Moreangels M.

Mbizah PhD

Bio

I am a conservation biologist and have been working in wildlife conservation and natural resource management for more than a decade. I am also the Founder and Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation Action, an organisation that seeks to build the capacity of local communities to protect and coexist with wildlife. I am passionate about community-based conservation and I am working on developing innovative ways of promoting human-wildlife coexistence in communities living adjacent to wildlife areas and finding ways for communities to benefit from living with and protecting wildlife. I am also keen on amplifying the voices of Black, Indigenous and People of color (BIPOC) conservationists and local communities in the conservation field.

Education

Setting up a camera trap to study abundnace and distribution of large carnivores in a wild

Doctor of Philosophy (UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD)

Thesis: The effect of resource abundance and dispersion on the ecology of African lions in a semi-arid landscape

Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife

Conservation Practice (UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD)

Thesis 1: Rest site selection: fine scale difference between dispersing and territorial lions as a mechanism of coexistence

Thesis 2: Social organisation, territoriality and resource dispersion in the endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis)

Master of Science Degree in Tropical Resource Ecology

(UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE)

Thesis: Diet choice of the African wild dog (Lycaon Pictus) and competition with other large carnivores in the Save Valley Conservancy, South East Lowveld, Zimbabwe

Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Applied Environmental Science

(UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE)

Thesis: Organochlorine and Organophosphate pesticide residues in horticultural produce consumed in Harare Urban, Zimbabwe

Publications

2021

Rudd, L. F., Allred, S., Ross, J. G. B., Hare, D., Nkomo, M. N., Shanker, K., Allen, T., Biggs, D., Dickman, A., Dunaway, M., Ghosh, R., González, N. T., Kepe, T., Mbizah, M. M., Middleton, S. L., Oommen, M. A., Paudel, K., Sillero-Zubiri, C., & Dávalos, A. (2021). Overcoming racism in the twin spheres of conservation science and practice. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288(1962). https://doi.org/10.1098/RSPB.2021.1871

2020

Mbizah. M.M., Farine. D.R., Valeix. M., Hunt. J.E., Macdonald D.W and Loveridge. A.J. (2020) Effect of ecological factors on fine-scale patterns of social structure in African lions. Journal of Animal Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13334

Ferry, N., Mbizah, M.M., Loveridge, A.J., Macdonald, D.W., Dray, S., Fritz, H., Valeix, M. (2020) Can an herbivore affect where a top predator kills its prey by modifying woody vegetation structure. Oecologia DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04617-9

2019

Mbizah. M.M., Valeix. M., Macdonald D.W and Loveridge. A.J. (2019) Applying the Resource Dispersion Hypothesis to a fission-fusion society: A case study of the African lion (Panthera leo). Ecology and Evolution, ece3.5456

2018

Dickman, A.J., Johnson, P.J., ‘t Sas-Rolfes, M., Di Minin, E., Loveridge, A.J., Good, C., Sibanda, L., Feber, R., Harrington, L., Mbizah, M.M., Cotterill, A., Burnham, D and Macdonald,D.W (2018). Is there an elephant in the room? A Response to Batavia et al. Conservation Letters, DOI: 10.1111/conl.12603

2016

Mbizah. M.M., Steenkamp, G & Groom, R.J. (2016). Evaluation of the applicability of different age determination methods for estimating age of the endangered African wild dog Lycaon pictus. PLOS One 11 (10), e0164676

2014

Mbizah. M.M., Groom, R.J., Jourbert. D & Jourbert. L (2014). Implications of African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) denning on the density and distribution of a key prey species: addressing myths and misperceptions. Biodiversity Conservation 23:1441-1451 DOI: 10.1007/s10531-014-0675-9

2012

Mbizah. M.M., Marino, J & Groom, R.J (2012). Diet of four sympatric carnivores in Save´ Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe: implications for conservation of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). South African Journal of Wildlife Research 42:94-103 DOI: 10.3957/056.042.0213