IZW -Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research

EVitA- the Research Programme of IZW:

investigation of the vitality and adaptability of wildlife populations in species of outstanding ecological interest facing anthropogenic challenges

What is the purpose of the IZW?

To study the diversity of life histories, the mechanisms of evolutionary adaptations and their limits (including diseases) of free-ranging and captive wildlife, and its interrelationships with people and its environment.
We focus on the ecologically, economically and culturally important mammals and selected avian species. These are special because of their frequent role as keystone species in important, species-rich communities and ecosystems. Worldwide, because they are often at the centre of conflicts with human interests, and because their value as "flagship species" contributes disproportionately to the public acceptance of conservation. Larger mammals and birds have complex, often little understood evolutionary  adaptations and frequently respond to disturbances and anthropogenic habitat changes in a sensitive manner. Because of their generally low densities, large space and habitat requirements, larger wildlife species are also good indicators of threats to global biodiversity and thus ultimately also of threats to the natural environment that the human population depends on for its own survival. 

How does the IZW fulfil this purpose?

By undertaking strategic, long-term, interdisciplinary basic and applied research programs in cooperation with zoos, protected areas and other institutions, in order to contribute to the conservation and persistence of viable wildlife populations.

• planning key projects in an interdisciplinary manner and conducting them in cooperation with numerous national and international partners;
• exploiting the complementary approaches of biology and veterinary science to clarify the functions and effects of evolutionary adaptations and their impact on wildlife populations;
• developing scientifically based concepts and methods for the active influence (management) of population developments (population viability and conservation, population control);
• developing new and improving already existing minimally invasive or non-invasive methods;
• closely coordinating lab-based analyses and field work, including experimental approaches, and the institute's own field station
• maintaining and expanding unique collections, particularly in wildlife pathology and anatomy (pathological-anatomical reference collection PARS),
• organising biennial international symposia on diseases of zoo and wild animals and physiology, behaviour and conservation of wildlife;
• organising scientific seminars and international workshops,
• teaching undergraduates (lectures, seminars, and courses) at the Faculty for Veterinary Medicine of the Free University Berlin, the Institute of Biology of the Humboldt University Berlin, and other national and foreign universities;
• supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students for their diplomas and doctoral dissertations at several national and international universities.

To perform these activities, the IZW has five research groups covering evolutionary ecology, wildlife diseases and reproduction. They are supported by a central administration unit, technical services, a field research station and a scientific library. Total staff currently consists of approximately 90 people.

A short history

In 1973 the IZW's predecessor, the "Research Station for Vertebrate Research" (FWF) was formed under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR. The FWF was under the direction of Prof. H. Dathe (who simultaneously ran the Tierpark Berlin) until 1990, and of Prof. R. Ippen until 1992. Research at the FWF focused on questions about the health status and biology of vertebrates, on developmental biology and parasitology of lifestock, and the diagnosis of necropsies of wildlife from the Tierpark Berlin and other zoos.

After unification, the German Science Council evaluated all research institutes of the former Academy of Sciences of the GDR in 1991. It recommended that the work of the FWF be continued by creating a new institute for wildlife research with a different legal status, a modified misson and an expanded scope and purpose. The German Science Council recommended to assign the institute legal status as a national research institute jointly funded by the federal government and the state of Berlin. The IZW thus first joined the group of national institutes labelled the "Blaue Liste" and then its successor organisation, the Leibniz community of scientific institutes, since 2002 Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (WGL).

In March 1992, Prof. Dr. Reinhold R. Hofmann was appointed as founding director of the IZW; he retired at the end of 1999. Based on a cooperation agreement between the IZW and the Free University of Berlin, the director of the IZW also holds a full professorship for "interdisciplinary zoo and wildlife science" at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Free University Berlin.

The IZW and seven further scientific research institutes in Berlin, all successors to institutes of the former Academy of Sciences of the GDR, then formed an administrative unit called the "Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.". The Forschungsverbund represents and coordinates the common interests of all member institutions and comprises a central unit that provides key administrative services.

The German Science Council evaluated the IZW again in 1998, to assess the changes at the IZW over six years from its roots in the FWF to a modern wildlife research institute, and to assess its perspectives for future development. This evaluation was very positive and a strong endorsement of the enormous efforts of the IZW and its founding director to develop a modern wildlife research institute firmly based on an evolutionary approach.
Since 2000 the IZW’s director is Prof H Hofer.