Leopard Rewilding can be successful The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust in cooperation with Shayamanzi Leopard Project recently envisaged on a project to prove the viability and success of rewilding a young wild born leopard cub back into the wild. The 6 month old leopard was received by the D...
| Brown Hyena Research | | Print | |
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The Brown Hyena Research Project is a Namibian non-profit organisation that was founded in 1997. Brown and spotted hyena behavioural ecology is studied in the Sperrgebiet National Park and the southern part of the Namib Naukluft Park. There are only three areas with cellular networks in our study area, the towns of Lüderitz and Oranjemund and the settlement of Aus.  The first brown hyena was fitted with a GSM collar around the town of Lüderitz in May 2009. She is a well-known female, approximately 10-12 years old, who had been fitted with radio and GPS telemetry collars in the past. Therefore Minerva’s (that’s how this hyena is known) life was already well studied and we knew that she roams around the streets of Lüderitz at night and also regularly forages at the town’s rubbish dump, which made her a perfect choice for fitting the first GSM collar. Shortly after we fitted the collar, the data suggested that Minerva was denning and we confirmed the location of the den site at the beginning of June. Minerva moved her cubs to other dens several times, which is not unusual for brown hyenas. I monitored one of the dens occasionally during the day, so that I would not disturb the denning activity and also not to draw attention to the den sites, as they are very close to town. In February 2010 I finally caught a glimpse of Minerva’s cubs and to my surprise there were four of them and all seemed to be in a good condition. These cubs will be weaned around the middle of 2010 and I will continue monitoring Minerva’s den until then.  Den observations are obviously the most interesting ones, but data recorded by the GSM collar provide valuable information that helps the conservation of brown hyenas in urban areas. Hyenas in general suffer of a bad reputation and are often persecuted without reason. The public is poorly educated about the behaviour and value of this carnivore species and in the town of Lüderitz, brown hyenas have been stoned to death on two occasions and are also occasionally poached, as some hyena parts are used for traditional healing purposes. The more information we gain about the behavioural ecology of these urban hyenas, the better we can educate the public and raise awareness about this special carnivore species.  More information about the Brown Hyena Research Project can be downloaded at www.strandwolf.org.za or you can contact Dr. Ingrid Wiesel at
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