What Is Vitality?

Abstract

Cristián Samper has a big problem. His job as head of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is to preserve wildlife, not to bear witness to its extinction. But if you examine the history of humanity as it relates to protecting wildlife, you may rapidly come to the conclusion that the odds of his being successful are not in his favor. Yet, once you get to know him, and learn what the WCS is doing to prevent species extinction, you may just change your mind. The WCS mission—to preserve wildlife and wild places—will be a hard-fought battle over many years, and will be won only if the majority of us see the long-term benefit in doing so. The long-term success of WCS will be judged by how well it carries out this mission. WCS initially built its reputation by saving the American buffalo from extinction, which was a real success story, and it is now doing some extraordinary things around the globe to prevent the extinction of other species, such as elephants.