The Leibniz-IZW is an internationally renowned German research institute. It is part of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. and a member of the Leibniz Association. Our goal is to understand the adaptability of wildlife in the context of global change and to contribute to the enhancement of the survival of viable wildlife populations. For this purpose, we investigate the diversity of life histories, the mechanisms of evolutionary adaptations and their limits, including diseases, as well as the interrelations of wildlife with their environment and people. We use expertise from biology and veterinary medicine in an interdisciplinary approach to conduct fundamental and applied research – from the molecular to the landscape level – in close dialogue with the public and stakeholders. Additionally, we are committed to unique and high-quality services for the scientific community.
+++ Current information on African swine fever: The Leibniz-IZW conducts research on the population dynamics, on models of disease outbreaks in wild boars and on the ecology and human-wildlife interaction in urban areas. African swine fever is a reportable disease in domestic swine and therefor is the purview of the respective federal state laboratories and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health) FLI. +++
News
Roadmap for better protection of Borneo’s cats and small carnivores
Habitat conversion and fragmentation, logging, illegal hunting, fires: The rainforests and wildlife on Borneo, the third largest island in the world, are highly threatened. Now, an international research team under the leadership of the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, has published a roadmap for more targeted conservation efforts for Bornean cats and small carnivores in a special supplement of the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
Read more … Roadmap for better protection of Borneo’s cats and small carnivores
Reintroduction of lynx requires larger numbers to avoid genetic depletion
For successful reintroduction of lynx into the wild, the number of released animals is crucial. If only a few lynx are reintroduced to found a population, the genetic diversity is too low to ensure their long-term sustainability. An international research team has recently published these findings in the scientific journal “Conservation Genetics”. The researchers highlight the need to strengthen newly established European lynx populations by additional translocations of lynx as well as other conservation measures.
Read more … Reintroduction of lynx requires larger numbers to avoid genetic depletion
The evolution of the Javan leopard and the urgent need for its conservation
An international team of researchers from Germany and Indonesia has discovered new insights into the evolutionary history of the Javan leopard. The results of the study confirm that Javan leopards are clearly distinct from Asian leopards and probably colonised Java around 600,000 years ago via a land bridge from mainland Asia. The study, published in the scientific journal “Journal of Zoology”, highlights the urgent need for concerted conservation efforts to preserve the Javan leopard from extinction.
Read more … The evolution of the Javan leopard and the urgent need for its conservation
Seeking to Rewind Mammalian Extinction – The Effort to Save the Northern White Rhino
In December 2015 an international group of scientists convened in Austria to discuss the imminent extinction of the northern white rhinoceros and the possibility of bringing the species back from brink of extinction. The discussions of this historic meeting appear in the international Journal Zoo Biology. The publication of this work is designed as part of the ongoing effort to raise awareness for the extinction crisis facing rhinos and many other species while also reaching out to the scientific community to share and gather information.
Read more … Seeking to Rewind Mammalian Extinction – The Effort to Save the Northern White Rhino
Offspring for Sumatran rhinos
Measures increasing the birth-rate can save the world’s smallest rhino from extinction
A new study examines the decline of the Sumatran rhino in Borneo. It concludes that the remnant populations of Sumatran rhinos can only be rescued by combining efforts of total protection with stimulation of breeding activity. The researchers suggest to resettle small isolated populations and to undertake measures to improve fertility. The case of the recently captured female rhino in Kalimantan, Borneo shows the importance of immediate action. The article has been published in the scientific journal “Global Ecology and Conservation”.
Isotope analysis provides information about bat migration corridors
Show me what you ate and I’ll tell you where you come from. This, to put it simply, is the approach of the latest bat research study conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin, Germany. Based on isotope analyses of several kinds of tissue, scientists headed by Christian Voigt successfully defined the preferred habitats of three bat species. For the first time ever, these results shed light on which habitats bats prefer during their annual migrations.
Read more … Isotope analysis provides information about bat migration corridors
Mama’s boys are not losers in spotted hyenas!
Males that stay at home are not second-class males but can breed as successfully as their more adventurous competitors that leave home, a new long-term study on spotted hyenas shows. The results from a research team of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin, Germany were published in the open accessjournal Science Advances.
Complete genome of all strains of the gibbon ape leukemia virus sequenced
Berlin-based scientists have sequenced the complete genome of all five identified strains of the gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV). The scientists were able to prove that selection has shaped parts of the genome of this group of viruses. This is likely as a consequence of selective pressure from the host immune systems that the viruses face. GALVs are the causative agents of hematopoietic neoplasms such as leukemia and thus far have been isolated exclusively from captive primates. However GALV is used in biomedical research as vector for cancer therapy. Therefore, the sequencing of the full genomes and understanding their evolution should help to enhance their utility as viral vectors. The findings were published in the scientific magazine “Journal of Virology”.
Read more … Complete genome of all strains of the gibbon ape leukemia virus sequenced