Ilya Fabian Acosta

(Senior Assistant, Dr)

phone: (+359 89) 6274332; e-mail:

Born: 9 September 1983, Sofia.
Education:
Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, biologist with further specialisation in ecology. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia (2002—2008)
Educational and scientific degree Doctor (PhD), scientific specialty zoology, National Museum of Natural History — Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2014—2022)

Research interests

Mammals’ zoology and ecology, biodiversity and environmental conservation.

Current projects

Geometric morphometry of bat wings in relation to their ecological adaptations

Studying the ecology, territoriality and density of the golden jackal (Canis aureus)

Bat expert in the ABMS pilot project Automated monitoring of birds, bats and nocturnal insects by sound and image recognition in Bulgaria (2024—2025)

Data and technology for inventory, rapid identification and monitoring of endangered wildlife and other species. Monitoring of mammals in the Central Balkan under project No. 101060954 NATURE FIRST under the HORIZON-CL6-BIODIV-01-02 programme of the European Commission (2022—2025)

Professional experience

Manager of the project: Jackal (Canis aureus) ecology: territoriality and population density in Bulgaria and in the border region with Romania and the Republic of Macedonia (2016—2017).

Field study of birds and mammals in the regions of Gumes (Tamaulipas) and Cansahcab (Yucatan) in Mexico (2015).

Expedition of the National Museum of Natural History to north-east Turkey, for the study of big carnivores (2015).

Monitoring of the jackal population in the Danube Delta (Romania) (2013 and 2015).

Mapping and identification of conservation status of bats populations. Project ‘Mapping and identification of conservation status of natural habitats and species Phase I’. European Union, Operational Program ‘Environment 2007—2013’, Consortium ‘Natura Bulgaria’ and Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria (2011—2012).

Lecturer in the topic ‘Environmental education’. Project ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’, Tallinn, Estonia. European Union, Youth in Action Program (2011).

Field Assistant: Sampling of the mammal fauna in the municipality of Valencia, Córdoba Region, Colombia, Natural Science Institute, National University of Colombia Bogotá (2008).

Experimental design and sampling of bats within a project for elaboration of Environmental Management Plan, Trinidad Municipality, Casanare Region, Colombia (2008).

Assistant in Practical Module ‘Mammals’ as a part of Introduction to Animal’s Systematics Course, Natural Science Institute, National University of Colombia Bogota (2006 and 2007).

Management and rehabilitation of wildlife, Wild Animals Rescue and Rehabilitation Unit, URRAS, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, National University of Colombia, Bogota (2005—2006).

White-footed Tamarin (Saguinus leucopus): Behavioral categories assessment in captivity conditions, Piscilago Zoo, Colsubsidio, Melgar, Tolima Department, Colombia (2005).

Most recent publications

Toshkova, N., Todorov, V., Deleva, S., Acosta-Pankov, I., Bekchiev, R., Langourov, M., Simov, N., Spasova, V., Nedyalkov, N., 2026. Beyond bats: hidden mammalian biodiversity in Bulgarian caves. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 48 (7): 165—177. https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.48.071

Ranc, N., Wilmers, C. C., Maiorano, L., Warton, D. I., Álvares, F., Cagnacci, F., Hatlauf, J., Acosta-Pankov, I., Banea, O., Berce, T., Červinka, J., Ćirović, D., Ćosić, N., Gál, L., Giannatos, G., Guimarães, N. F., Heltai, M., Ivanov, G., Lanszki, J., Lapini, L., Männil, P., Melovski, D., Migli, D., Pavanello, M., Penezić, A., Petrova, A., Šálek, M., Sallay-Mosoi, A., Selanec, I., Selimovic, A., Sforna, T., Stojanov, A., Szabó, L., Tarman, J., Trbojević, I., Trbojević, T., Urban, P., Krofel, M., 2026. Human shielding from wolves facilitates jackal expansion across Europe. — Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1—12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03060-y

Dundarova, H., Acosta-Pankov, I., Nedyalkova, E., Lubenova, A., Kolev, M., Kirov, K., Lakovski, K., Genova, O., Parvanov, V., Iskrenova, P., Trifonov, V., Chassovnikarova, T., 2026. Thermal Niche Differentiation Shapes the Hibernating Bat Assemblages in Bulgarian Caves Across an Elevational Gradient. — Biology, 15 (6), 484. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology15060484

Doykin, N., Todorov, V. R., Dutsov, A., Nikolov, S. D., Acosta-Pankov, I., Ganchev, N., 2026. First described cases of cannibalism in the brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) in Bulgaria. — Hystrix the Italian Journal of Mammalogy. https://doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-00846-2025

Bekchiev, R., Nedyalkov, N., Kostova, R., Simov, N., Langourov, M., Acosta-Pankov, I., 2026. Sometimes they come back — Platypsyllus castoris Ritsema, 1869 (Leiodidae, Coleoptera) new genus and species for the fauna of the Balkan Peninsula. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 48 (4): 93—95. https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.48.043

Toshkova, N., Brosens, D., Stoeva, E., Deleva, S., Zhelyazkova, V., Acosta-Pankov, I., Goranov, S., Dundarova, H., Lakovski, K., Genova, O., Stoicheva, S., Krushkova, V., Ivanov, A., Mechev, A., Hubancheva, A., Pavlova, A., Metcheva, R., Popov, V., Beltcheva, M., Pandurski, I., Kisimov, T., Kolev, M., Kirov, K., Karaganchev, A., Karadakov, V., Trendafilova, S., Pavlova, B., Yankov, L., Stoyanov, S., Yankov, Y., Atanasov, T., Georgieva, T., Borisov, I., Dilovski, G., Dicheva, A., Titorenkova, S., Aleksandrova, I., Delchev, S., Sirakov, K., Bradley, I., Pazderkov, D., Atanasov, V., Zhelev, P., Dechev, A., Dimitrova, K., Koseva, K., Petrov, B., Petrov, B., 2025. Bat occurrences from Bulgaria. Version 1.5. — National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.15468/dnu63p

Konstantinov, Y. N., Acosta-Pankov, I., Spassov, N., 2025. Long-and short-range jackal (Canis aureus L.) vocalizations: a new approach based on stationary observations of a non-captive family group. — North-Western Journal of Zoology, 21 (1).

Davison, A. M., Acosta-Pankov, I., Arp, M., Doykin, N., Ganchev, N., Schakel, J., Todorov, V., de Koning, K., 2025. Digital twins for conflict management: the Human–Bear Conflict Radar. — Carnivore Damage Prevention News, 30: 16—19.

Kolev, M., Acosta-Pankov, I., Toshkova, N., Deleva, S., 2024. Acoustic study of urban bat diversity in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 46 (10): 273—284. https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.46.103

Ranc, N., Acosta-Pankov, I., Balys, V., Bučko, J., Cirovic, D., Fabijanić, N., Filacorda, S., Giannatos, G., Guimaraes, N., Hatlauf, J., Heltai, M., Ionescu, O., Ivanov, G., Jansman, H., Kowalczyk, R., Krofel, M., Kutal, M., Lanszki, J., Lapini, L., … Zimmermann, F., 2022. Distribution of large carnivores in Europe 2012 — 2016: Distribution map for Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) [Data set]. — Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6382216

→ More complete list of publications