WCS Annual Report 2012 - Wildlife Conservation Society

April) corresponds to a period of low food availability.
Wolverines have adapted by amassing
food caches during the preceding months when
food is more readily available.
Understanding why and how wolverines exist
where they do and the various adaptations they
have evolved to survive will better inform population
management and conservation strategies.
A previous 2010 study suggested that wolverines
must have deep snow available in springtime
so that they can give birth to their small cubs
in a warm, secure den. The new report showed
that other factors such as competition for food
may also be involved in explaining the limits to
wolverine distribution.
The cold storage plan reduces the energy spent
by females searching for food while in lactation
phase, cutting the time spent away from their
cubs. Wolverine reproduction appears to be
confined to a brief period of the year, and the
lactation phase in females (February through
Documenting Madidi’s Natural
Treasures
From snow-capped peaks to lowland tropical
forests, Bolivia’s Madidi National Park inspires
awe. The 7,335-square mile reserve, a portion
of the larger Madidi-Tambopata Landscape shared
with Peru, lures tourists with its natural beauty,
but scientists come to the park for different
reasons. For years, they’ve sought to document
the terrain’s prolific plant and wildlife. With
help from WCS, the Bolivian Park Service this
year released a new compendium suggesting
that Madidi National Park might be the most
biodiverse region in the world.
Even though scientists have surveyed only
one third of the park, their findings so far
amaze: more than 1,868 vertebrates, including
200 species of mammals and nearly 300 types
of fish; and 12,000 plant varieties. With an
estimated 1,088 bird species, Madidi is thought
to possess 11 percent of the globe’s avian diversity.
Only eleven countries contain more avian
species (the entire United States boasts fewer
than 900 bird species). Madidi’s mammals
range from the lowland tapir—an Amazonian
herbivore weighing up to 660 pounds—to the
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wcs story
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achievements DEBUTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
• WCS launches a video
produced to train military personnel
on the consequences
of purchasing illegal wildlife
products while stationed
overseas.
• The world’s largest known
crocodile—Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni,
now extinct—is
named in honor of Dr. John
Thorbjarnarson, the WCS
conservationist and preeminent
crocodilian expert
who succumbed to malaria
in 2010.
• Oscar Loayza of WCS’s Madidi
Program in Bolivia receives
the Kenton Miller Award for
Innovation in Protected Areas
Management.
• WCS Executive Vice President
for Conservation and Science
John Robinson is elected as
a regional councillor for North
America and the Caribbean for
the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• WCS Executive Vice President
and Zoos & Aquarium General
Director Jim Breheny is
named onto the Board of
Directors of the Association
of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA).
• WCS Chief Veterinarian and
Director of Zoological Health
Paul Calle is named president
of the American Association
of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV)
Executive Committee.