Leibniz-IZW condemns Russia's attack on Ukraine
The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research strongly condemns Russia's attack on Ukraine. The Leibniz-IZW employs Ukrainian scientists, is very concerned about our scientific colleagues in Ukraine and will support scientists in Ukraine to the best of our ability.
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

You are what (and where) you eat – mercury pollution threatens Arctic foxes
New scientific results show that arctic foxes accumulate dangerous levels of mercury if they live in coastal habitats and feed on prey which lives in the ocean. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Moscow State University and the University of Iceland just published their discovery in the science online journal PLOS ONE.
Read more … You are what (and where) you eat – mercury pollution threatens Arctic foxes

Competing for milk can be a stressful thing for hyena twin siblings
Researchers from the German Leibniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) demonstrate for the first time in a free-ranging mammal that hunger and conflict for access to resources can be “stressful” for subordinate siblings and socially challenged dominant siblings, and hence increase their cost of maintaining homeostasis. These findings were published in the science journal Biology Letters.
Read more … Competing for milk can be a stressful thing for hyena twin siblings

Demographic transition does not stop human evolution
In many places around the world, people are living longer and are having fewer children. But that’s not all. In a study of people living in rural Gambia, it appears that this modern-day “demographic transition” may lead women to be taller and slimmer, too. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) as well as British, American and Gambian institutes and universities just published their discovery in the Cell Press journal Current Biology.
Read more … Demographic transition does not stop human evolution

For the first time Iberian lynx embryos are collected and preserved: Another ray of hope for the most endangered cat species worldwide
A pioneering procedure in felines allows the collection of biological material from Iberian lynx females before castration. The preserved biological material of the lynxes will be used in future conservation breeding programmes.

The climb to the pouch begins in utero
Scientists have visualised the short pregnancy of a small species of the kangaroo and wallaby family of marsupials, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), for the first time by high-resolution ultrasound. The study has shed light on a number of developmental events that are likely to be fundamental to all marsupials. These include a very rigid program of embryonic and fetal development with very little variation in pregnancy length, specialised movements of the endometrium that roll the embryo around the uterus prior to attachment, and climbing movements of the tiny fetus up to three days before birth. This latter finding is one of the earliest developmental behaviours observed in a
mammal and prepares the immature young for the journey to its mother’s pouch.

Cryopreservation – a chance for highly endangered mammals
Scientists of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) succeeded in carrying out cryopreservation of felid ovary cortex.
Read more … Cryopreservation – a chance for highly endangered mammals

Wirtschaftsweg statt Wildwechsel
Die Bengalkatze scheint sich in Nutzwäldern wohl zu fühlen: Sie kommt dort häufiger vor als in vollständig naturbelassenen Lebensräumen. Dies fanden Wissenschaftler unter der Leitung des Leibniz-Instituts für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW) in einer Studie heraus. Doch mit ihrer Fähigkeit, sich auch in gestörten Lebensräumen gut zurechtzufinden, ist die häufigste Katzenart Asiens eine Ausnahme unter den Raubtieren des tropischen Regenwaldes.

Virus-host co-evolution: How specialised should a strain of a multi-host virus be?
A new study of canine distemper virus (CDV) provides the first evidence that the virus occurs as specialist strains that emerge in response to strong evolutionary selection in the large global domestic dog population, and as generalist strains adapted to infect a broad range of carnivore species that occur as smaller host populations. The study not only unravelled one key mechanism which led to the evolution of specialist and generalist strains, it also showed that specialising on one host species comes at the cost of a reduced ability to infect other host species.
Read more … Virus-host co-evolution: How specialised should a strain of a multi-host virus be?
IZW in the media
07.05.2022 | The Atlantic
Where and when did humans domesticate horses?
26.04.2022 | nature
COVID is spreading in deer. What does that mean for the pandemic?
26.04.2022 | The East African
How spotted hyenas adjust foraging behavior to survive climate change
18.04.2022 | RTL News
Windkraft oder Artenschutz: Diese Maßnahmen plant die Bundesregierung
16.04.2022 | taz
Landflucht der Feldhasen
08.04.2022 | Vier Pfoten
Sieben Braunbären erfolgreich narkotisiert und behandelt
04.06.2021 | BBC News
How to protect birds and bats from wind turbines
02.06.2021 | Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Kontaktbörse am Katzenbaum - Die sozialen Netzwerke der Geparden
01.06.2021 | ZEIT Leo
Wer ist hier der Boss - Zwei Gepardenbrüder in Namibia
27.05.2021 | Pferde.de
Ob blond, ob braun – die Geschichte der Fellfarben beim Pferd
26.05.2021 | ServusTV
Cher und der Elefant
25.05.2021 | Der Tagesspiegel
In Brandenburg werden immer mehr Wölfe getötet
19.05.2021 | BILD
Eltern von Eisbärin Hertha sind Geschwister - Wie gefährlich ist Inzucht bei Tieren?
13.05.2021 | Berliner Zeitung
Wenn einer Braunbärin der Zahn gezogen wird
12.05.2021 | FOCUS
Tote Wölfin «Juli» wird untersucht
10.05.2021 | Bild der Wissenschaft
Magnetsinn im Fledermaus-Auge
07.05.2021 | Nature World News
Animals Can Survive Illnesses Caused by Climate Change Better than Humans?
07.05.2021 | APA Austria
Studie: Ein Drittel der Schüler weiß nicht was Zoonosen sind
06.05.2021 | Econoticias
Los murciélagos tienen un sexto sentido en las córneas
03.05.2021 | Der Tagesspiegel
Kinderwünsche und Umsiedelungen für Nashörner - Alternativen zum Aussterben
02.05.2021 | Spektrum der Wissenschaft
Artenschutz: Hunde haben die Nase vorn
30.04.2021 | Riffreporter
Schicksalsjahr für die Natur: Verhandlungen zu globalem Abkommen stecken fest
29.04.2021 | Der Tagesspiegel
Wie Pferde und Esel Wüsten beleben
28.04.2021 | FOCUS
Weiterer Schritt zur Rettung der Art
26.04.2021 | Bochumer Zeitung
Retroviren schreiben das Koala-Genom um und verursachen Krebs
19.04.2021 | ARD tagesschau24
WISSENSCHECK: Tierparks im Wandel
17.04.2021 | Spektrum der Wissenschaft
Artenschutz in Afrika - Stammtisch der Geparden
14.04.2021 | Greenpeace-Magazin
Dufte Katzenbars: Die Entdeckung von „Kommunikationshotspots“ könnte den Schutz der bedrohten Geparde voranbringen
07.04.2021 | Windkraft-Journal
Artenschutz an Windanlagen: Wie das akustische Monitoring zum Schutz der Biodiversität verbessert werden kann (und sollte)
05.04.2021 | ZDF Terra X
Die Sprache der Tiere
02.04.2021 | Berliner Zeitung
Berliner Forscher bitten zu Ostern zur Hasenjagd
02.04.2021 | Badische Zeitung
Dating in Hyänen-Kreisen: Was für ein Stress
31.03.2021 | Berlin.de
Hase oder doch Kaninchen? Berliner zum Zählen aufgerufen
31.03.2021 | Süddeutsche Zeitung
Hase oder doch Kaninchen? Berliner zum Zählen aufgerufen
30.03.2021 | NABU Berlin
Auch der Osterhase ist ein (Ost-)Berliner - Berliner*innen sollen Feldhasen-Sichtungen in der Stadt melden
30.03.2021 | Horizon Magazine
The curious case of northeast Brazil’s cross-breeding sea turtles
25.03.2021 | Deutschlandfunk Kultur
Genomatlas für Artenschutz: Gen-Entschlüsselung könnte Artenvielfalt bewahren
25.03.2021 | The Guardian
Researchers find the secret of the bunny hop: it's all in the genes
25.03.2021 | MDR
Chemie in Greifvögeln: Pflanzenschutzmittel, Nagetiergift, Ibuprofen und Antibiotika
25.03.2021 | Die Linde
Schlagrisiko von Fledermäusen an Windkraftanlagen verringern
25.03.2021 | FOCUS
Rattengift bedroht Greifvögel
23.03.2021 | Berliner Zeitung
Chemikalien vergiften Greifvögel in Deutschland – und Habichte in Berlin
12.03.2021 | Terra Mater Factual Studios
How to Save a Species When There Are Only Two Females Left