COVID-19 and more news

Dear backers,

Before getting into this Lab Note, we first want to send our positive vibes and hope you are all staying safe – wherever you are in the world – during the COVID-19 pandemic! With things being so unpredictable lately, we feel it is important to send our best wishes to all of you and to thank you once again for your backing.

While progress has been slightly delayed due to lab shutdowns and restrictions across Germany, we have managed to complete some important steps for this study. Firstly, we finished all 500 DNA extractions at The Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research (BeGenDiv) in March. The process was time-consuming, but I personally very much enjoyed learning these new laboratory techniques which I had never been exposed to before. And it was rewarding to handle and work on the samples which we spent many hours collecting in the field from hyenas that we know personally. Like bringing a piece of Ngorongoro back to Berlin!

A few of the first results also rolled in prior to the lockdown period, with some very interesting outcomes. For example, we had our first instances of lion and hippopotamus DNA in our samples. While hyenas are known to be flexible and opportunistic predators, the degree to which they consume other large carnivores is unknown. As such, a case of lion DNA being picked up is very exciting to see! This result was an exception, though: the majority of detections have been of wildebeest, plains zebra, and buffalo, which also happen to be the spotted hyenas' main prey in the Ngorongoro Crater based on our own observations in the field. As we hoped, DNA metabarcoding has provided us with the “inside scoop” when it comes to assessing hyena diet in the Ngorongoro Crater and allows us to detect the presence of prey animals that we might not see them eat during normal daytime observation hours.

Another positive development is that, thanks to the hard work of team member Dr. Renita Danabalan, we have been able to detect cattle DNA from beef-fed hyenas at the Tierpark Berlin, the zoo located just outside IZW premises. This was accomplished with the 12S primer. The main aim here was to determine whether the 12S primer is sufficient to detect cattle DNA and distinguish it from buffalo DNA, as cattle and buffalo are closely related. We wanted to ensure that our methods are rigorous enough to discern between the two, and it seems they are. After all, our main investigation is into any possible shifts in the hyenas’ diets towards livestock consumption over time.

More detailed results will unfortunately have to wait for now. At present, the BeGenDiv remains shut down due to COVID-19. Once it opens again, we will be sure to post another Lab Note with more news and developments from the lab side. But so far, things are heading in the right direction!

With that, we want to say thanks again for your support and continued interest, and please stay safe! Until next time…