IUCN SSC Gekkota Lizard Specialist Group

Biologist, Ph.D., in environmental and rural studies, interested in the ecological relations of animals (mainly amphibians and reptiles) and tropical forests and the impact caused by human activities. I show great interest in the generation of new knowledge that allows the implementation of tools to help in the conservation of ecosystem biodiversity. I have experience in the writing of scientific and technical reports as well as knowledge in the management of biological collections, biology, microbiology and chemistry laboratories. I have the ability to work as a team and for learning I am organized, disciplined with a sense of commitment and leadership.

Thomas Ziegler has been the Curator of the Aquarium/Terrarium Department of the Cologne Zoo, Germany, since 2003. He is also the Coordinator of the Biodiversity Research and Nature Conservation Projects of the Cologne Zoo in Vietnam . He has studied biology at the University Bonn, Germany, and conducted his diploma and doctoral thesis at the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn, with a focus on zoological systematics and amphibian and reptile diversity. He has been engaged with herpetological diversity research and conservation in Vietnam since 1997. He has published more than 600 papers and books, mainly dealing with herpetological diversity and conservation. He has scientifically described more than 150 species mainly of amphibians and reptiles, predominantly together with the cooperation partners from Vietnam. As a Zoo Curator and Project Coordinator, he tries to combine in situ and ex situ approaches, such as to link zoo biological aspects with diversity research and conservation in the Cologne Zoo, in rescue stations and breeding facilities in Vietnam, and in the last remaining forests in Indochina. He is member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and of the IUCN/SSC Amphibian, Crocodile, Monitor Lizard, Skink and Freshwater Fish Specialist Groups. He is European Studbook Keeper for the Philippine crocodile. Thomas Ziegler is Editorial Board member of a number of Journals, amongst others Nature Conservation, The Zoological Garden, and ZooKeys. Beginning in February 2009, he has been an Associate Professor at the Zoological Institute of Cologne University, Germany, and since 2016 is an Adjunct Professor. He also has a guest lectureship at the Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi. He teaches diversity research and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, as well as zoo biology and implementation of zoos as modern arks / conservation zoos. His current research focuses on the realisation of IUCN’s One Plan Approach, which aims at developing integrative strategies to combine in situ and ex situ measures with groups of experts for the purpose of optimized species conservation. in 2022 he was selected with the idea of the conservation zoo for The Blooloop 50 Zoo & Aquarium Influencer List 2022 as one of the Top 50 Influencers in the first Blooloop 50 Influencers list for professionals within the zoo and aquarium community. In 2024 he received the Conservation Award at the 6. Children´s Charity Gala, Osnabrück Zoo.