Welcome to the Department of Wildlife Management, one of the six Departments in the College of Forestry, wildlife and Tourism of the Sokoine University of Agriculture. The Department hosts four degree programmes: two undergraduate (Tourism & Wildlife) and two postgraduate (MSc & PhD). The Department of Wildlife Management came into operation as a unit in 1998 under the Dean’s Office producing its first batch in 2001. The department is renowned for providing outstanding training, research, consultancies and extension services in wildlife and tourism management. Presently there are 30 academics and five administrative members of staff. Academic staff members include 4 Associate Professors, 1 Senior Lecturer, 13 Lecturers, 8 Assistant Lecturers and 4 Tutorial Assistants. Due to the increasing demand for competent wildlife personnel, MSc. in Wildlife Management was established in 2005, and a year later a Zoology building was erected to serve as a teaching facility and lab for the wildlife management programmes as well as the tourism management, which was established in 2008.
The department runs a field-based training programme aiming at equipping undergraduates with skills on wildlife ecology, wildlife management and environmental social-economic guiding principles. The training mainly takes place at SUA campuses for lectures and lab practical’s. Field practical training take place in protected areas and other designated conservation and tourism stations suitable. The department usually administers the execution of a range of elementary and pragmatic research projects on all areas covering resource inventory, animal and landscape ecology, habitat mapping, ecosystems management, sustainable resource use, socio-economic, resource use planning and management. The department has established collaborations with different stakeholders including government and private sectors, at both local and international levels. These stakeholders provide enabling environment to students and research groups in common areas of interest and facilitate the exchange of scientific research information within and outside the country. As a department, we are committed to be the centre of excellence in wildlife and tourism management to serve government agencies, NGOs and private sectors both at national and international levels.