LUPUS - Institute for Wolf Monitoring and Research in Germany
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LUPUS - Institute for Wolf Monitoring and Research in Germany is a research institute with its headquarters in Spreewitz.[1] It was founded in January 2003 as Wildbiologisches Büro LUPUS by the biologists Gesa Kluth and Ilka Reinhardt and is managed by them until today (2019). Their main area of work is the scientific monitoring and research of the natural repopulation of Germany by the wolf. LUPUS works on behalf of the Saxon State Ministry for the Environment and Agriculture and is supported among others by the Bundesamt für Naturschutz, the Bundesforst, the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The Wildlife Biology Bureau LUPUS has, among others, on behalf of the Bundesamt für Naturschutz(BfN), developed the "Specialist concept for a wolf management in Germany".[2] It organises and leads the wolf monitoring in Saxony and the south of Brandenburg as well as in Saxony-Anhalt.[3][4][5]
The scientific work includes, among other things, the stocktaking, the trace monitoring, telemetry,[6] and food analyses[7] as well as genetic studies. Since 2003, wolves in the Lausitz have been equipped with collar transmitters to research territory use, lifestyle and dispersal. Since 2006 the migration behaviour of young wolves has been investigated in a pilot study financed by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation using GPS/GSM telemetry. In January 2011 the project was extended to Saxony-Anhalt.[4]
Furthermore, LUPUS together with other institutions is engaged in the professional education of the citizens.[8] The integration of wolves into their living space and the acceptance of the people are supported.[9] The counselling of affected people in agriculture, such as sheep breeders, and the visits to the citizens are intended to reduce the fear of wolves and enable "peaceful coexistence between wolves and humans" according to the ideas of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe.[10]