Ulf Hohmann (born 9 July 1963, in Stuttgart) is a German

ethologist Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

, whose studies about the

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

have played a significant role in the understanding of its

social behavior Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms within the same species, and encompasses any behavior in which one member affects the other. This is due to an interaction among those members. Social behavior can be seen as similar to an ...

and its distribution in Germany.

Biography

Studying at the universities

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

and

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

, Ulf Hohmann completed his diploma of

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

in 1992. After the submission of his dissertation to Antal Festetics at the forestal faculty of the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

in 1998, he was the chairperson of the ''Gesellschaft für Wildökologie und Naturschutz e.V.'' (''Society for wildlife ecology and conservation e.V.''). In this role, he appeared in the media as expert for the increasing urbanisation of animals. At the moment (July 2008), he works for the ''Forschungsanstalt für Waldökologie und Forstwirtschaft Rheinland-Pfalz'' (''Research institute for forest ecology and forestry Rhineland-Palatinate'') located in Trippstadt.

Research

Within the scope of his dissertation, Ulf Hohmann and several scientific assistants carried out the first systematic study of the German raccoon population from 1992 to 1998. The telemetric measurement of the movement patterns of the raccoons living in the

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

low mountain range

Solling The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hills ...

yielded the result that the social behavior of raccoons is gender-specific and that they often live together in small, loose groups instead of being

loner A loner is a person who does not seek out, or may actively avoid, interaction with other people. There are many potential reasons for their solitude. Intentional reasons include introversion, mysticism, spirituality, religion, or personal consi ...

s like previously thought. Stanley D. Gehrt arrived at the same conclusion in his study done in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in 1994 one year after Hohmann's initial query to Gehrt's doctoral adviser and raccoon expert Erik Fritzell about his discoveries. (→ Social behavior of raccoons) The study was supplemented with the observation of the behavior of several raised and subsequently released raccoon kits. This work, started by the graduand Franziska Kalz in 1995, was accompanied by the

wildlife photographer Wildlife photography is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat. As well as requiring photography skills, wildlife photographers may need field craft skills. For example, some anima ...

Ingo Bartussek since spring 1996. Beginning in 1999, after the submission of his dissertation, Ulf Hohmann carried out the first study of urban raccoons outside of North America in the Hessian small town

Bad Karlshafen Bad Karlshafen () is a baroque, thermal salt spa town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It has 2300 inhabitants in the main ward of Bad Karlshafen, and a further 1900 in the medieval village of Helmarshausen. It is situated at the con ...

. In 2001, Ulf Hohmann published the monograph ''Der Waschbär'' (''The raccoon''), giving a thorough overview of appearance and behavior of the species and the results of his studies in it. Besides numerous photos of Ingo Bartussek, the book also contains a chapter about raising raccoon kits written by the

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

Bernhard Böer. Working now for the ''Forschungsanstalt für Waldökologie und Forstwirtschaft Rheinland-Pfalz'', Ulf Hohmann has recently concentrated on the research of

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s, mainly of those living in the Palatinate Forest. His research on raccoons has been continued by Frank-Uwe Michler, who first worked together with Hohmann for his diploma in a study of urban raccoons in Kassel from 2001 to 2002. Since March 2006, Frank-Uwe Michler is the leader of the first study of the range and behavior of the raccoons living in the eastern parts of Germany in the

Müritz National Park The Müritz National Park (german: Müritz-Nationalpark) is a national park situated roughly in the middle between Berlin and Rostock, in the south of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It extends over large portions of the Müritz lak ...

References

Publications

* * (Dissertation in German with a summary in English at the University of Göttingen; translation of the title: ''A Study of Raccoon (''Procyon lotor'') Space Utilization in Southern Lower Saxony, Germany, with Respect to Social Behaviour'') * (Diploma thesis in German at the University of Kiel; translation of the title: ''A Study on Habitat Use with Respect to Spatial and Temporal Patterns by the Common Buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') in the Eider-Treene-Sorge-Lowlands'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Hohmann, Ulf 1963 births Ethologists 21st-century German zoologists Living people 20th-century German zoologists Scientists from Stuttgart