Section

Human cultural diversity is enormous. But animals, and especially our closest relatives, the great apes, also show great diversity across populations, e.g., in social structure, demography, or behavior. Numerous behaviors of our closest relatives, such as tool use, clearly exhibit cultural characteristics. The Pan African Programme developed a new approach to researching our closest relatives in order to better investigate the emergence of intraspecies diversity in chimpanzees. To this end, extensive standardized data was collected over a period of one year at several dozen locations in the African distribution area of chimpanzees, including on ecology and environment (using plots and transects, as well as sampling), social and demographic structure (using camera traps), genetics, microbiomes, physiology (non-invasively collected sample material), and behavior (using camera traps). Based on the existing physical and digital collection, a wide variety of analyses are being carried out on the documentation and evolutionary development of population diversity. The Pan African Programme also gave rise to the Zambaclound platform (www.zambacloud.com) for AI-based classification of species from camera trap videos, and the citizen science platform Chimp&See (www.chimpandsee.org) for the classification and annotation of camera trap videos with the support of citizen scientists. The concept of the Pan African Programme was further developed for research into the intraspecific diversity of bonobos (https://bondiv.org/).

The IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. database (https://www.iucngreatapes.org/apes-database) collects and stores monitoring data on great apes and gibbons. To this end, data collected in numerous independent field studies are compiled and standardized, making them available for a wide variety of analyses, e.g., for modeling the spatial and temporal distribution of different taxa across large scales, for investigating threat factors, or for assessing the effectiveness of conservation measures. The long-term goal is to link the IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. database to one or more institutions in the distribution area of the great apes and gibbons.

This interdisciplinary project brings together approaches from species monitoring, veterinary medicine, ecology, anthropology, and behavioral economics to investigate how potentially risky behavior can be changed through the consumption of wild meat (e.g., transmission of zoonotic pathogens). The project is being carried out with various project partners (University of Daloa and CSRS, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Ecole Inter Etats des Sciences et Médecine Vétérinaires de Dakar, Senegal, University of Marburg, Helmholtz Institute for One Health, Greifswald) in Ivory Coast and Liberia in West Africa.

In September 2022, the project “RELynx Saxony” started. The Senckenberg Museum for Natural History Görlitz is involved in the coordination of the project as well as the Chair of Forest Zoology of the TU Dresden in the monitoring. The aim is to translocate up to 20 Eurasian lynx of the subspecies Carpathian lynx (Lynx lynx carpathicus) into the forests of Saxony. The animals are wild-caught from Switzerland, Slovakia and Romania, as well as offspring from enclosures away from humans. Orphans that have lost their parents can also be released into the wild. The first lynx will be released in southwest Saxony in the Ore Mountains. Depending on the dispersal behavior of these animals, lynxes may then also be released in the area of Saxon Switzerland. The period for the releases extends from spring 2024 to 2027. The client of the project is the Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG). https://www.luchs.sachsen.de/    Contact us: relynx.sachsen@senckenberg.de

Senckenberg leads the “Federal documentation and advisory office on the wolf” (”Dokumentations- und Beratungsstelle des Bundes zum Thema Wolf“ DBBW). The DBBW brings the most accurate information on wolf distribution, data and wolf-related events to the public and advice to the authorities.https://www.dbb-wolf.de/

With ecosystems ranging from taiga to desert, Mongolia has a unique natural environment. Despite the vast expanse of the country, serious changes caused by humans, together with natural influences, leave unmistakable traces in the landscape and the flora and fauna of Mongolia. This challenges research and monitoring to protect and utilise Mongolia’s biodiversity. Part of this concerns the diversity of Mongolia’s mammals, which has been jointly explored by Mongolian and German scientists for over 60 years.

Since 2007 there has been a agreement of cooperation between the Faculty of Biology of the National University of Mongolia and the the Museum of Natural History Goerlitz, including research, teaching and collection activities. Based on this agreement, the mammal collection in Görlitz was enriched by over two thousand specimens from Mongolia, including such valuable collections as the world’s most extensive series of skulls of the Przewalski’s horse and the Asiatic wild ass. This collection is regarded as a joint research resource for both countries and is used by Mongolian and German scientists as well as international guest researchers.

In 2016, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Mongolia and the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz on the “Restoration of the historical bird collection of the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum in Ulaanbaatar” and the training of Mongolian specialists in Ulaanbaatar.

An annual exchange of visiting scientists takes place between the National University of Mongolia and Senckenberg Görlitz. The scientific cooperation has resulted in bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral theses by Mongolian and German candidates on the mammals of Mongolia. These range from the population ecology and genetics of the Asiatic wild ass and the Przewalski’s horse to the feeding ecology of the wolf and the taxonomy, biology and ecology of the house mouse in Mongolia.

Since 2006, joint summer schools with Mongolian students have been held in Mongolia. These small expeditions provided insights into topics such as the scientific principles of sample collecting, recording methods and the preparation of small mammals.

The historical vertebrate collection comes mainly from the 19th century. The majority of the collection consists of habitus preparations of birds from all continents. Numerous species are represented in a few copies each. The mammalian collection has essentially only been built up since 1980.

Today the scientific requirements and our own research determine the profile of the collection.

The concept of the collection includes the securing and preservation of vertebrates found dead with long-term preservation obligations. However, it also takes into account special collections of materials according to the requirements of current research projects.

Particularly noteworthy are extensive series of skulls and skeletons of native carnivores and small mammals, as well as population series of bird skeletons.

• Bessone, M., Kühl, H. S., Herbinger, I. & et al. (2025): Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Density and Distribution in Central Africa’s Largest Rainforest Reserve: Long-term Survey Data Show Pitfalls in Methodological Approaches and Call for. – International Journal of Primatology, 46/2: 436—474.
• Brookes, O., Kukushkin, M., Mirmehdi, M., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): The PanAf-FGBG Dataset: Understanding the Impact of Backgrounds in Wildlife Behaviour Recognition. – arXiv preprint arXiv: 2502.21201.
• Chan, A. H. H., Brookes, O., Waldmann, U., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): Towards Application-Specific Evaluation of Vision Models: Case Studies in Ecology and Biology. – arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.02825.
• Heinicke, S., Zantout, K., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): Projected exposure of terrestrial vertebrates to different extreme climate events reveals high vulnerability to multiple hazards. – Copernicus Meetings, EGU25—5866.
• Kazaba, P. K., Kulik, L., Choumbou, G. B. B., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): Chimpanzee Abundance as an Indicator of Mammalian Biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Kazaba, P. K., Kulik, L., Choumbou, G. B. B., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Indicate Mammalian Abundance Across Broad Spatial Scales. – Ecology and Evolution, 15/3: e71000.
• Leendertz, F., Riutord-Fe, C., Schlotterbeck, J., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): Fire-footed rope squirrels (Funisciurus pyrropus) are a reservoir host of monkeypox virus (Orthopoxvirus monkeypox).
• Lwin, Y., H., Quan, R.-C., Hartig, F., Kühl, H. S. & M. Heurich (2025): Human and apex predators shape lower trophic levels through top-down control. – Biological Conservation, 310: 111352.
• Ostridge, H. J., Fontsere, C., Lizano, E., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): Local genetic adaptation to habitat in wild chimpanzees. – Science, 387/6730: eadn7954.
• Sop, T., Cheyne, S. M., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2025): Annexe sur l’abondance. Arcus Foundation, 5: 1—48.
• Tuyisingize, D., Kulik, L., Assou, D., … & H. S Kühl (2025): Complex Variation in Afrotropical Mammal Communities With Human Impact. – Ecology and Evolution, 15/5: e71331.
• Vale, P. D., Fotsing, E. D. B., Mucyo, S. J. P., … & H. S. Kühl (2025): Retraction Note: Great ape abundance and per capita carbon storage in their habitats. – BMC Ecology and Evolution, 25: 29.

• Arandjelovic, M., Stephens, C. R., Dieguez, P., …, & H. S. Kühl (2024): Highly precise community science annotations of video camera‐trapped fauna in challenging environments (advance online). – Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.
• Barratt, C. D., Onstein, R. E., Pinsky, M. L., Steinfartz, S., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Life on the edge: A new toolbox for population‐level climate change vulnerability assessments. – Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
• Bessone, M., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Density and Distribution in Central Africa’s Largest Rainforest Reserve: Long-term Survey Data Show Pitfalls in Methodological Approaches and Call for … – International Journal of Primatology, 1—39.
• Brookes, O., Mirmehdi, M., Stephens, C., …, Kühl, H. S. & T. Burghardt (2024): PanAf20K: a large video dataset for wild ape detection and behaviour recognition. – International Journal of Computer Vision: 1—17.
• Crockford, G., Arandjelovic, M., Deschner, T., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Christophe Boesch (1951—2024): Primatology Pioneer with a Long-Term Vision for Research and Conservation. – International Journal of Primatology: 1—5.
• Henrich, M., Burgueño, M., Hoyer, J., …, Kühl, H. S. & M. Heurich (2024): A semi‐automated camera trap distance sampling approach for population density estimation. – Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 10/2: 156—171.
• Junker, J., Quoss, L., Valdez, J., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Threat of mining to African great apes. – Science advances, 10/14: eadl0335.
• Kiribou, R., Tehoda, P., Chukwu, O., Bempah, G., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Exposure of African ape sites to climate change impacts. – PLOS Climate, 3/2: e0000345.
• Lyet, A., Waller, S., Chambert, T., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Estimating animal density using the Space‐to‐Event model and bootstrap resampling with motion‐triggered camera‐trap data. – Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 10/2: 141155.
• Ostridge, H. J., Fontsere, C., Lizano, E., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Local genetic adaptation to habitat in wild chimpanzees – bioRxiv.
• Vale, P. D., Fotsing, E. D. B., Mucyo, S. J., …, & H. S. Kühl (2024): Great ape abundance and per capita carbon storage in their habitats. – BMC Ecology and Evolution, 24/1: 137.
• Wang, X., Bocksberger, G., Arandjelovic, M., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2024): Strontium isoscape of sub-Saharan Africa allows tracing origins of victims of the transatlantic slave trade. – Nature Communications, 15/1: 10891.

• Barratt, C., Gratton, P., Marta, S., … & H. S. Kühl (2023): Chimpanzee behavioural diversity is spatially structured and negatively associated with genetic variation. – https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3358458/v1.
• Barratt, C. D., Onstein, R. E., Pinsky, M. L., Steinfartz, S., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Life on the edge: a new toolbox for population-level climate change vulnerability assessments. – bioRxiv: 2023.06. 23.543988.
• Bessone, M., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Assessing the effects of survey-inherent disturbance on primate detectability: Recommendations for line transect distance sampling. – Primates, 64: 107—121.
• Brookes, O., Mirmehdi, M., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Triple-stream Deep Metric Learning of Great Ape Behavioural Actions. – arXiv preprint arXiv: 2301.02642.
• Danabalan, R., Merkel, K., Schnell, I. B., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Mammal mitogenomics from invertebrate‐derived DNA. – Environmental DNA, 5/5: 1004—1015.
• Henrich, M., Burgueño, M., Hoyer, J., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): A semi‐automated camera trap distance sampling approach for population density estimation. – Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.
• Junker, J., Quoss, L., Valdez, J., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Threat of mining to African great apes. – bioRxiv: 2023.10. 17.562472. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
• Klink, J.C., Rieger, A., Ansorge, H. & et al. (2023): Malicious mites – Sarcoptes scabiei in raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. – Pathogens 2023, 12, 1379. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12121379.
• Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Estimating effective survey duration in camera trap distance sampling surveys. – Ecology and Evolution, 13, e10599.
• Lyet, A., Waller, S., Chambert, T., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Estimating animal density using the Space‐to‐Event model and bootstrap resampling with motion‐triggered camera‐trap data. – Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.
• Meijaard, E., Sheil, D., Sherman, J., …, Kühl, H. S., & et al. (2023): Restoring the orangutan in a Whole-or Half-Earth context – Oryx 57/5: 566—577.
• Suessle, V., Arandjelovic, M., Kalan, A. K., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2023): Automatic Individual Identification of Patterned Solitary Species Based on Unlabeled Video Data. – arXiv preprint arXiv: 2304.09657.

• Alemany, C. F., Kuhlwilm, M., Suárez, C. M., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Population dynamics and genetic connectivity in recent chimpanzee history. – Cell Genomics, 2022, vol. 2, núm. 6, p. 100133.
• Bachmann, M. E., Kulik, L., Gatiso, T., …, Wesche, K. & H. S. Kühl (2022): Analysis of differences and commonalities in wildlife hunting across the Africa-Europe South-North gradient. – PLoS biology 20: e3001707.
• Bessone, M., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Assessing the effects of survey-inherent disturbance on primate detectability: Recommendations for line transect distance sampling. – Primates: 1—15.
• Gatiso, T. T., Kulik, L., Bachmann, M., …, Wesche, K., Winter, M. & H. S. Kühl (2022): Effectiveness of protected areas influenced by socio-economic context. – Nature Sustainability 5: 861—868.
• Gatiso, T. T., Kulik, L., Bachmann, M., …, Wesche, K., … & H. S. Kühl (2022): Sustainable protected areas: Synergies between biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic development. – People and Nature.
• Haucke, T., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Overcoming the distance estimation bottleneck in estimating animal abundance with camera traps. – Ecological Informatics 68: 101536.
• Haucke, T., Kühl, H. S. & V. Steinhage (2022): SOCRATES: A Stereo Camera Trap for Monitoring of Biodiversity. – arXiv preprint arXiv: 2209.09070.
• Haucke, T., Kühl, H. S. & V. Steinhage (2022): SOCRATES: Introducing Depth in Visual Wildlife Monitoring Using Stereo Vision. – Sensors 22: 9082.
• Heddergott, M., Müller, F., Steinbach, P., Jeschke, D., …, Ansorge, H. & N. Osten-Sacken (2022): First detection and low prevalence of Pearsonema spp. in wild raccoons (Procyon lotor) from Central Europa. – International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 19: 243—247.
• Henrich, M., Hartig, F., Dormann, C. F., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Deer Behavior Affects Density Estimates with Camera Traps, but Is Outweighed by Spatial Variability. – Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
• Leyhausen, J., Cocchiararo, B., Nowak, C., Ansorge, H., & et al. (2022): Genotyping-by-Sequencing based SNP discovery in a non-model rodent, the endangered hazel dormouse. – Conservation Genetics Resources 14: 195–201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-022-01253-8.
• Meijaard, E, Sheil, D., Sherman, J., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Restoring the orangutan in a Whole-or Half-Earth context. – Oryx: 1—12.
• Perino, A., Pereira, H. M., Felipe-Lucia, M., Kim, H., Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Biodiversity post-2020: Closing the gap between global targets and national-level implementation. – Conservation Letters 15: e12848.
• Plumptre, A. J., Baisero, D., Benítez-López, A., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Response: Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities? – Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 5.
• Unterköfler, M.S., Barogh, B.S., Spergser, J., …, Ansorge, H. & et al. (2022): Molecular analysis of blood-associated pathogens in European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris) from Germany. – International Journal of Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 19: 128—137.
• Wägele, J. W., Bodesheim, P., Bourlat, S. J., …, Kühl, H. S. & et al. (2022): Towards a multisensor station for automated biodiversity monitoring. – Basic and Applied Ecology 59: 105—138.
• Zuleger, A. M., Holland, R. & H. S. Kühl (2022): Deriving observation distances for camera trap distance sampling. – African Journal of Ecology 60: 423—432.

• Apenborn, R., Lammers, K., Harr, B., … & H. Ansorge (2021): The house mouse Mus musculus in Mongolia – taxonomy, status and ecology of a neglected species. – Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia 14: 39—57.
• Kozyra, K., Zając T., Ansorge, H. & et al. (2021): Late Pleistocene expansion of small murid rodents across the Palearctic in relation to the past environmental changes? – Genes 2021, 12, 642. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12050642.
• Lippitsch, P., Teubner, J., Teubner, J. & H. Ansorge (2021): Nahrungsanalysen von Wölfen (Canis lupus) im Land Brandenburg anhand von Losungsauswertungen. – Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege in Brandenburg 30: 16—24.
• Reinhardt, I., Ansorge, H., …, Lippitsch, P., … & M. Ritz (2021): Erkenntnisse zur Wiederausbreitung des Wolfs in Deutschland. –  Natur und Landschaft 96: 19—26.
• Tiralla, N., Holzapfel, M. & H. Ansorge (2021): Feeding ecology of the wolf (Canis lupus) in a near-natural ecosystem in Mongolia. – Mammalian Biology 101: 83—89.

• Brugger, M., Jährig, M., Peper, P., … & H. Ansorge (2020): Interaction between Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) and Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) – evidence for mutual avoidance in anthropogenic habitats in eastern Germany. – IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin 37, 2: 98—119.
• Heddergott, M., Steinbach, P., Schwarz, S., …, Jeschke, D., Striese, M., …, Ansorge, H. & et al. (2020): Geographic distribution of the raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis in Germany and Luxembourg. – Journal Emerging Infectious Diseases 26:821—823.
• Hodžić, A., Georges, I., Postl, M., …, Jeschke, D., Szentiks, C.A., Ansorge, H. & M. Heddergott (2020): Molecular survey of tick-borne pathogens reveals a high prevalence and low genetic variability of Hepatozoon canis in free-ranging grey wolves (Canis lupus) in Germany. – Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases 11: 1—5.
• Striese, D., Kutzscher, C., Jeschke, D. & H. Ansorge (2020): Flöhe von Waschbären Procyon lotor in Sachsen (Deutschland). – Säugetierkundliche Informationen 11: 291—294.
• Thier, N., Ansorge, H. & C. Stefen (2020): Assessing geographic differences in skulls of Neomys fodiens and Neomys anomalus using linear measurements, geometric morphometrics and non-metric epigenetics. – Mammal Research 65: 19—32.
• Usukhjargal, D., Schafberg, R., Sablin, M. V., Gaanbaatar, O. & H. Ansorge (2020): Epigenetic variability of the highly endangered Przewalski’s horse in temporal and geographical populations. – Mongolian Journal of Biological Sciences 18: 31—40.