📋 Tender Overview
With the joint signing of a declaration of intent the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute FLI in Jena Germany and the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust GCT in Zimbabwe Africa have now officially confirmed their longstanding collaboration . This declaration of intent creates the basis for examining the killifish in its natural environment in Gonarezhou National Park more closely and for protecting the stocks there. The killifish originally from East Africa has gained enormous importance as an animal model in aging research in recent years.As a short-lived vertebrate this fish is genetically very similar to humans ages extremely quickly and shows typical signs of aging. It is therefore very interesting for biomedical aging research and is therefore cultivated at the Leibniz Institute for Aging Research - Fritz Lipmann Institute FLI in Jena and used in research as a model organism. Through repeated expeditions to Southeast Africa where areas of the natural occurrence of the killifish were examined and samples collected for breeding in Germany there has long been close cooperation between the FLI and African partners including the University of Zimbabwe and the Gonarezhou National Park the second largest national park in Zimbabwe.The collaboration between the FLI and the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust GCT a co-management partnership between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Frankfurt Zoological Society based in Chipinda Pools Gonarezhou National Park Chiredzi Zimbabwe Africa now officially confirmed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding MoU.The common goal of the agreement is for both parties to contribute to monitoring the occurrence and distribution of the turquoise killifish in Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe. By collecting additional ecological data such as the water parameters or information about the vegetation and other animals found there the natural habitat of the fish can be better understood and integrated into the breeding in the laboratory. In addition there is hope that with the help of the park rangers other new and also accessible pool areas will be found where killifish also occur.These goals will contribute to a better understanding of the protection of these wild animals in Gonarezhou National Park and the surrounding areas. In addition these data are also extremely useful to get a better and more complete picture of the vegetation and wildlife as well as the water quality of the ponds related to the presence or absence of killifish.
