The REEL WILD™ New York Film Festival returns April 23–26, 2026, celebrating filmmakers and wildlife stories that inspire action and conservation impact.

WCS’s Hannah Kaplan sat down with Dr. Edith Widder, star of A Life Illuminated, winner of Best Exploration Film and Best in Fest. The documentary follows Dr. Widder - one of the first women in her field and first people to explore the ocean’s twilight zone - as she descends 3,300 feet into the deep, capturing the first-ever footage of the elusive giant squid and uncovering bioluminescent phenomena that could transform our understanding of life on Earth.

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guest:  Dr. Edith Widder

This month between March 23-29, governments from around the world will gather in Campo Grande, Brazil, for the triennial conference of parties to the Convention on Migratory Species, or CMS.

It’s a treaty focused on animals that cross borders—birds, whales and sharks, big cats, freshwater fish—that no one country can conserve alone.

As the meeting approaches, WCS Wild Audio spoke to CMS Executive Secretary Amy Fraenkel about the state of the world’s migratory species — and what’s at stake at this year’s conference.

Reporting: Nat Moss

Guest: Amy Fraenkel

Across the Amazon Basin, the search for gold has unleashed a crisis both environmental and human. Illegal and small-scale gold mining depends on mercury to separate gold from stone. That mercury seeps into rivers, the air, and the food people eat, poisoning ecosystems and communities alike. This week, WCS Wild Audio has the story of how—from Ecuador to Bolivia —conservationists and Indigenous leaders are fighting back.

Reporting: Nat Moss

Guests: Sebastian Valdivieso, Óscar Loayza

Peatlands don’t get the attention they deserve. Worldwide, these wetlands provide crucial ecosystem services. They are vital for Indigenous livelihoods and as carbon storage powerhouses. Canada has some of the world's largest remaining intact peatlands. Now, WCS Canada has a new national strategy to safeguard them before it’s too late. 

Reporting: Dan Rosen

Guest: Victoria Goodday

Coral reefs are facing unprecedented pressure from overfishing, pollution, and climate change. But scientists are finding that some reefs are more resilient than others — and that protecting those reefs could shape the future of coral conservation worldwide. The Wildlife Conservation Society has developed a new strategy focused on identifying and safeguarding those places of resilience. 

Reporting: Nat Moss

Guest: Emily Darling

As we launch this new coral reef conservation strategy, WCS would like to thank Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and The Tiffany & Co. Foundation for their longtime partnership with the WCS Coral Reef Program. Their support, in addition to several other dedicated donors and multilateral partners, has helped us to propel this work.

Sharks and rays are some of the ocean’s most iconic species, but they are in crisis. At the upcoming CITES COP20 meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, governments will decide on dozens of proposals to regulate global trade in wildlife and wildlife products. That includes whether or not to give certain shark and ray species the highest level of international trade protections—a full ban. 

Reporting: Dan Rosen

Guests: Luke Warwick, Dana Tricarico

This summer, the Wildlife Conservation Society welcomed Adam Falk as its new president and CEO. Previously the president of Williams College and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Adam brings to his new role a deep commitment to science, a passion for education, and a belief in the power of collaboration. As WCS begins a new chapter, Adam sat down with Wild Audio to share his excitement for his new position and the opportunity to lead the Wildlife Conservation Society as it confronts the urgent conservation challenges of the moment.

Reporting: Nat Moss

Guest: Adam Falk

In Papua New Guinea’s Eastern Highlands, five clans have come together to formally protect 2,000 hectares of ancestral forest through the Yasina Conservation Deed. This landmark agreement shows how Indigenous communities can lead conservation, safeguarding biodiversity while preserving their cultural traditions.

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan

Guests: Harshad Hemant Karandikar, Bennie W Atigini

Every four years, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, brings together governments, NGOs, scientists, and Indigenous leaders at the World Conservation Congress. Soon, it will be convened in Abu Dhabi. The growing threat of the pet trade in terrestrial wildlife is one of the important issues that will be addressed.

Reporting: Dan Rosen

Guest: Dr. Elizabeth Bennett

Many New Yorkers have great memories of the Bronx Zoo's World of Darkness. It was a groundbreaking exhibit when it opened in 1969. This summer, the zoo opened a new version that features some fascinating species. From naked mole rats to aye ayes to vampire bats, the updated space offers a rare glimpse into the lives of animals that thrive in the dark. 

Reporting: Dan Rosen

Guest: Keith Lovett

Guanacos—fleet-footed cousins of the llama—roam the windswept grasslands of South America in one of the world’s longest overland migrations. But fences, hunting, and competition with livestock are putting their survival at risk.

Ahead of the 2nd International Guanaco Day, WCS Argentina is joining forces with local communities and the government to secure vast migration corridors, promote sustainable livelihoods, and bring guanaco populations back from the brink.

From live—shearing innovations to landmark land protection, this story reveals how conservation is turning the tide for these resilient creatures—and why their future matters for ecosystems and people alike. 

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan

Guests: Dr Andrés Novaro, Dr. Susan Lieberman