An Endangered Turtle
Our molecular team has pioneered a hand-held, portable kit to detect the DNA of the nearly extinct Yangtze giant softshell turtle ( Rafetus swinhoei ) in the environment (eDNA). Sources of eDNA include mucus, feces and skin cells. Watch our team pilot this ground-breaking technology at a Vietnamese lake known to be inhabited by one of only four Yangtze giant softshell turtles known to exist....

Stress Responses in Sharks
Great white sharks are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Veterinarians from WCS' New York Aquarium have joined up with the Long Island Shark Collaboration to study stress responses in young sharks in waters off Long Island that are known to host more juvenile great whites than any other area on the US coast.
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The Song of a Hammer-headed Bat
You may recall this intriguing bat from our last newsletter. Our health team in the Republic of Congo attached a GPS tracking unit to this male hammer-headed fruit bat  (Hypsignathus monstrosus)  as part of their research into the ecology of Ebola viruses in potential wild hosts. Listen to the enthralling sounds of the males calling at a breeding site to entice a female mate....
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The Wildlife Conservation Society was among the first zoos in the world to have full time veterinary care for their animals, with a clinician and pathologist hired in 1903 and a zoo animal hospital opening at the Bronx Zoo in 1916. We were also one of the first conservation organizations with a dedicated team of wildlife veterinarians deployed around the world to address the health of free ranging wildlife and problem-solve at the wildlife / domestic animal / human health and livelihoods interface, all underpinned by a foundation of environmental stewardship.

To learn how to support the  One World - One Health  portfolio at WCS, please contact Dr. Chris Walzer at cwalzer@wcs.org or Dr. Paul Calle at  pcalle@wcs.org .

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Photo Credits- Lucy Keatts (Cayman blue iguana); Tracie Seimon/WCS (ANDe in Vietnam); Julie Larsen Maher/WCS (Shark sampling); Tracie Seimon/ WCS (Tarantula)

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