Zvi Sever

Dr. Zvi Sever (; born October 5, 1951) is a zoologist and researcher in the field of Behavioral ecology, who mostly studies the relationship between the animal behaviour and its environment. Sever was a member in the Biology Department in the University of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
Biography
Sever was born in Tel Aviv in 1951, Raised and educated in Kibbutz Yiftah. He began his elementary studies in the Kibbutz school and afterwards transferred to the regional school "Mevo Hagalil" in Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar, where he completed his highschool education. In 1970, when he was drafted to the IDF, he volunteered to join the Paratroopers Brigade. Following his military service he went to East Africa, to volunteer in wildlife reservations and hunt animals for zoos around the world. While staying in Ethiopia, he lived with the Jewish tribe (the Falasha - Beta Israel), and following his return he was able to meet with the Chief Sepharadic Rabbi, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and he aided his attempts to convince the Ashkenazi Rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, to rule that these are Jews and they should be allowed to immigrate to Israel.
Upon his return from Ethiopia, he returned for one more year service in the Paratroopers Brigade. During the years 1984-1991 Served in the Special Air Forces Headquarters as reserve duty, and participated in the largest immigration operations of the Ethiopian Jews - the Operation Moses and the Operation Solomon. Sever studied in the Faculty of Life Science in the Tel Aviv University, from his BSc to his PhD. His Master's thesis was about the biology of the Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix Indica) in the coastal plane of Israel, and his doctoral thesis was about communication patterns in porcupines Hystrix Indica, both guided by Prof. Heinrich Mendelssohn.
Between 1995 and 2015 he left zoology and turned to public service, where he managed various national educational projects in the Ministry of Education in Israel, and served as the head of chamber for Shlomit Amichai in her role of CEO of the Ministry of Education in Israel. During this time, he was member in the headquarters for "Tomorrow 98" with the Vice CEO of the Ministry of Education in Israel, aiming to implement the conclusions of the Harari committee, 1992, in the area of promoting science and technology education in Israel. He also coordinated the committee to form principles to establish and operate regional teacher centers, in 1997. Later on he was a member in the regional teacher's centre headquarters, operating these centers and determining their budgets and activity.
Between 2000 and 2015, Sever was a partner in the national team for promotion of the sectorial and geographic periphery students to technology rich environments. His activity focused in locating and guiding students of middle and high schools from the peripheral areas to serve in the academic reserve, within the Atidim project Sever also consulted the national steering committee to promote the gifted students’ education in 2004, and he was partner to the formulation of the law proposal of gifted and excellent students privileges, 2006, which passed in primary reading as a component of the special education law, 1988. In 2015, Sever returned to work in zoology, flow to Uganda and started building a Research station in the Semuliki Rain forest and in studying the forest floor.
In addition to this activity, Sever lectures in his field of expertise in various forums in Israel and abroad, and also guides tours to various states in Africa.
Academic Activity and Achievements
In the years 2003-2007, Sever was among the founders and faculty of the academic campus in Mar Elias College in I'billin, as an Academic branch of the University of Indianapolis in the Galilee, Israel. since then he has been an associate professor in University of Indianapolis up to July 2020.
Sever mostly handles behavioral ecology and the relationship between animal behaviour and its environment. Within his studies about porcupines, he achieved two new findings about the porcupine Hystrix indica population - that it is monogamous, and that it mates every night throughout its life, not only for reproduction, but also to maintain and strengthen the pair bond, the relationship between the male and female partners. These findings were considered innovative. in the study of the evolution of sexuality, since mating not only for reproduction but also for bonding was only related to men, to Bonobo monkeys and to some dolphin species till then.
Sever initiated two international projects: one involves returning the Okapi to Uganda within the "Okapi Preservation Project". The Okapis are in endangered status and because they only live in Democratic Republic of the Congo which is considered unstable, the return of the Okapis to the Semuliki Rain forest in Uganda will assist the preservation of the entire species. During his searches for the Okapi activity in the Semuliki Rain forest, using cameras tied to trees, it was discovered for the first time, that Uganda hosts the largest antelope in the African forests, the lowland bongo.
In the second project, Sever focuses in formulating an ethical code for space activity, to develop what he terms as a "moral-based society" in Outer space. According to him, settling Earth without an ethical code brought devastating results in a historical point of view, such as: wars, genocides, slavery, harming the ecological system, etc, and therefore he promotes adopting an ethical code for future activity and settlement of space, according to the model of the Ten commandments. This model, Sever aspires to bring in front of the UN general assembly to harness the entire humanity for its promotion.
Prof. Sever is known for his tendency to display unusual concepts, and this way he leads a move to persuade that there is no camouflage in nature and recommends to examine the animals’ body colours from the eco-physiological aspect. This is also true for his offer to change the man's scientific name to the religious man (Homo religioso), since the urge to believe is what distinguishes us from other organisms. Following the moral approach demonstrated by the entire human population who stayed at home, in seclusion during the COVID-19 Pandemic so that old people will not be harmed, Sever suggests to provide mankind with a more proper name for it now - the moral man (Homo Moralis).
Public Activity
In Israel
In 1998, Sever established the NGO Zootherapy organisation (Known as ATT) in Israel to promote using animals for therapeutic purposes. The organisation was able to present Zootherapy to the committee examining complementary medicine in the Ministry of Health of Israel, and started a move to establish a professional committee in the Ministry of Education in Israel in which Sever was a member. Today, ten colleges in Israel train students in zootherapy. The foundation was closed after 17 years of activity when the college alumni started another foundation, currently leading the activity in this field. In addition, he is member of the "BaSha’ar" foundation, serving as an academic community for the Israeli society, uniting members of the academic staff from the various high education institutes to promote and distribute the academy contribution to the Israeli society.
In the world
Sever is one of the founders of the great apes preservation organisation (The Last Great Ape Organization - LAGA) and member since 1998. The organization mostly deals with the location of illegal hunting and commerce in animals, and is involved in law enforcement activities. Sever also uses as an expert consultant to the Horizon 2020 project of the European Union, aiming to promote academic and high education institutes in states in the eastern borders of the Union.
Family
He lives in Tel Aviv. Married and father of three.
Selected Publications
* Sever, Z, An unusual method of feeding behavior in captive African elephants. Elephant, Vol. 2(1), 1982, pp. 140-143.
* Sever, Z, Water and energy economies of captive porcupines and their implications under natural conditions, Israel J. Zool. Vol. 34(1-2): 1986, pp 97-98.
* Sever, Z. and Mendelssohn, H., Porcupines on the edge of town, Israel land and Nature, 13, 1988, pp. 112-115.
* Zvi Sever, Regular sex keeps porcupines faithful, New Scientist, Nov.12, 1988
* Sever Z. and Mendelssohn, H., Copulation as a possible mechanism to maintain monogamy in porcupines, Hystrix indica, Animal Behavior, 36: 1988. pp. 1541- 1542.
* Sever, Z. and Mendelssohn, H., Temporal activity patterns of the porcupine(Hystrix indica) in the coastal plain of Israel. Environmental quality and ecosystem stability: Vol. IV-B: 401-409 in Environmental Quality. ISEEQS Pub. Eds.: E. Spanier, Y. Steinberger and M. Lurio, Jerusalem, Israel, 1989
* Sever Z. and Mendelssohn, H., Spatial movement patterns of porcupines (Hystrix indica). Mammalia, 55, 1991, pp. 487-500.
* Sever, Z., A unique juvenile appearance as evidence for the existence of social organization. Israel J. Zool. Vol. 45:, 1999, 321.
* Gur, G., Gilad, E. & Sever, Z.,(Eds), From teachers to faculty: Professional development at regional teachers’ centers in Israel. Ministry of Education Publications, State of Israel, 2002
* Sever, Z., A possible co-evolution between the porcupine and the squill. Israel Journal of Zoology, 51, No1, 2005, pp. 76-77.
* Sever, Z., The resemblance to the environment is not necessary for camouflage. Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution, 52, No1, 2005, pp. 80-81.
* Sever, Z., Reclassifying Mankind as Homo religioso, The Zoological Society of Israel, 43th Conference, Abstracts, 2006, p. 65.
* Sever, Z., The emerging of Islamic empire- The expected borders of the coming Islamic empire. Received by the national library (Jerusalem) and the Israeli Ministry of Defense archive. 23 papers, 2008
* Pinhas, I., Horev, A., Ovadia, O. and Sever, Z., "Porcupine Threat" upon the Israeli Air Force. Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution, Vol. 56:1, 2010, p97.
* Sever, Z., Human methods for anesthetizing porcupines. Israel J. of Zoology, Vol. 50; 2010, 121.
* Sever, Z., Nurturing gifted and talented pupils as leverage towards a knowledge-based economy, In: Zhou Q. (Ed.), Applied Social Science, ICASS 2011, Vol. 1: IERI Press, Delaware USA. 2011, pp. 454-458.
* Sever, Z., The invertebrate fauna on the forest floor of the Semuliki rain forest. Final Report, submitted to the Monitoring & Research unit of the Uganda Wildlife Authority. 2017
* Sever, Z., Survey and Recommendation: Reintroducing the Okapi to Uganda. The Zoological Society of Israel, 55th Conference, Abstracts, 2018, p. 10.
* Sever, Z., The first Bongo documented in the 21st century in Uganda, The Zoological Society of Israel, 56th Conference, Abstracts, 2019, p. 8.
* Sever, Z., An ethical code for living in space, Room Space Journal, Opinion,Spring Issue, 23: 2020. pp. 76-79.
* Sever, Z., The ethical code for space activity, Space Research Today, Vol. 208: 44-48.

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