Dr Richard Hoare

Dr Richard Hoare is a wildlife veterinarian with a PhD in interactions between humans and African elephants.He formed and led the first working group on human-elephant conflict (HEC) in the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group and over 20 years has overseen many of its outputs to assist wildlife managers with HEC and to help African elephant range states to develop national management plans to conserve the species effectively. He has published numerous scientific papers on the behaviour and management of ‘problem elephants’ and continues to encourage wide collaboration with experts in other taxa who work with all forms of HWC.

He has worked in varied conservation positions in many African countries, including almost a decade in the Serengeti, Tanzania and is a member of four IUCN specialist groups. He is based in Zimbabwe where he is active in the fields of elephant research, human wildlife conflict with elephants and carnivores, and wildlife capture and veterinary training. His present geographic focus is the Zimbabwe component of the massive Kavango Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA –TFCA) region, spanning five southern African countries.