Russell A. Mittermeier, Conservation of eastern Brazilian primates, Brazil, 1978

The collection holds records of the international programs of the New York Zoological Society (NYZS). (The records are also referred to internally as the “bluebook” records because the files were originally kept in blue folders). Most records relate to grant funding for wildlife conservation and management fieldwork, with projects including animal population surveys, studies of the ecology or behavior of specific species, or analysis of wildlife management in a particular region. Several projects also involve the creation of national parks or wildlife reserves, the promotion of conservation legislation, or education about conservation or wildlife management. A small number of grants involve funding for publications or academic support. Records were created between 1962 and 1993, with the majority of records created between 1973 and 1989.

Correspondence between NYZS staff and field researchers makes up much of collection. The primary NYZS correspondents include Archie Carr III, Mary Pearl, William Conway, and F. Wayne King. Topics include grant enquiries, status updates from the field, and general conservation discussion. Internal correspondence between NYZS staff members includes deliberations on grant proposals and discussions about the work of various researchers and their relationships to NYZS.

Administrative records include grant proposals (generally containing project descriptions, examples of previous research, curriculum vitas, and projected budgets), NYZS Conservation Committee grant assessments, NYSZ grant contracts, expenditure lists, and collections of receipts for expenses. Education and conservation awareness projects often include ephemera, or drafts for ephemera. Progress or final reports submitted by grantees include written descriptions of the work completed and analysis of findings, often supplemented with data tables, charts and images (either illustrations or photographs). Copies of academic or general interests publications resulting from NYZS-sponsored research are often included as well. Some folders contain architectural sketches, usually conveying plans for field research facilities.

The geographical scope of the materials is extensive, with an emphasis on projects in East Africa, Southeast and East Asia and Central and South America. Within Africa, the countries Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, and Mauritius are heavily represented—especially in the Tana River, Kibale Forest and Amboseli National Park areas. Elsewhere, Costa Rica, Peru, India and Thailand are prominently featured or frequently included as research locations. North American projects focus on mountain or coastal regions. The research projects report on diverse species, with a large proportion of projects devoted to primates, large mammals (especially elephants, rhinoceroses, and bears), birds, and reptiles (especially turtles and crocodiles). Most materials are written in English, with the most common exceptions being Spanish-language items.

Several files are devoted to David Western’s conservation work in East Africa, including work with the African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group and Amboseli National Park. Other prominent research projects include Dale Lewis’s conservation development projects and elephant research in Zambia; Russell A. Mittermeier’s research and conservation efforts involving primates in Central and South America; Bernard Peyton’s research on the spectacled bear in South America; Tim Clark’s research on the black-footed ferret in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States; and Thomas T. Struhsaker’s primate research and forest conservation work in Uganda. Materials also relate to the Gombe Stream Research Centre, involving primate research by Jane Goodall and Derek Bryceson; elephant conservation studies in Africa by Iain Douglas-Hamilton; and several conservation efforts in Sudan, involving researchers John Fryxell, A. R. E. Sinclair, Jesse Chris Hillman, and Alison Karen Kesenyonye Hillman.