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The 10 Most Fun Stories of 2016

December 7, 2016

With 2016 near a close, we still can't get these out of our heads. Of course, it was near impossible to pick just 10. What was your favorite wildlife story from this year? Let us know what we left out.

Photo Credit: DENNIS DEMELLO © WCS

January 5

Going to Need a Tougher Buoy

Uncovering the mystery of missing research equipment, aka the time a polar bear bit into and temporarily sunk our buoy in the Arctic.

Photo Credit: ©WCS Ecuador

January 8

Black Cats

Camera traps in Ecuador snagged photos of endangered jaguars. These are a rare sight, as the few jaguars that remain are spread across both sides of the Andes, in the Amazon and Chocó rainforests.

Photo Credit: ©Karen Viste-Sparkman/USFWS

January 29

Still Standing

It was a big year for bison: they were named the U.S.'s official National Mammal. We also learned about Sparky, the 11-year-old male bison who survived being struck by lightning.

Photo Credit: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS

March 1

Whistle While You Eat

Turns out gorillas "sing" and "hum" while they're having a meal. For a study published in late February, scientists from WCS and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology suggested it's the adult males who are the loudest. Give a listen.

Photo Credit: ©Timothy Mohl

July 21

A World Like No Other

The high plains of Bolivia house some of the world's largest breeding sites for three of the six flamingo species. WCS researchers based at the Bronx Zoo traveled there and came back with amazing images.

Photo Credit: ©WCS Arctic Beringia

July 26

Scenes from a Secret World

Our colleagues in Arctic Beringia captured incredible footage of young wolverines in some of the most remote country in the United States.

Photo Credit: ©Bastak Reserve

September 2

A Cinderella Story

In 2013, a young tiger cub was discovered in Russia, orphaned and nearly starved. In the coming months and years, we tracked her recovery and re-release into the wild. In September, a camera trap captured the latest update on Zolushka (center, with her cubs).

Photo Credit: ©WCS

October 26

Call it a Comeback

Photos from China showed new, critically endangered Chinese alligators had recently hatched. There are only 150 or so of these alligators left in the wild so this is big news.

Photo Credit: ©Georgia Department of Natural Resources under NOAA permit #15488

November 16

Melville Hears Rare Whales

In October, Melville, our acoustic buoy, picked up exciting calls. Two rare whale species (the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale and the sei whale) were identified in New York waters.

Photo Credit: ©Christian Molango/WCS

November 22

There Are Hippos Here?

A team of rangers captured what is believed to be the first photo evidence of hippos in Congo's Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park.

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