Spotted Hyena

The spotted hyena, or laughing hyena, is the largest and best-known member of the hyena family. It is primarily a predator. Individuals have been clocked at over 55 kilometers per hour, and when hunting in packs are capable of taking down the largest of prey.

The spotted hyena is widely distributed within Africa south of the Sahara in a variety of ecosystems however, its population numbers have been greatly reduced in many savanna areas and the species has been almost exterminated in South Africa. The population of spotted hyena within Zimbabwe is estimated at 5,600 but is found here mostly within, and along the borders of, protected areas such as National Parks and Wildlife Conservancies and is classified by IUCN/SSC as ‘Lower Risk: Conservation Dependent’

The rapid decline of populations outside conservation areas due to persecution and habitat loss makes hyenas increasingly dependent on the continued existence of protected areas (IUCN 1998). As Hwange National Park holds around 20% of the hyena population of the country in one protected area, it is a very important stronghold for the species.

To address these issues and to give the DNPWLM tools for managing spotted hyenas in Hwange National Park the purpose of the Hyena Research & Conservation Project is to obtain in situ data on:

· Population and density of spotted hyenas

· Home Range distribution and size

· Diet of hyenas

· Interaction with other carnivores

· Social Behavior of spotted hyenas in the typical mixed woodland environment of Hwange National Park

A big opportunity on working on the hyena project appeared as guards from the park had found a dead white female rhino next to a pan one morning. It didn’t seem as it has been killed or attacked by other animals, so it was cut open to take samples of organs in order to be able to establish the course of death. When opening the stomach it appeared that the rhino was pregnant, almost end of the term which is 15 months. The baby rhino that was pulled out was dead as well. Heartbreaking to see, knowing that rhinos are endangered species and they only give birth every 4-5 years. The guards had cut of the horn and feet to prevent illegal hunters do to it. Illegal hunters will kill a rhino just for the horn, the feet are being used as trophies.

We arrived at the site in the evening and saw that the hyenas had already started the feast. Sitting on top of the car we were observing a group of 10 hyenas. 4 of them were eating the mother rhino while 2 others had dragged the baby to the side so they had peace to enjoy their meal.

Our job was to select one hyena and note down the time when it was eating and when it was lifting its head (to check for intruders and other danger). They actually lift their head 3-4 times per minute so it was quite a long report we were writing. Amazing how strong these animals are. The hyena has extremely strong jaws: It bites 3 tons per square-inch which is equivalent to +- 1 ton per square-centimetre.

As the rhino had been cut open by the guards, one hyena actually went inside the body of the rhino to get the best parts, the organs. We could hear the sound of the hyena biting into the dead body and could see how the body of a 1,6 tons rhino was moving. There we were, having 1st class seats to this spectacular event.

During our stay in the park we were lucky to see a female, male and baby rhino.

Later on in the week, while tracking a lion, we found the rest of a dead zebra. Brent took the gps coordinates and when arriving at “home” we reported to Jane.

This was another opportunity to work on the hyena project in the evening.This day showed to be a long day as we had been tracking a lion (which we never found) for 8 hours, had 45 min to prepare supper to bring with us in the evening, prepare our bags and then leave to work on the hyena project the whole evening. But it doesn’t matter. It is so exiting to be in the bush as you never know what you will see.

So, we went back in the evening and found the dead zebra.
Jane was going to identify the zebra by checking the teeth, the corps etc and take pictures of it. All zebras have different patterns. On the back of the zebra we could see wounds from claws, lion claws.
We were amazed to see how Jane “the bush-woman” was manipulating the corps with here bare hands. She really belongs in the bush and she knows her job very well.

The procedure for working on the hyena project is to first drive 1 kilometre away and note down all predators that you see within that distance. Then return to the dead corps and observe and note hyena activity.

It was dark so we used a big spotlight to search for predators while driving. Since we do not have the experience of being able to distinguish predator shining eyes in the dark from spring-hare or buffalo shining eyes, we had quite some remarks from Jane asking us only to put the light on the predators (which we still could not distinguish from the spring-hares).

Returning to the point where the dead zebra was, we had a surprise. The zebra had disappeared!! Before going on our 1 kilometre drive we had seen a hyena near the zebra so we figured that the hyena had moved it. Jane’s order was to find the zebra from the roof of the car with the spotlight.We found it!! A hyena had dragged it from the road to behind some bushes. Since we couldn’t see the hyena or the zebra we were just sitting listening to the sound of the hyena eating the zebra. More hyenas came to have a bite, one passed by with a big lump in his mouth. This is nature and it is such a privilege to be able to observe and feel it so close.