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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Both the WCS Archives and Bronx Zoo Operations are the first departments to benefit from a NY State Library Preservation/Conservation Discretionary Grant for WCS #Archives Technician Gianna Brassil to inventory the Bronx Zoo's architectural drawings. 1/2 #architecture

Black & white photograph of the interior of the Elephant House featuring interior tilework by Guastavino

Drawing on paper of Hot Water Heating in the Elephant House, circa 1906.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

You might recall that several months ago we were planning an inventory project for thousands of architectural drawings of the Bronx Zoo. That work--funded by a Conservation/ Preservation Discretionary Grant from NY State Library--has just concluded... 1/3 #archives #architecture

High angle view of Baird Court, circa 1909, with Administration building and Bird House flanking Italian Gardens and staircase at center.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

The online archival material on the Department of Tropical Research just got a little closer to comprehensive! In addition to motion pictures, illustrations, and articles in WCS's scientific journal, "Zoologica," we have just added scans of more than 1,000 glass negatives. 1/3 #archives #photography

Man with camera on tripod elevated with furniture and used to photograph a wasp's nest, Kalacoon, British Guiana

Head of Large Iguana, Kartabo, British Guiana

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Wildlife Conservation Society @wcs.org · 09/05/2026

Bison are iconic. Symbols of unity throughout America’s history. Today, we celebrate 10 years since the American bison was named the U.S. National Mammal. Thank you to all who have worked to ensure the species continues to thrive.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

New on the WCS #Archives Blog Over a few months, WCS Archives Technician Sabrina Moore digitized 1,000 glass negatives from the @wcs.org Department of Tropical Research—revealing extraordinary records of wildlife research, sometimes at a magnified scope. 1/3

“Head of grasshopper,” Kartabo, British Guiana, 1924. WCS Archives Collection 5014-01-2665g.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

We’ve got plans! Lots and lots of plans: architectural drawings, ranging from entire Bronx Zoo buildings to exhibition doors and railings to Bronx Park walkways, have been stored with our Zoos & Aquarium Operations department for decades. 1/3 #archives #architecture

East Elevation and roof plan of Antelope House from blueprint

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Over on the WCS Archives blog, WCS Archives Technician Sabrina Moore reflects on digitizing 1,000 glass negatives from the Department of Tropical Research—many depicting people in Guyana and Haiti whose names were never recorded.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

We are thrilled to share some stunning new additions to our Archives: a series of vibrant field illustrations painted by Department of Tropical Research artist Douglas Boyden during expeditions to Trinidad in the 1950s…

Black and red butterflies on a flowering plant with a lush tropical background

Predominantly black butterfly with red eyespot on a thistle-like plant

Red trumpet flowers against lush green foliage

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

We’re excited to announce our collaboration with The Art of Fauna, a cozy puzzle app that scrambles animal illustrations into tiles (like this one) that you can re-assemble into picture perfection while learning more about the species! 1/2 #archives #puzzlegame #GameDev

Scrambled tiles of artwork created by the Department of Tropical Research.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

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. 1/4 #archives

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

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. 1/3 #archives

Colorized postcard image of the Pheasant Aviary set back within the landscape of the Bronx Zoo.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

#dyk? Alongside preserving and sharing historical @wcs.org records, the WCS #Archives also collects today’s materials to save for future generations. We’re especially excited about a recent addition from WCS’s Exhibits and Graphic Arts Department: 1/2

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

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. 1/2

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

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... 1/3

Illustrated eyes of nocturnal animals on black background

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

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. 1/3 #newyorkcity

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

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... 1/3 #archives

Department of Tropical Research group examining Haul, station 8, Sargasso Sea_1925

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Wildlife Conservation Society @wcs.org · 19/07/2025

As the film turns 50, don't blame ‘Jaws‘ for our fear of sharks, writes Hans Walters of WCS‘s New York Aquarium. But in reality, Walters writes for @nydailynews.com, this group of animals bears little resemblance to the antagonist of the book and film. 🌎 www.nydailynews.com/2025/07/19/t...

nydailynews.com

This Shark Week, some ideas on ‘Jaws’ at 50

I first saw “Jaws” during its theatrical debut in 1975 when I was 15. The previous year, family friends had loaned me Peter Benchley’s novel. The book and film terrified me. But I had been a shark-…

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

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!) 1/2

Photo of Bug Carousel in 2015 with grasshopper ride at foreground center.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

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. 1/2

Interior construction of JungleWorld in the early 1980s.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

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. 1/3

Director William Conway and Trustee Brooke Astor look at dedication plaque for Astor Ct. in 1989

View of Bird House on Baird Ct. in 1909.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

This Sunday is #WorldOceansDay! To celebrate, we're happily taking another look at the Department of Tropical Research's Arcturus expedition which occurred in TWO oceans. 1/3 #archives

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Today is the 40th Anniversary of the opening of the Animal Health Center, which was dedicated on April 30, 1985, under the direction of Emil Dolensek (pictured with snow leopard cub). The new facility replaced the Bronx Zoo’s first animal hospital, established in 1916. 1/3

Photo of Emil Dolensek holding snow leopard cub.

Invitation cover with owls illustration and: Opening Tour of the Animal Health Center / New York Zoological Society."

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

The WCS Library and #Archives prides itself on facilitating knowledge. So, we’re grateful when other institutions help us fulfill our mission. For years, the Biodiversity Heritage Library has digitized many publications created by the New York Zoological Society... 1/3

Cover of Animal Kingdom showing Gray Fox photo by Sam Dunton

Cover of Animal Kingdom showing Indian Leopard Cat photo by Sam Dunton.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Tomorrow, we wish a happy 130th anniversary to @wcs.org, the Wildlife Conservation Society! 🎉In 1895, WCS was founded (as the New York Zoological Society) in order to establish and maintain a first-rate zoo in NYC and promote the study and protection of wildlife. The WCS #Archives... 1/2

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

We’re grateful for the support that we’ve received over the years to make these treasures from our #Archives available online, with special thanks to the #LeonLevyFoundation, @clirnews.bsky.social, @filmpreservation.bsky.social, and Delaine and Malcom Strandberg.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

In 1925, six pioneering women joined the WCS Department of Tropical Research’s Arcturus Expedition to explore “Neptune’s Graveyard”—and changed marine science forever.

DTR historian Ruth Rose writing in a notebook while holding a capuchin monkey aboard the Arcturus research ship in 1925. Rose is wearing pants and a tie and looking into the distance; the monkey is looking directly at the camera.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

We’re glad to be joining the #ArchivesHashtagParty this month, looking at #ArchivesHandwriting. Here we see an early 1916 page from the guestbook of the Department of Tropical Research’s station in Kartabo, British Guiana. #archives

Page of DTR Kartabo station guest book of February 1916 showing signatures of William Beebe, Theodore Roosevelt, Edith Roosevelt, and 6-8 others.

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Thanks to a National Film Preservation Foundation Basic Grant, we are thrilled to have been able to preserve 5 more films from our archives. Subjects include a 1936 Department of Tropical Research expedition to what was then British Guiana... @thewcs.bsky.social library.wcs.org/Archives/Dig... 1/3

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WCS Archives @wcs-archives.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Looking for the perfect gift for a Bronx Zoo fan in your life? Check out the WCS Archives shop on Redbubble for products featuring classic Bronx Zoo designs from our archival collections. www.redbubble.com/people/WCS-A... #bronxzoo #redbubble

jigsaw puzzle with Bronx Zoo vintage postcards

pullover sweatshirt with Bronx Zoo fennec fox graphic

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