Fragmentation of the environment affects the dispersal of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). This also occurs in the Harz region, in central Germany, where in 2000 the Luchsprojekt Harz started reintroducing the Eurasian lynx. This constantly growing population causes lynx dispersal including high traffic volume …

In many countries the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is extinct or numbers are declining; resulting in a classification as “near threatened” on the IUCN’s Red List. In one-third of the European countries, however, conservation efforts, enabled the return of the species or the improvement of weakened populations. …

Objectives Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, colonize the respiratory tract of cyctic fibrosis patients. These strains are phenotypically difficult to discriminate, but differ greatly in their pathogenic potential and species identification is relevant. Here, three …

In 2005, a new sibling species of Aspergillus fumigatus was discovered: Aspergillus lentulus. Both species can cause invasive fungal disease in immune-compromised patients. The species are morphologically very similar. Current techniques for identification are PCR-based or morphology-based. These techniques …

Conventional dairy husbandry systems acknowledge animal welfare guided by Brambel’s five freedoms. The concept of natural, or normal behaviour would in contrast to Brambel’s convention, be based on stability through chance and offers a less anthropocentric and more naturalistic approach. The present …

Due to improved zoo practices, longevity in zoo animals has increased. In comparison to the wild, many species become much older in captivity. Senescence follows a different path in each species and is therefore hard to generalize towards other species. Insights into the process of senescence in animals …

Every year more than 140 million visitors visit EAZA member zoos. To promote conservation to this enormous public of zoo visitors, EAZA launches annual conservation campaigns. Since the start of EAZA’s first campaign in 2000 they have been running 10 campaigns with a variety of issues that affect certain …

To be able to keep sustainable populations which are independent from wild populations zoos need to cooperate in collection planning. To aid this cooperation the Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGS) of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) design Regional Collection Plans (RCPs). These RCPs contain …

The German Brown shrimp fishery occurs mainly in the shallow Wadden Sea where large concentrations of Brown shrimp (Crangon crangon) can be found. The Wadden Sea is an ecologically important nursery area for several flat fish and round fish species. In the European Union the Brown shrimp fishery is one …

The Convention on Biodiversity has developed the concept of ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘natural resources’ in order to describe ways in which humans benefit from healthy ecosystems. Biodiversity, conceived through the economic approach, was recognized to be of great social and economic value to both present …