Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI)

Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) is a public institution that was established under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in 1980 with the mandate to carry out and co-ordinate wildlife research in the United Republic of Tanzania. TAWIRI is the CITES Scientific Authority in Tanzania. TAWIRI and it predecessor institution has had a research base in the Serengeti National Park since the early 1960s. TAWIRI continues to undertake and coordinate wildlife research on a range of topics, which in recent years has expanded to include a human dimensions programme. TAWIRI has long standing collaborations in the Serengeti with Frankfurt Zoological Society and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.

 

 

Simon Mduma is the Director General of TAWIRI. He has over 20 years experience of wildlife research with a focus on the demography, management and harvest of wild ungulates. He has collaborated extensively with Tanzanian and Expatriate researchers and completed his PhD at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Prior to taking up his current position, Mduma was the Head of the Conservation Information Monitoring Unit within TAWIRI. This Unit is responsible for conducting wildlife surveys throughout Tanzania and compiling and maintaining national biodiversity databases. Mduma has published ~30 papers in international peer-reviewed journals including Science and Nature and is coeditor of Serengeti III, a multi-disciplinary book on the Serengeti Ecosystem.

 

 

Julius Keyyu is the Research Director of TAWIRI. He has a background in Veterinary Science and a PhD from the University of Dar es Salaam. Keyyu has conducted research on a wide range of wildlife and animal health related issues. He has overall responsibility for all wildlife research conducted by TAWIRI staff and expatriate scientists in Tanzania.

 

 

Lucas Malugu is a young researcher at TAWIRI currently completing an MSc at the University of Dar es Salaam. Malugu conducted two years field research to quantify the extent of conflict between crop-raiding elephants and local farmers living adjacent to the western boundary of the Serengeti National Park. This multidisciplinary project involved extensive contact with stakeholders at household, village and district levels.