Leventis African Biodiversity Fellow 2025
amudungwe@zimparks.org.zw

Ashley Mudungwe

Background

As a young wildlife management graduate in 2008, I had the opportunity to attend the International Cheetah Conservation Biology Field Course at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. There, I was exposed not only to the real life challenges communities living with large predators face, but also to the possibilities of creating a win-win human-predator co-existence through education and innovative conservation strategies.

I now work with ZimParks in the Government of Zimbabwe, and this has given me the opportunity to work with various other organizations on different aspects of large predator conservation such as population surveys, education and awareness, ecological monitoring and implementing non-lethal anti-predator livestock management practices.

This experience has profoundly shaped my approach to conservation, reinforcing the importance of community involvement, stakeholder collaboration, innovation and sustainable conservation practices.

Research interests

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My main research interests are in large predator conservation; that is, understanding their population dynamics and human-predator-livestock interactions. I am also interested in the application of GIS and Remote Sensing techniques to assess the impacts of land-use change on large predator habitat use, and hence facilitate the implementation of effective land-use policies.

Brief CV

  • I completed my BSc (Hon.) Degree in Forest Resources and Wildlife Management at the National University and Science Technology, Zimbabwe in May 2008 with an Upper Second Class.
  • In August 2008, I received an award to attend a professional training course; the International Cheetah Conservation Biology Field Course with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia.
  • In January 2009 I got a job as a Cheetah Education and Research Assistant with the Dambari Wildlife Trust.
  • In 2010 I was awarded a scholarship by the University of Leicester to undertake my MSc Degree in Environmental Informatics which I completed in 2012.
  • In 2014, I joined ZimParks as an Ecologist, working in Matusadona National Park
  • In 2018-2021, I participated in the Zimbabwe National Leopard Survey, ultimately producing the first Zimbabwe National Leopard Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2027).
  • Conducted the KAZA Elephant Survey as a rear-seat observer in 2022.

Publications

Dunham, K.M., Nyaguse, G.H. & Mudungwe, A. (2024). Aerial Survey of Elephants and Other Large Herbivores in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe: 2024. United Nations Development Programme, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Magqina, T., Mudungwe, A. & Goza, D. (2023) Impacts of artisanal fishing on the reproductive biology and population structure of tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) in the Ume Basin of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Aquaculture, Fish and Fisheries, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/aff2.130