WCS Archives
@wcs-archives.bsky.social
The archives of the Wildlife Conservation Society, founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society.
That story will get fresh attention in 2026, when the Noguchi Museum opens Noguchi’s New York, an exhibition that explores—among many other stories—Noguchi’s connection to the Great Apes House. We look forward to seeing it!
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October 24, 2025 at 2:41 PM
That story will get fresh attention in 2026, when the Noguchi Museum opens Noguchi’s New York, an exhibition that explores—among many other stories—Noguchi’s connection to the Great Apes House. We look forward to seeing it!
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Although that exhibit is long gone, its story is still unfolding in surprising ways. Here’s a fun fact we recently learned: during its planning, WCS President Fairfield Osborn discussed the project with famed sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988).
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October 24, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Although that exhibit is long gone, its story is still unfolding in surprising ways. Here’s a fun fact we recently learned: during its planning, WCS President Fairfield Osborn discussed the project with famed sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988).
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The Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo is an immersive, participatory exhibit that is home today to the zoo’s gorillas and other animals. Congo represents an evolutionary step in zoo design that follows on an exhibit that opened 75 years ago this month, The Great Apes House.
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October 24, 2025 at 2:41 PM
The Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo is an immersive, participatory exhibit that is home today to the zoo’s gorillas and other animals. Congo represents an evolutionary step in zoo design that follows on an exhibit that opened 75 years ago this month, The Great Apes House.
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The building and enclosures went through a renovation in 1968. A new restoration effort took place earlier this year, and included better accessibility for keepers and artificial flowing streams for birds.
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September 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The building and enclosures went through a renovation in 1968. A new restoration effort took place earlier this year, and included better accessibility for keepers and artificial flowing streams for birds.
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We couldn't let this month end without a winged salute to 120 years of the Pheasant Aviary at the Bronx Zoo. The unique wood-framed, Tudor style building opened in September 1905, relieving some of the overcrowding at the Aquatic Bird House and Ostrich House.
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September 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
We couldn't let this month end without a winged salute to 120 years of the Pheasant Aviary at the Bronx Zoo. The unique wood-framed, Tudor style building opened in September 1905, relieving some of the overcrowding at the Aquatic Bird House and Ostrich House.
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...a treasure trove of design drafts and graphics for the Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and the New York Aquarium.
It’ll take some time before this collection is fully processed and digitized, but we couldn’t wait to show off some of these stunning images with you.
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It’ll take some time before this collection is fully processed and digitized, but we couldn’t wait to show off some of these stunning images with you.
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September 15, 2025 at 3:43 PM
...a treasure trove of design drafts and graphics for the Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and the New York Aquarium.
It’ll take some time before this collection is fully processed and digitized, but we couldn’t wait to show off some of these stunning images with you.
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It’ll take some time before this collection is fully processed and digitized, but we couldn’t wait to show off some of these stunning images with you.
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(If you ❤️ gazelles, sit tight. #WorldGazelleDay is July 9!)
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August 8, 2025 at 6:46 PM
(If you ❤️ gazelles, sit tight. #WorldGazelleDay is July 9!)
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This Sunday, Aug. 10 is #WorldLionDay. The WCS #Archives holds bracing footage of a 1973 film titled "Predators of the Serengeti." It features George Schaller's Serengeti-based research on predator-prey relationships. The clips show lions hunting gazelles.
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August 8, 2025 at 6:46 PM
This Sunday, Aug. 10 is #WorldLionDay. The WCS #Archives holds bracing footage of a 1973 film titled "Predators of the Serengeti." It features George Schaller's Serengeti-based research on predator-prey relationships. The clips show lions hunting gazelles.
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A highlight is the short biography of the construction firm of F.W. Eversley & Co. This was a Black-owned company started by civil engineer Frederick W. Eversley, Jr. in 1963. When the nocturnal animal exhibition opened, the firm was about to hit its business peak in the #newyorkmetro area.
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July 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
A highlight is the short biography of the construction firm of F.W. Eversley & Co. This was a Black-owned company started by civil engineer Frederick W. Eversley, Jr. in 1963. When the nocturnal animal exhibition opened, the firm was about to hit its business peak in the #newyorkmetro area.
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... is a wealth of historical information today! The cover art evokes a spooky mystery, while the news releases inside come with quotes and context from Director William Conway and the PR firm for architect Morris Ketchum.
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July 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
... is a wealth of historical information today! The cover art evokes a spooky mystery, while the news releases inside come with quotes and context from Director William Conway and the PR firm for architect Morris Ketchum.
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On this #ThrowbackThursday, the WCS #Archives looks back at the June 12, 1969 opening of the Bronx Zoo’s World of Darkness. That unique exhibition’s press kit, a folder packed with photos, facts, and statements from zoo leaders intended to help with news coverage...
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July 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
On this #ThrowbackThursday, the WCS #Archives looks back at the June 12, 1969 opening of the Bronx Zoo’s World of Darkness. That unique exhibition’s press kit, a folder packed with photos, facts, and statements from zoo leaders intended to help with news coverage...
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Shown here: "Starfishes from Di, Station 113," "Giant green-eyed lantern fish," "Seahorses," "Astronesthes pursuing Myctophym coccoi by night" (all by Helen Damrosch Tee-Van) from Arcturus Expedition illustrations IV, 1925, WCS #Archives Collection 1039
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July 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Shown here: "Starfishes from Di, Station 113," "Giant green-eyed lantern fish," "Seahorses," "Astronesthes pursuing Myctophym coccoi by night" (all by Helen Damrosch Tee-Van) from Arcturus Expedition illustrations IV, 1925, WCS #Archives Collection 1039
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100 years ago today, @wcs.org's Department of Tropical Research began their study of the Hudson Canyon as part of the Arcturus Expedition. They were awestruck by the diversity and beauty of the species they found just 100 miles off the coast of New York City.
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July 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
100 years ago today, @wcs.org's Department of Tropical Research began their study of the Hudson Canyon as part of the Arcturus Expedition. They were awestruck by the diversity and beauty of the species they found just 100 miles off the coast of New York City.
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...the print’s detail, and finally the negative’s detail. We see a phenomenal range of contrast and a sharper image (especially on that pulley line in the foreground). We’re excited to share more, including never-before-seen images, as the project progresses in the coming months. Thanks METRO!
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July 21, 2025 at 7:51 PM
...the print’s detail, and finally the negative’s detail. We see a phenomenal range of contrast and a sharper image (especially on that pulley line in the foreground). We’re excited to share more, including never-before-seen images, as the project progresses in the coming months. Thanks METRO!
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...we tried upgrading our scans of small photo prints taken on the 1925 Arcturus voyage to scans of the same image using the glass plate negatives. For the detail-oriented, the results were eye-popping! Just look at the cropped images here; post 1 is a wide shot from the negative, in post 2...
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July 21, 2025 at 7:51 PM
...we tried upgrading our scans of small photo prints taken on the 1925 Arcturus voyage to scans of the same image using the glass plate negatives. For the detail-oriented, the results were eye-popping! Just look at the cropped images here; post 1 is a wide shot from the negative, in post 2...
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We’re so excited about our new Digitization Project Grant from Metropolitan New York Library Council! We’ve got plans to digitize some beautiful glass plate negatives showing the expeditions of the Department of Tropical Research that have never been digitized before. Months ago...
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July 21, 2025 at 7:51 PM
We’re so excited about our new Digitization Project Grant from Metropolitan New York Library Council! We’ve got plans to digitize some beautiful glass plate negatives showing the expeditions of the Department of Tropical Research that have never been digitized before. Months ago...
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Don’t let this news make you feel dizzy but yesterday marked 20 years of spinning at the Bronx Zoo’s Bug Carousel! The merry-go-round opened on July 13, 2005 with 64 kinds of creatures modeled as rides. (28 were beetles!)
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July 14, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Don’t let this news make you feel dizzy but yesterday marked 20 years of spinning at the Bronx Zoo’s Bug Carousel! The merry-go-round opened on July 13, 2005 with 64 kinds of creatures modeled as rides. (28 were beetles!)
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Seen here are construction photos from the early 1980s, a program for the dedication ceremony, and students & teachers visiting in the late 1980s. To learn more, read our blog post “A Jungle in the Bronx.”
www.wcsarchivesblog.org/a-jungle-in-...
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www.wcsarchivesblog.org/a-jungle-in-...
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June 23, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Seen here are construction photos from the early 1980s, a program for the dedication ceremony, and students & teachers visiting in the late 1980s. To learn more, read our blog post “A Jungle in the Bronx.”
www.wcsarchivesblog.org/a-jungle-in-...
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www.wcsarchivesblog.org/a-jungle-in-...
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Please join the WCS #Archives in wishing the Bronx Zoo’s JungleWorld exhibition a happy 40th anniversary! JungleWorld opened on June 22, 1985. The 1-acre and 1,000,000 cubic ft. exhibition was the final section of Wild Asia. It opened with over 70 species of tropical Asian wildlife.
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June 23, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Please join the WCS #Archives in wishing the Bronx Zoo’s JungleWorld exhibition a happy 40th anniversary! JungleWorld opened on June 22, 1985. The 1-acre and 1,000,000 cubic ft. exhibition was the final section of Wild Asia. It opened with over 70 species of tropical Asian wildlife.
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For more info on buildings along Astor Ct., see our virtual walking tour: www.urbanarchive.org/stories/NFvh...
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June 20, 2025 at 4:42 PM
For more info on buildings along Astor Ct., see our virtual walking tour: www.urbanarchive.org/stories/NFvh...
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In 1989, it was renamed in recognition of @wcs.org trustee Brooke Astor. Shown are Director Conway and Astor at the dedication in 1989, views of the court’s northern end in 1909, and a preliminary 1900 plan for the court and concourse by landscape architect H. A. Caparn.
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June 20, 2025 at 4:42 PM
In 1989, it was renamed in recognition of @wcs.org trustee Brooke Astor. Shown are Director Conway and Astor at the dedication in 1989, views of the court’s northern end in 1909, and a preliminary 1900 plan for the court and concourse by landscape architect H. A. Caparn.
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On this date 25 years ago, Astor Court at the Bronx Zoo was officially recognized as a New York City landmark! Designed by Bronx Zoo Director Hornaday and the architectural firm Heins & LaFarge, it was originally named Baird Court after the famed 19th century naturalist Spencer Baird.
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June 20, 2025 at 4:42 PM
On this date 25 years ago, Astor Court at the Bronx Zoo was officially recognized as a New York City landmark! Designed by Bronx Zoo Director Hornaday and the architectural firm Heins & LaFarge, it was originally named Baird Court after the famed 19th century naturalist Spencer Baird.
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