CC Managing Director Björn Encke and CC Species Manager Julia Bindl, Citizen Conservations’ (CC) newest additions to the team, attended the 61st Annual Conference of the DGHT (German Society for Herpetology and Terrarium Science) in Bonn from September 4 to 6. The conference took place in the time-honoured Museum Koenig, which is not only a historically significant location – the constitution of Germany was drafted here – but also an important herpetological institution. Not only does it house one of the most significant collections of amphibians and reptiles in Germany, but also many well-known herpetologists come from this institution, including Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Böhme.
Packed conference programme and stimulating discussions
However, there was not much time to explore the museum, as there was a packed program of lectures and the breaks were used for discussions among the participants. The topics covered a wide range, including reports on husbandry and travel from all over the world, as well as new scientific findings. There was the “obligatory lecture on hemipenes,” as speaker Aaron Bauer announced with a smile, and an extremely exciting contribution by Dr. Susanne Stückler from Schönbrunn Zoo on the monitoring of the salamander-eating fungus (Bsal) in Austria, which fortunately remains Bsal-free to date. Our conservation breeding programs were also the subject of various presentations, such as Christian Bittner’s breeding report on Titicaca Water Frogs. Some of the species from our programmes were also featured in travel reports. The lively exchange with CC participants, who demonstrated their passion and expertise for the hobby, was particularly encouraging. The valuable contribution that private keepers make to species conservation and knowledge generation becomes particularly clear on such occasions.
The venue: Over three days, participants at the 61st DGHT conference were able to listen to insightful presentations by their fellow participants here in the conference hall.
CC keeper Christian Bittner reports on the keeping and breeding of his Titicaca Water Frogs.
CC Species Manager Julia Bindl updates the audience on developments in the CC programmes, …
… while CC Managing Director Björn Encke focused on strategic issues such as population management.
Meeting in Bonn: Axel Kwet (Managing Director of DGHT), Gila von Hegel (President of BNA), Ulrich Joger (President of DGHT) and Martin Singheiser (Managing Director of BNA) in front of Chimaira’s impressive book stand.
Presentation on citizen conservation and update on ‘Wild at Home’
On Saturday, colleague Vanessa Dubberke completed our conference trio, which together presented the update on CC and ‘Wild at Home’ (WaH) in the afternoon session. Julia Bindl took charge of the annual CC update and presented the redesign of the Feuersalamander.NET website, where news and projects from the network are bundled. Björn Encke highlighted strategic issues, addressing current topics such as positive lists and population management.
Last but not least, Vanessa Dubberke explained the status of the wildlife database and the management tool ‘Wild at Home’. The project, which is managed by our sponsor Frogs & Friends, was first presented at a DGHT conference in 2022. Now, an update on the current status of the project and an insight into the new prototype of the platform were provided. This was very well received by the audience, as it was the first time that the vision of WaH could be experienced visually.