Press releases

Bats in tropical regions are fertilizing trees with their excretions. An international team of scientists recently discovered that seeds of a tropical tree species, which regularly hosts bats in large hollows, contain nutrients from bat excreta. The study has now been published in the scientific journal “Biotropica”.

With their specialized diet of almost exclusively Eucalyptus leaves, do koalas require specialist microbes to help them digest their food? Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) investigated the composition of bacterial communities in different digestion-associated organs but found no unusual or special microbial communities when they compared these with those of other mammals. The study also demonstrates that non-invasive samples such as faecal samples commonly used to assess the composition of microbial communities may not provide an accurate account of the host gut microbiome. The study has just been published in the scientific journal “Scientific Reports”.

The Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin, Germany, today inaugurates the world’s most advanced state-of-the art computer tomograph currently available in veterinary research. The new CT enables fascinating virtual insights into wildlife. It will be possible to display organ movements at a new level of spatial and temporal resolution, e.g. live heart beats.

The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) is cofounder of the Leibniz research alliance ‘INFECTIONS´21 – Transmission Control of Infections in the 21st Century’. The new Leibniz alliance investigates the control, prevention and combat of infectious diseases. Fourteen Leibniz institutions and three external partners are participating in this interdisciplinary project. The association is funded with a total volume of 600.000 EUR for four years.

Scientists discovered a new retrovirus “fossil” found in the common vampire bat which is homologous to retroviruses in rodents and primates. The results suggest the recent circulation of an active infectious retrovirus and cross-species transmission. The study has been published in the scientific journal “Journal of Virology”.

Numerous bats are killed by German wind turbines. The number of such turbines, already very high, is planned to be increased further. More than two-thirds of bats being killed by wind turbines on German ground are migrants on their way between summer and winter habitats. Due to its geographical location in Europe, Germany has consequently a central responsibility for the conservation of migratory bats.

An international team of researchers led by scientists at the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) genetically describe the first kobuviruses to be reported from Africa. The results show that the viruses are less host-specific than previously assumed. The study has been published in the scientific journal “Virology”.

Scientists from Berlin successfully produced embryos from African lions via assisted reproduction. What is genuinely new is the fact that they used immature eggs that were retrieved from African lionesses. After artificial maturation these eggs were injected with lions’ sperm, previously stored in a cryobank. To surprise of the scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) the development of the lion embryos was retarded in comparison to similar embryos from domestic cats.

Quantifying the by-products of hormone degradation in urine and faeces is crucial for studies in wildlife conservation. Scientists from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) established a new method that allows comparison of such measurements over long periods of time and between different laboratories. The results of this study have been published in the scientific journal “Methods in Ecology and Evolution”.