Moreangels M.
Mbizah PhD
Bio
Dr Moreangels Mbizah is a conservation biologist working at the intersection of conservation and community development. Moreangels has a Doctoral Degree in Zoology from the University of Oxford, where she studied African lions. Her work on lions was in 2018 featured in a National Geographic short film “One Woman’s Remarkable Journey to Protect Lions”. Moreangels is the Founder and Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation Action, an organization focusing on strengthening the capacity of local communities to reduce the negative impacts of human wildlife conflicts on community livelihoods and conservation of wildlife. Moreangels’ work is currently focused on finding and applying innovative ways to promote human-wildlife coexistence and socio-economic development of communities living adjacent to wildlife areas. In 2019 Moreangels was awarded with a TED Fellowship and gave a TED talk “How community led conservation can save wildlife”. Moreangels is a Mandela Washington Fellow and a Kinship Conservation Fellow and is passionate about inspiring and mentoring Africa’s next generation of conservation leaders. She is a National Geographic Explorer and a recipient of 2025 National Geographic Wayfinder Award.
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Awards
1. National Geographic 2025 Wayfinder Award presented by Kia • 2025 •
Fellowships
1. Kinship Conservation Fellowship • 2025 • https://kinshipfellows.org/community/
2. Women for Environments Africa (WE Africa) • 2024 •
https://womenforenvironment.org/we_community/dr-moreangels-mbizah/
3. Mandela Washington Fellow • 2021 • Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, USA
https://www.mandelawashingtonfellowship.org/fellow/moreangels-muchaneta-mbizah/
4. Homeward Bound (HB6 cohort) • 2021 • Homeward Bound Projects, Australia
https://homewardboundprojects.com.au/profile/moreangels-muchaneta-mbizah/
5. TED Fellow • 2019 • Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED), USA
https://fellows.ted.com/fellows/11880963
Education
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
2025
Sibanda, L., Dickman, A., Hughes, C., Tacey, J., Madsen, E., Mandoloma, L., Mbizah, M.M., Mutinhima, Y., Rono, B., Kulunge, S., Kimaili, D., Bhujle, T., Macdonald, D.W., Hare, D. (2025) Avoiding an impending collision in international conservation. Conservation Biology. 39(2):e14450. doi: 10.1111/cobi.14450.
2024
Green, A. R., Chakrabarti, S., Shivakumar, S., Hughes, C., Banerjee, S., Kinyanjui, M. W., Mbizah, M.M., Ohrens, O., & Thiemkey, A. R. (2024). Creating constellations of coexistence through connections between people in human–wildlife conflict areas. Conservation Biology, 38, e14402.
Duncan, P., Valeix, M., Loveridge, A.J., Grange, S., Barnier, F., Ncube, H., Périquet, S., Vitet, C., Davidson, Z., Mbizah, M. and Madhlamoto, D. (2024). Population limitation of a non‐ruminant in a nutrient‐poor ecosystem—predation rather than food. African Journal of Ecology, 62(3), p.e13294.
E. Sandoval-Serés, M. Mbizah, S. Phiri, S.P. Chatikobo, M. Valeix, E. van der Meer, E. Dröge, D. Madhlamoto, H. Madzikanda, P. Blinston, A.J. Loveridge. (2024). Food resource competition between African wild dogs and larger carnivores in an ecosystem with artificial water provision. Ecol. Evol., 14 (3), pp. 1-15, 10.1002/ece3.11141
2023
Nicholson, S. K., Dickman, A., Hinks, A., Riggio, J., Bauer, H., Loveridge, A., Becker, M., Begg, C., Bhalla, S., Burnham, D., Cotterill, A., Dolrenry, S., Dröge, E., Funston, P., Hazzah, L., Ikanda, D., Gebresenbet, F., Henschel, P., Mandisodza-Chikerema, R. L., Mbizah, M., … Jacobson, A. P. (2023). Socio-political and ecological fragility of threatened, free-ranging African lion populations. Communications Earth & Environment, 4, 302. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00959-3
Jordan, N. R., Golabek, K. A., Marneweck, C. J., Marneweck, D. G., Mbizah, M. M., Ngatia, D., Rabaiotti, D., Tshimologo, B., & Watermeyer, J. (2023). Hunting behavior and social ecology in African wild dogs. In M. Srinivasan & B. Würsig (Eds.), Social strategies of carnivorous mammalian predators (pp. 177–227). Springer.
2022
Becker, M. S., Becker, M. S., Almeida, J., Begg, C., Bertola, L., Breitenmoser, C., Breitenmoser, U., Coals, P., Funston, P., Gaylard, A., Groom, R., Henschel, P., Ikanda, D., Jorge, A., Kruger, J., Lindsey, P., Maimbo, H., Mandisodza-Chikerema, R., Maude, G., Mbizah, M.,… Hunter, L. (2022). Guidelines for evaluating the conservation value of African lion (Panthera leo) translocations. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 3, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2022.963961
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