News

An international team of scientists analysed the ongoing colonization by two retroviruses of the germline of koalas and resulting deaths from cancer in multi-generational pedigrees of over 100 koalas in US and European Zoos. In the journal “Nature Communications”, they describe the genome sequencing of the koalas and their analysis of integration in or near genes involved in cancer, new germline integrations within a single generation, and deaths from cancer caused by the retroviral integration. Based on this work, the scientists calculated genetic risk scores (GRS) that can help guide koala breeding programs and thereby benefit koala conservation efforts.

Some bat species seek shelter during the day in the attics of large, mostly historic buildings within human settlements, even though they forage for insects at night in the dark surrounding countryside. This requires daily commuting between brightly lit districts and dark foraging grounds. A team at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has shown that greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) – Germany’s largest bats – prefer to use sparsely lit or completely dark areas when commuting through residential areas. In the journal “Science of the Total Environment”, the team advocates for the preservation and expansion of dark corridors in towns and villages to protect nocturnal animals.

Bats such as the common noctule consume pest insects over intensively managed arable land and thereby support sustainable agriculture. A new study led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the University of Potsdam shows that 23 percent of the insect species consumed by common noctules in north-eastern Germany are pests. Yet, agriculture can only benefit from this free service provided by bats if there are sufficient near-natural habitats in the vicinity of agricultural land. This is where common noctules hunt disproportionately often; only in combination with near-natural habitats can bats find sufficient prey in an intensively farmed landscape, according to the scientists in a paper just published in the journal “Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment”.

The Northern and Southern Maned Sloths may look very similar from the outside, but their genomes reveal different stories: the two species have faced very distinct conditions in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest in the past and confront different conservation threats today. In an article recently published in the journal “Molecular Ecology”, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) in partnership with the Brazilian NGO Instituto Tamanduá show that the southern, currently more endangered lineage displays lower genetic diversity than the northern lineage, which however shows a rapid rise in inbreeding in recent decades. The findings demonstrate that genomic studies can offer critical insights for conservation of endangered species.

Spanish freelance photographer and filmmaker Jon A Juárez, affiliated with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) in Berlin, has been awarded one of the world’s most prestigious distinctions in nature photography: the “Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 Award” (WPY) in the Category “photojournalism” at the Natural History Museum, London. His winning photo documents the world’s first successfully embryo transfer in southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) — a scientific milestone offering renewed hope for saving its critically endangered northern relative (Ceratotherium simum cottoni).

After nearly 25 years of research, an international team of scientists has finally solved a mystery: The greater noctule, Europe’s largest bat, doesn’t just eat small birds – it hunts and captures them more than a kilometre above the ground and it eats them without landing. In an article now published in the journal “Science”, the team analyses data from greater noctules tagged with miniaturised biologgers in the Doñana Biological Station in Spain and reconstructs in detail how the bat achieves the hunt and the meal mid-air.

A major milestone for steppe restoration was reached as a group of globally endangered kulans (Asiatic wild ass) were released from the “Alibi” Reintroduction Center into the vast landscapes of the Altyn Dala State Reserve in Central Kazakhstan. Their move into the wild from the acclimatization enclosure, where they had been for one year, was called a “soft release” taking place over several days, with the animals leaving the acclimatization enclosure in small groups, between August 25th and 27th, 2025. Multiple kulans carry GPS collars and newly introduced solar-powered GPS ear tags, which are now providing valuable insights into their movements across the steppe.

Bats are nocturnal hunters and use echolocation to orientate themselves by emitting high-frequency ultrasonic sounds in rapid succession and evaluating the calls’ reflections. Yet, they have retained a functional vision for light in the spectrum visible to humans. Scientists have now used miniature light, ultrasound and motion sensors to show that common noctule bats emit fewer echolocation calls when hunting insects in lit environments, but at the same time catch their prey 50 percent faster than in dark surroundings. This suggests that bats combine acoustic and visual information to catch escaping prey during split-second interactions when, the team elaborates in the scientific journal “PNAS”.

Mortalities at poisoned carcasses significantly contribute to the population decline of many vulture species. As vultures employ social strategies and follow each other in their search for food, one poisoned carcass can kill hundreds of individuals of endangered species such as the white-backed vulture. Scientists from the GAIA Initiative at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) have now shown that tagging vultures allows for an early detection of poisoning events and for the carcass to be removed. In an article in the „Journal of Applied Ecology“, they demonstrate in a theoretical model that equipping 5 percent of vultures in a population with a tag could prevent 45 percent of further mortalities.

August 25, 2025 – The international BioRescue consortium has entered new grounds in its mission to save the northern white rhinoceros (NWR, Ceratotherium simum cottoni) from extinction. Since the beginning of the year, it has produced three additional northern white rhino embryos. Also, it initiated embryo transfers during which pure NWR embryos are transferred to surrogate southern white rhino mothers. With only two surviving NWR females – Najin and her daughter Fatu – both unable to carry a pregnancy naturally, BioRescue is using cutting-edge assisted reproduction and stem cell technologies to restore the species.