The Leibniz-IZW regular publishes press releases on key findings and insights from its research and on events, awards or personalia. The press releases are distributed directly to journalists on our press release distribution mailing list. Press releases are also disseminated through the distribution services Informationsdienst Wissenschaft, AlphaGalileo and EurekAlert. Are you interested in receiving our press releases directly via e-mail? In this case please send us an email to seet@izw-berlin.de.
Current press releases
Skull malformations in lions: keeping up the pressure
An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) Berlin examined the incidence of skull malformations in lions, a problem known to be responsible for causing neurological diseases and increased mortality. Their results suggest that the occurrence is a consequence of a combination of environmental and genetic factors. These findings were published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
Read more … Skull malformations in lions: keeping up the pressure
Indian rhinoceroses: Reproductive tract tumours reduce female infertility in early stages
Reproduction of the Indian rhinoceros faces greater difficulties than was previously recognised. Researchers from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin (IZW) together with American colleagues discovered that benign vaginal and cervical tumours cause infertility even in young females. This substantially affects breeding success in zoological gardens.
The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) was positively evaluated
The Senate of the Leibniz Association has published the results of the external scientific evaluation of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Berlin, Germany. It commends the institute for its excellent work and recommends that the government should fund the institute for another seven years.
Read more … The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) was positively evaluated
Light pollution impairs rainforest regeneration
Increasing light pollution in tropical habitats could be hampering regeneration of rainforests because of its impact on nocturnal seed-dispersers.
The Eurasian lynx as a key to the conservation and future viability of the endangered Iberian lynx
Understanding the mechanisms which control reproduction in lynx is essential for their continued viability and effective conservation.
Orang-utans on the ground
An international team of scientists studied how Bornean orang-utans cope with habitat modifications caused by logging in rainforests
Knut the polar bear’s medical legacy
Knut, the polar bear of the Berlin Zoological Garden, drowned in 2011 after suffering seizures and falling into the enclosure pond. Necropsy and histology at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research suggested the cause was encephalitis most likely due to viral infection. After one of the most intensive investigations in veterinary history for a single animal, utilising state-of-the-art pathological techniques and high-throughput next-generation molecular sequencing methods, the conclusions of the investigations are presented.
Eating poisonous plants saves life of gemsbok in Namibian desert
In drought periods browsing springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) feed on all plant material they can find, while grazing gemsbok (Oryx gazella gazella), in contrast, switch their diet to a high proportion of poisonous plants – and they survive. These findings were just published in the scientific online journal PLOS ONE.
Read more … Eating poisonous plants saves life of gemsbok in Namibian desert