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Sengwa Wildlife Research Area (SWRA) is situated at the southern end of Chirisa
Safari Area (18 10 S, 28 o14 E) in Gokwe South District, north-western Zimbabwe.  Covering an area of about 373km2, the area was set aside in the late 1960s for
long-term wildlife and ecological research.  The primary objective was to study
game-tsetse relationships with a view to eradicate tsetse flies (this lasted until 1971),
but the mandate has since been broadened to a wider scope of ecological research
.  A permanent Research Institute was established in 1971 and is well placed to
serve the ecological and wildlife research needs of the Sebungwe region.  The
Research Institute has ample facilities to house seven full time research workers,
a station manager and support staff.  There are seven spatious laboratory-offices
, an electronics laboratory, a chemical laboratory, a herbarium, two dark rooms and
a large laboratory with enough bench space for twenty individuals.  There is also
a separate workshop-abbatoir complex.

The facilities, background information and data are available at the Research
Institute for use by visiting and resident researchers.  There are a series of
black-and-white aerial photographs from as far back as 1964.  Also available are
three sets of detailed colour photography at scales of 1:10 000 and some at
1:5 000.  Rainfall records dating back to 1965 are available at the Institute. 
Several topographic and vegetation maps of the area can also be consulted at the
Institute.  The station herbarium, which houses hundreds of plant specimens is a
valuable collection for reference and naming or conforming plant names.  Data on
animal numbers and seasonal movements are also available from counts done
along permanent transects since the late 1960s.

The SWRA has a diverse large animal mammal community of 7 species of large
carnivores and 18 species of large herbivores.  The area also boasts diverse
communities of birds, small mammals and reptiles.  There is a wide variety of
vegetation types, 26 types having been described and mapped by Cumming (1970 )
.  A wide range of research projects have been done in the SWRA since its
establishment.  A number of projects are presently being undertaken. 
This bibliography lists and summarises much of the published literature and
unpublished dissertations on the work that has been done in the SWRA and its
immediate surrounds