PhD research · Tanzania and Hungary
Linking what browsers and grazers eat to what is available, how plants change through the seasons and how nutritious they are.
Two study sites
A savanna and an oak forest
Makuyuni Wildlife Park in northern Tanzania and Valkó Forest near Gödöllő in Hungary: one shaped by rain, one by the temperate seasons.
Fieldwork
Research in progress
Field seasons in Tanzania and Hungary, with laboratory work and analysis under way.
DaviGherbivores
Fieldwork without signal
The project's own field app records plants, signs and photos offline at remote plots and syncs the team's data later.
Welcome · About the study
Ungulates don't eat plants in proportion to how common they are. They select. This project asks which plants browsers and grazers choose through the year, and why some species are favoured over others.
The work brings together fieldwork in an African savanna and a European oak forest, to understand how wild herbivores use the vegetation around them.
Where we work
Contrasting systems show which feeding rules are general and which depend on the environment.
Semi-arid Acacia–Commiphora bushland and grassland, used by giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, gazelles, eland, dik-dik, elephant and livestock.
Temperate oak–hornbeam forest with edges and clearings near Gödöllő, used by red, roe and fallow deer, wild boar and mouflon.
Montane forest, grassland and wetlands on the slopes of Mount Meru, home to giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck and dik-dik.
What we want to know
Which plant species and plant parts do wild ungulates use most, and how does this change through the year?
Do ungulates mainly eat the most abundant plants, or do they seek out particular species however common they are?
Do plant form, seasonal state and food quality help explain why some species are favoured over others?
Also in progress: a field guide to the forage plants of Makuyuni Wildlife Park and Arusha National Park, covering identification, phenology and use by wild herbivores, illustrated with photographs from the fieldwork.
How we are doing
Results will be shared here once they are published.
Permission for fieldwork in Tanzania from COSTECH, TAWIRI, TAWA and TANAPA.
First field season in the oak–hornbeam forest near Gödöllő, Hungary, spring 2026.
Field season in northern Tanzania, August 2026.
The project's own app for recording fieldwork offline, November 2026.
Plant samples from the field are being processed.
Follow-up visits in Tanzania and the main survey in Hungary.
Findings will be published in journals and in the PhD thesis.
The field app
Built for this project as an alternative to generic survey forms, DaviGherbivores helps the field team record observations and photos at remote sites and keeps everyone's records together. It can be used at study sites anywhere in the world.
Sign-in accounts are created by the project leader for the field team.
In pictures
Scenes from the fieldwork. Tap a photo to view it large.
Collaborate on ungulate feeding research
Interested in collaborating, or in using DaviGherbivores at your own study site? Get in touch.
Latest
The standalone app now works without signal at remote sites and keeps the field team's records together.
The team completed the dry-season field season at Makuyuni Wildlife Park, Tanzania.
A first field season in the oak–hornbeam forest near Gödöllő, Hungary.
Eustace, A., Gunda, D.M., Mremi, R. et al. Patterns pertaining to crocodile attacks on humans in Tanzania: baseline data to support mitigation measures. Human Ecology 50: 953–961. doi:10.1007/s10745-022-00355-z
Gunda, D.M., Kahana, L.W., Mahenya, O., Sylvina, T.J. & Eustace, A. Distance from the tourist trail and daylight condition affect the abundance of Mwanza flat-headed rock agama (Agama mwanzae) in Saanane National Park, Tanzania. Journal of East African Natural History 109(2): 49–58.
Gunda, D.M., Chambi, D. & Eustace, A. Do vegetation, disturbances, and water influence large mammal distribution? Geology, Ecology, and Landscapes. doi:10.1080/24749508.2020.1809060
Eustace, A. & Gunda, D.M. Primary school student visitation in Serengeti National Park. Cogent Social Sciences 4: 1440497. doi:10.1080/23311886.2018.1440497
Gunda, D.M., Mgelwa, D.M. & Eustace, A. Influence of agriculture on diversity and abundance of macroscopic ground crawling terrestrial arthropods in Mweka, Kilimanjaro. Journal of Biodiversity Management & Forestry 5(3). doi:10.4172/2327-4417.1000163
Gunda, D.M. & Mgelwa, D.M. Impacts of advanced technology and poaching on conservation. Tanzania Wildlife Magazine, July–September 2013.
Further articles in English and Swahili in Tanzania Wildlife Magazine and Kakakuona Magazine.
Gunda, D.M. Trophy hunting in Tanzania: assessing preferences and markets for the hunters.
Gunda, D.M., Msyani, E., Shillah, E., Njovu, H. & Malley, P. Effect of current human population growth within the Tarangire–Manyara wildlife corridor.
Gunda, D.M. & Kimario, F. Contribution of curio shops to the growth of tourism and the livelihood of the proprietors, Arusha town, Tanzania.
Mremi, R.F., Sanya, J.J., Eustace, A. & Gunda, D.M. Population estimate and distribution of Maasai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) in Arusha National Park, Tanzania.
Field guide to the forage plants of Makuyuni Wildlife Park and Arusha National Park.
People
The researcher
Wildlife ecologist · PhD researcher, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) · also known as David
Daud Gunda is a wildlife ecologist with more than eight years of experience in wildlife conservation. His work spans wildlife ecology, human–wildlife conflict, community conservation, tourism management, anti-poaching, wildlife research and database management.
He holds an MSc in Wildlife Management Engineering from the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE). Before that, he trained for six consecutive years at the College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka, in Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, progressing from a Certificate and an Ordinary Diploma to a Bachelor's degree in Wildlife Management, all taught in English.
Since completing his BSc, he has published five articles in peer-reviewed journals, several with colleagues, on topics from large mammal distribution and human–wildlife conflict to reptiles and ground-dwelling arthropods. His PhD research examines how wild ungulates select their food according to plant species composition, phenology and nutritional quality, in Tanzania and Hungary.
For collaboration, data or access to DaviGherbivores, contact Daud M. Gunda.
With gratitude
This research is possible thanks to the supervisors, the scholarship, the host university and the Tanzanian institutions that granted permission and support for the fieldwork.
Thanks also to the field assistants, rangers and laboratory staff who supported data collection and sample analysis.
