Unprecedented opportunities for broadly-based wildlife disease research exist in Africa but they are not fully utilized. At the same time there are urgent economic and other reasons for increased research all over Africa into the ecological inter-relationships between wildlife, livestock, and man in the widest sense. Research needs and priorities for wildlife disease investigations in Africa are described. They differ, however, in accordance with local conditions and levels of development. The principles which govern wildlife diseases are in many respects better understood in non-African countries and species. This warrants increased international engagement of research workers and institutes specialized in wildlife disease research, in multilateral or bilateral assistance programmes aimed at the control of livestock disease cr zoonoses in Africa; also in programmes designed to improve management and utilization of African wildlife.