Philip Schmitz, Stephanie Caspers & Klaudia Witte

The first free living herd of European bison was released into the wild at the 11th of April 2013. For the first time since several hundred years the animals are able to roam the low mountain range forests of Germany. This type of landscape is heavily influenced by human activities, and therefore is very unlike to that, in which the animals evolved and to which they are evolutionary adapted to. The roaming and exploration behaviour of this first herd was intensively investigated and recorded. Currently we are working on the publication of the results.

Philip Schmitz

The analysis of plant remains is applied since a long time in various areas. It is not only a standard method in ecology, but in archeology, paleontology or forensics. To identify small remains of grasses a microscopic analysis of stoma pattern on the undersite of the leaf, as they posess a specific distribution and number. If enough stomata are found on a suitable plant fragment, these can be counted and measured and allow a specific identication, or at least a minimisation of the species range.

Unfortunately, such identification keys based on histological characteristica are only available for restricted regiones. Often collections are arranged, but not published. We possess a reference collection of microscopic photographs of more than 40 grass species, typical for the low mountain range region of Germany, and derived an identification key. Currently we are working on the further expansion of our collection and an the validation of the measurements. We aim on contemporarily publishing this key to make it available as a research tool for further investigations.

Philip Schmitz

Food selection of herbivorous animals plays a crucial role in ecological investigations. For example, in game management it is important to know, which feed in which amounts shall be provided to the animals; conflict managers deal with the question, if and to what amount cultural plants may be damaged by the animals; ecological investigations aim on plant methabolites, the quality of plant organs or interactions between different organisms.

In detail, the food selection of wild animals is difficult to record. As a grass and roughage feeder the European bison has a lange food demand. Among herbaceous plants the animals are able to feed on and digest wooden plant parts, what accounts for an important nurtritional component.

We used a non invasive method of analysis and extracted plant fragments from several hundreds of faeces specimen; these were analysed in detail using microhistological methods. Further analyses are currently in progress. The evaluation and publication of the results will be held upon completion of the current survey.

Philip Schmitz & Stephanie Caspers

For each ethological record a detailed catalogue of behaviours (ethogram) is needed as a template for the researcher. It provides an unique description of the basic behaviours that shall be observed, thus enabling the comparability of different investigations. Each behaviour is described, defined, and, if possible, exemplified in a figure to avoid confusion with other behaviours.

The ethogram of cattle was published several times, but these definitions differ between the cattle species under consideration. Currently we prepare a behavioural catalogue of a non-domestic cow, the European bison. These animals shall, as they are not affected by breeding effects, serve as a template and "archetypus", and thus enable standardised ethological records on European bison or comparative studies on other cattle species.

Philip Schmitz, Stephanie Caspers, Robert Gatzka, Julia Eggermann, Wolfgang Kirchner & Klaudia Witte

All animals are permanently affected by environmental influences. These may couse physical or psychological stress, but this depends on the respective situation and is obvious only in very rare cases. Considering the animal welfare and to enable an effective management of the animals it is a crucial prerequisite to identify and evaluate possible stressors.

A cooperation with the University of Bochum (Prof. Kirchner, Dr. Eggermann) allowed us to measure derivates of cortisol from the faeces of animals. Our investigations are still in progress, but we could already show that the method used (EIA) is capable for an investigation of European bison. The animals show a basal level of methabolites, that is subject to distinct fluctuations. These fluctuations may be due to weather conditions, external disturbances, or the animals' age or social status.

Philip Schmitz

Cattle have a pronounced social network, which possess mostly a linear dominance hirarchy. To know this system is crucial for managers of a herd, as a change of the network structure may have a dramatic impact on the entire herd.

We carried out continuous nearest-neighbour analyses of the animals and derived network structures of the entire herd. This enabled us to identify social bonds and avoidances between single animals and verify leading animals. The analyses and calculations are still in progress.