Axel Moehrenschlager

Dr. Axel Moehrenschlager serves as the Director of the Small Cats Program and Conservation Translocations for Panthera. In this role he collaborates with others to escalate support, partnerships, discoveries, innovations, actions and impacts around the world that help 33 species of Small Cats and their ecosystems. He also collaborates to elevate the power of responsible conservation translocations such as reintroductions and reinforcements to restore and strengthen the viability of Small and Big Cat populations globally.

Axel has worked on a broad variety of threatened species globally, ranging from plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and birds to lemurs, antelopes, and hippopotami. In his belief that biodiversity conservation is largely about interdisciplinary approaches, a primary focus has been on community-based conservation to generate benefits that align with the values and priorities of local communities and Indigenous People. Before joining Panthera, Moehrenschlager founded the Centre for Conservation Research and later the Wilder Institute at the Calgary Zoological Society in Canada.

Axel serves on the Leadership and Steering Committee of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. He is also the Chair of the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group which escalates Science, Guidance, Policy, Training, Action, and Outreach around the world. Axel is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary in Canada, Adjunct Associate Professor at Clemson University in the United States, Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and Research Associate at Oxford University where he received his Ph.D. Axel also serves for several boards, advisory committees, and funding agencies in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Kenya.

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Liccioli, S., Wilson, S., McPherson, J., Keating, L.,Antonation, K., Bollinger, T., Corbett, C., Gummer, D., Lindsay, R., Galloway, T., Shury, T., and A. Moehrenschlager. In Press. Enzootic maintenance of sylvatic plague in Canada’s threatened black-tailed prairie dog ecosystem. Ecosphere.

Randall L., Kendell K., Govindarajulu P., Houston B., Ohanjanian P., Pearson, K., and A. Moehrenschlager. In Press. Reintroductions of northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens) in western Canada; recovery in protected areas and on public lands. In K. O'donnell & S. Wells (Eds.), Strategies for Conservation Success in Herpetology. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Conservation Series, Vol. 4.

Butler, A., Bly, K.L.S., Harris, H., Inman, R.M., Moehrenschlager, A., Schwalm, D., and D.S. Jachowski. 2020 (Early View). Home range size and resource use by swift foxes in northeastern Montana. Journal of Mammalogy doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyaa030 – open access.

Johnson, P., Adams, V.M., Armstrong, D.P., Baker, S.E., Biggs, D., Boitani, L., Cotterill, A., Dale, E., O’Donnell, H., Douglas, D.J.T, Droge, E., Ewen, J.G., Feber,R.E., Genovesi, P., Hambler, C., Harmsen, B.J., Harrington, L.A., Hinks, A., Hughes, J., Katsis, L., Loveridge, A.,Moehrenschlager, A., O’Kane, C., Pierre, M., Redpath, S., Lovemore, S., Soorae, P., Stanley, M.P., Tyrrell, P., Zimmermann, A. and Amy Dickman. 2019. Consequences matter: Compassion in conservation means caring for individuals, populations and species; A response to Wallach et al. Animals: 9, 1115; doi:10.3390/ani9121115 – open access.

Cullingham, C. and A. Moehrenschlager. 2019. Genetics of a reintroduced swift fox population highlight the need for integrated conservation between neighbouring countries. Animal Conservation (doi.org/10.1111/acv.12508 – open access).

Butler, A., Bly, K.L.S., Harris, H., Inman, R.M., Moehrenschlager, A., Schwalm, D., and D.S. Jachowski. 2019. Winter movement behaviour by swift foxes (Vulpes velox) at the northern edge of their range. Canadian Journal of Zoology 97(10): 922-930. (doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2018-0272 – open access).

Hayward, M.W., Jachowski, D.S., Bugir, C.K., Clulow, J., Krishnamurthy, R., Griffin, A.S., Chalmers, A.C., Linnell, J.D.C., Montgomery, R.A., Somers, M.J., Kowalczyk, R., Heurich, M., Caravaggi, A., Marnewick, K.A., Di Blanco, Y., Shuttleworth, C.M., Callen, A., Weise, F., Scanlon, R., Moehrenschlager, A., Howell, L.G., and R.M.O. Upton. 2019. The search for novelty continues for rewilding. Biological Conservation 236: 584-585. (doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.05.041 – open access).

Hayward, M.W., Scanlon, R.J.,Callen, A., Howell, L.G., Klop-Toker, K.L., Di Blanco, Y., Balkenhol, N., Bugir, C.K., Campbell, L., Caravaggi, A., Chalmers, A.C., Clulow, J., Clulo, S., Cross, P., Gould, J.A., Griffin, A.S., Heurich, M., Howe, B.K., Jachowski, D.S., Jhala, Y.V., Krishnamurthy, R., Kowalczyk, R., Lenga, D.J., Linnell, J.D.C., Marnewick, K.A., Moehrenschlager, A., Montgomery, R.A., Osipova, L., Peneaux, C., Rodger, J.C., Sales, L.P., Seeto, R.G.Y., Shuttleworth, C.M., Somers, M.J., Tamessar, C.T., Upton, R.M.O., and F.J. Weise. 2019. Reintroducing rewilding to restoration – rejecting the search for novelty. Biological Conservation 233: 255-259. (doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.03.011 – open access).

Lloyd, N., Hostetter, N.J., Jackson, C.L., Converse, S.J., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2019. Future directions to escalate benefits of the stepping-stone approach for conservation translocations. Animal Conservation 22(2): 122-123. (doi.org/10.1111/acv.12506 – open access)

Lloyd, N., Hostetter, N.J., Jackson, C.L., Converse, S.J., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2019. Optimizing release strategies: a stepping-stone approach to reintroduction. Animal Conservation 22(2): 105-115. (doi.org/10.1111/acv.12448 – open access)

Brichieri-Colombi, T.A., Lloyd, N., McPherson, J.M., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2019. Limited contributions of released animals from zoos to North American conservation translocations. Conservation Biology 33(1): 33-39. (doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13160 – open access).

Heinrichs, J.A., McKinnon, D.T., Aldridge, C.L., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2019. Optimizing the use of endangered species in multi-population collection, captive breeding, and release programs. Global Ecology and Conservation 17: doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00558 – open access).

Armstrong, D.P., Seddon, P.J., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2019. Reintroduction. In: Fath, B.D. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2nd edition, Vol. 1, pp. 458-466. Oxford: Elsevier.

Swan, K.D., Lloyd, N., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2018. Projecting further increases in conservation translocations: A Canadian case study. Biological Conservation: 228: 175-182. (doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.10.026 - open access).

Brichieri-Colombi, T.A., McPherson, J.M., Sheppard, D.J., Mason, J.J., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2018. Standardizing the evaluation of community-based conservation success. Ecological Applications 28(8): 1963-1981. (doi.org/10.1002/eap.1788 - open access).

Stephens, S., Wilson, S.C., Cassidy, F., Bender, D., Gummer, D., Smith, D.H.V., Lloyd, N., McPherson, J.M., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2018. Climate change impacts on the conservation outlook of populations on the poleward periphery of species ranges: A case study of Canadian black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). Global Change Biology 24(2): 836-847. (doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13922 - open access).

Moehrenschlager, A. 2017. Tiptoeing cautiously yet confidently: Health considerations for conservation translocations. Ecohealth 14(1): 167-170.

Brichieri-Colombi, T.A., McPherson, J.M., Sheppard, D.J., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2017. In aid of (re)discovered species: maximizing conservation insights from minimal data. Animal Conservation 20(2): 205-212 (doi.org/10.1111/acv.12306 – open access).

Swan, K.D., McPherson, J.M., Seddon, P.J., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2016. Managing Marine Biodiversity: The rising diversity and prevalence of marine conservation translocations. Conservation Letters: 9(4): 239-251 (doi/full/10.1111/conl.12217 – open access).

Brichieri-Colombi, T. and A. Moehrenschlager. 2016. Alignment of threat, effort, and perceived success in North American conservation translocations. Conservation Biology 30 (6): 1159-1172. (doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12743 – open access).

McPherson, J.M., Sammy, J., Sheppard, D.J., Mason, J.J., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2016. Integrating traditional knowledge when it appears to conflict with conservation: lessons from the discovery and protection of sitatunga in Ghana. Ecology & Society 21(1): Article 24. (doi.org/10.5751/ES-08089-210124 – open access).

Kroshko, J., Clubb, R., Harper, L., Mellor, E., Moehrenschlager, A., and G. Mason. 2016. Stereotypic route tracing in captive Carnivora is predicted by species-typical home range sizes. Animal Behaviour 117: 197-209.

Moehrenschlager, A., and N. Lloyd. 2016. Release considerations and techniques to improve conservation translocation success. In: Jachowski, D.S., Millspaugh, J.J.,, Angermeier,P., Slotow, R. (Eds). Reintroduction of Fish and Wildlife Populations. University of California Press.

Moehrenschlager, A. and M. Sovada. 2016. Vulpes velox. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T23059A57629306. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T23059A57629306.en

Randall, L., Kendell, K., Govindarajulu, P., Houston, B., Ohanjanian, P., and A. Moehrenschlager. 2016. Reintroduction of the northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens) in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. In: Soorae, P. (Ed.). Global reintroductions perspectives 2016: Case-studies from around the globe. IUCN Press. Gland, Switzerland.