This conservation unit was established in 1961at Mweya in Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda, as a result of negotiations between the Uganda National Parks, the Zoological Society of London, the Nuffield Foundation and University of Cambridge. It was the first wildlife research station to be established in Africa. The foundation provided a grant of £85,000 over a period of 10 years for buildings, equipment and research staff, later augmented to cover rising costs. The grant was administered by the University and the Directing Committee was based in the Department of Zoology. In 1972 the Unit was transferred to the Uganda Institute of Ecology. The Unit's research programme examined factors affecting ecosystem balance. Among completed studies were analyses of the effects of over-cropping by large mammals, including hippopotamus, elephant, buffalo and waterbuck. In 1965 the Unit also investigated elephant cropping in Murchison Falls Park. For further background information, see L.C. Beadle 'The Nuffield Unit of Tropical Animal Ecology' in J.Zool.Lond. (1974) 173, 539-548.