Conservation resources

Research

RZSS is a world leader in conservation science, ranking in the top five of over 400 European Association of Zoo and Aquaria (EAZA) institutions for our volume of published research (Hvilsom et al. 2020). Our research informs our evidence-based conservation efforts and addresses gaps in knowledge across conservation and veterinary science. You can find our current list of publications and reports below.

Research Ethos

We believe in making research accessible to the global community of scientists, conservation practitioners and policy makers. We strive to share our data in a timely manner to support conservation decision-making on the ground and prioritise making our research open access wherever possible. We unashamedly prioritise real-world impact over impact factor and believe in using science and conservation planning to support sound decision-making in species recovery and veterinary medicine.

Genetic data sharing

As the only zoo in the UK with a conservation genetics laboratory onsite, RZSS WildGenes, we have a responsibility to support global data sharing. We deposit all published genetic and genomic data on data sharing platforms such as ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ , encouraging our partners to do the same. We also aim to share data in real time, especially when conservation decisions need to be made quickly.

Nagoya Protocol

RZSS adheres to the Nagoya Protocol to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources. Our work never involves the commercialisation of genetic resources for agricultural, medical or other reasons, and we recognise that we have a duty to ensure that the benefit of any work we do is fully realised within the country of origin.

CITES Scientific institution

The UK is a signatory of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which aims to regulate transboundary movement of biological products so that trade does not threaten the survival of any species. We are a registered CITES scientific institution specialising in species conservation research.

Biobanking

The RZSS WildGenes team also manage an onsite biobank at Edinburgh Zoo to maximise the value of biological samples to conservation research and management objectives. We are the UK’s hub for the EAZA Biobank and a partner on the CryoArks biobanking initiative. Zoological biobanking has a vital role to play in supporting current conservation aims and the long-term preservation of biodiversity provides a secure resource for the needs of the future, We work with a network of partners to promote the value of biobanking to the public and zoo communities. You can find out more about our biobank here.

Authorship standards

RZSS follows ICMJ standard on defining the role of Authors and Contributors in scientific publications

Partnerships

RZSS believes that it is rarely possible for an individual or even a single organisation to save a species and that conservation and research projects that deliver results are underpinned by fair and transparent partnership agreements. We receive a large number of partnership requests in relation to research impact. Our view is that, all too often, academic grants allocate far too little resource to partnerships within the NGO sector. Our involvement in research partnerships is guided by an assessment of whether the work will have real world impact and delivering for conservation on the ground.

Animal ethics

Our Animal Welfare and Ethics Group (AWEG) independently reviews welfare and ethics within the collections at Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park. The AWEG provides advice on animal welfare and ensures best practise is applied within our zoo collections and conservation research projects.

Conservation Advisory Group (CAG)

RZSS has an advisory group of internal and external conservation experts that advise and review key conservation strategies of the organisation.

Student projects

We occasionally support student research projects, however as an NGO with limited resources we have limited capacity. To express your interest please contact us here: conservation@rzss.org.uk.

Publications

2024

Alberici, V., Desbiez, A.L.J., Pasqualotto, N. and Chiarello, A.G., 2024. Unravelling unique
responses of mammal abundance to road proximity in agricultural landscapes. Animal
Conservation, 27(5), pp.611-625

Al-Ghafri, M.K., White, P.J., Briers, R.A., Ball, A., Senn, H., Al-Jahdhami, M.H., Al-Amri, H.,
Tiwari, B.B., Al-Harsusi, S.N., Al-Harsusi, A.G. and Al-Rawahi, Q., 2024. Implications of newly
developed SNPs for conservation programmes for the threatened Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana)
in Oman. Conservation Genetics Resources, pp.1-13

Alves, M.H., Massocato, G.F., Barreto, L.M., Kluyber, D. and Desbiez, A.L., 2024. Common
vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) feeding on the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
and giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus): possible epidemiological implications. Notas sobre
Mamíferos Sudamericanos, 6(1)

Alves, M.H., Soresini, G.C., Oliveira, J.Q., Tabosa, M.S., de Barros, R.F., Mesquita, J.T. and
Desbiez, A.L., 2024. Cardiac evaluation in free-ranging giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga
tridactyla) in the Brazilian Cerrado. Emerging Animal Species, 10

Ball, A., Robertson, C., Doubleday, M., of Life, W.S.I.T. and Darwin Tree of Life Consortium,
2024. The genome sequence of the Western Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus Linnaeus,
1758. Wellcome Open Research, 9, p.198

Catapani, M.L., Aguirra, I.R., Araujo, F.A.S., Moss, A., Massocato, G., Oliveira, B. and Desbiez,
A.L.J., 2024. Manejo do fogo na pecuária pantaneira: percepções e oportunidades para sua
gestão sustentável no bioma. Biodiversidade Brasileira, 14(4)

Chhen, A., Bertassoni, A., Desbiez, A.L. and Noonan, M.J., 2024. The socio‐spatial ecology of
giant anteaters in the Brazilian Cerrado. Journal of Zoology, 324(1), pp.50-62

Cools, T., Wilson, K.S., Li, D., Vancsok, C., Mulot, B., Leclerc, A., Kok, J., Haapakoski, M.,
Bertelsen, M.F., Ochs, A. and Girling, S.J., Zhou Y., Li R., Vanhaecke, L. and Wauters J., 2024.
Development and validation of a versatile non-invasive urinary steroidomics method for wildlife
biomonitoring. Talanta, 273

Cole, G., Lavender, E., Naylor, A., Girling, S., Aleynik, D., Oppel, S., Dodd, J. and Thorburn, J.,
2024. Physiological responses to capture, handling and tagging in the critically endangered
flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius). Conservation physiology, 12(1)

Desbiez, A.L.J., Massocato, G.F., Kluyber, D., N. Attias. (in press). New Data on the reproductive
lifespan of giant armadillos (Priodontes maximus) in the wild. Oecologia Australis

El Bizri, H.R., Oliveira, M.A., Rampini, A.P., Knoop, S., Fa, J.E., Coad, L., Morcatty, T.Q.,
Massocato, G.F., Desbiez, A.L., Campos‐Silva, J.V. and La Laina, D.Z., 2024. Exposing illegal
hunting and wildlife depletion in the world's largest tropical country through social media
data. Conservation biology, 38(5)

Fragoso, C.E., Nascimento, T.E. and Desbiez, A.L., 2024. Underground jaguars: first record of a
jaguar (Panthera onca) using a giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) burrow. Notas sobre
Mamíferos Sudamericanos, 6(1)

Fedorca, A., Mergeay, J., Akinyele, A.O., Albayrak, T., Biebach, I., Brambilla, A., Burger, P.A.,
Buzan, E., Curik, I., Gargiulo, R., Godoy, J.A., Santiago C. González-Martínez, S.C., Grossen,
C., Heuertz, M., Hoban, S., Howard-McCombe, J., Kachamakova, M., Klinga, P., Köppä,
V., Neugebauer, E., Paz-Vinas, I., Pearman, P.B., Pérez-Sorribes, L., Rinkevich, B., Russo,
I.R.M., Theraroz, A., Thomas, N.E., Westergren, M., Winter, S., Laikre, L. and Kopatz, A., 2024.
Dealing with the complexity of effective population size in conservation practice. Evolutionary
Applications

Ferreira, B., Girling, S., Guthrie, A., Milnes, E., Stidworthy, M.F. and Bacon, A., 2024. Mortality
and morbidity review in the UK ex situ population of European wildcats (Felis silvestris) between
2000-2021. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 55(2):369-380

Gandia, K., Elliot, J., Girling, S., Kessler, S.E., Buchanan-Smith, H.M., 2024. The Royal Zoological
Society of Scotland’s approach to assessing and promoting animal welfare in collaboration
with Universities. Animals 14(15)

Kitchener, A.C., Abramov, A.V., Veron, G., Banfield, L., Senn, H., Yamaguchi, N. and
Puzachenko, A.Y., 2024. Geographical Variation in the Sand Cat, Felis margarita (Carnivora:
Felidae). Diversity, 16(10), p.635

Lakshminarayana, S.B., Guthrie, A., Blake, D.P., Harley, J., MacKintosh, A., Lait, P.J.P., Bacon,
A. and Milnes, E.L. 2024 Detection of Babesia cf. odocoilei, Babesia capreoli, and Anaplasma
phagocytophilum in cervids of the Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom. Journal of Zoo and
Wildlife Medicine 55(3):750-756

Langhammer, P.F., Bull, J.W., Bicknell, J.E., Oakley, J.L., Brown, M.H., Bruford, M.W., Butchart,
S.H., Carr, J.A., Church, D., Cooney, R., Cutajar, S., Foden, W., Foster, M.N., Gascon, C.,
Geldman, J., Genovesi, P., Hoffman, M., Hoawrd-McCombe, J., Lewis, T., MacFarlane, N.B.W.,
Melvin, Z.E., Stoltz Merizalde, R., Morehouse, M.G., Pagad, S., Polidoro, B., Sechrest, W.,
Segelbacher, G., Smith, K.G., Steadman, J., Strongin, K., Williams, J., Woodley, S. and Brooks,
T.M., 2024. The positive impact of conservation action. Science, 384(6694), pp.453-458

Lawson, D.J., Howard‐McCombe, J., Beaumont, M. and Senn, H., 2024. How admixed captive
breeding populations could be rescued using local ancestry information. Molecular Ecology

Manu, R., Veldkamp, E., Eryenyu, D., Corre, M.D. and van Straaten, O., 2024. Nitrogen and
potassium limit fine root growth in a humid Afrotropical forest. Scientific Reports, 14(1)

Martins, N.B., de Almeida, J.C.N., Gonçalves, M.S., Gila, L.I., Yogui, D.R., Alves, M.H., Desbiez,
A.L., Brandão, P.E. and da Hora, A.S., 2024. Occurrence of Typical Domestic Animal Viruses in
Wild Carnivorans: An Emerging Threat to the Conservation of Endangered
Species. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

Ortego, J., Muñoz‐Fuentes, V., López‐Luque, R., Ball, A.D., Ghazali, M., Abed, S.A., Salim, M.A.
and Green, A.J., 2024. Demographic and conservation genomic assessment of the threatened
marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris). Evolutionary Applications, 17(5)

Ritchie-Parker, H., Keath, S., Thi, S., Hun, S., Hak, K., Phak, S., Chim, S., Mei, S., Thou, S., Phann, S.A., Khin, C., Song, I., Meas, S., Ball, A., 2024. Use of a portable DNA sequencer for invertebrate species identification in Cambodia, a pilot study. Cambodian Journal of Natural History, 2024(2), pp.86-90

Rodrigues, N.T., Saranholi, B.H., Inforzato, A.R., Silveira, L., Desbiez, A.L.J. and Galetti Jr, P.M., 2024. Reduced gene flow and bottleneck in the threatened giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus): implications for its conservation. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 47(1)

Rodrigues, N.T., Massocato, G.F., Kluyber, D., Gestich, C.C., Saranholi, B.H., Galetti Jr, P.M. and Desbiez, A.L., 2024. Genetic analysis brings evidence of the sexual selection hypothesis for an infanticide event in giant armadillos (Priodontes maximus). Mammalia, 88(6), pp.596-600

Sada, J.M., Kluyber, D., Lee, D.A.B., Calchi, A.C., Alves, M.H., Machado, D.M.R., Werther, K., Machado, R.Z., Desbiez, A.L.J. and André, M.R., 2024. Molecular detection and characterization of Anaplasmataceae agents, Bartonella spp. and hemoplasmas in armadillos and anteaters from Brazil. Acta Tropica, 260, p.107477

Santana, T.G., Attias, N., Nascimento, N.T., Tibcherani, M., Rocha, M.M. and Desbiez, A.L.J., 2024. No evidence of sex-related differences in the diet of giant anteater in the Brazilian savanna. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-12

Teixeira Nascimento, N., Attias, N., Galvão Santana, T., Rocha, M., Tibcherani, M., Massocato, G., Kluyber, D. and Desbiez, A.L.J., 2024. Dietary habits of the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) in the Brazilian wetlands. Mammal Research, pp.1-12

Valle, D., Attias, N., Cullen, J.A., Hooten, M.B., Giroux, A., Oliveira-Santos, L.G.R., Desbiez, A.L. and Fletcher Jr, R.J., 2024. Bridging the gap between movement data and connectivity analysis using the Time-Explicit Habitat Selection (TEHS) model. Movement Ecology, 12(1), p.19