A Unique Symbiosis Between Farmers And Brown Hyenas

Although the Kruger National Park is a haven for South African wildlife, it is not the ideal home for the secretive and submissive brown hyena, also referred to as the wolf or strandwolf. Farmland outside of protected areas is vital to their survival. Dr Katy Williams, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mpumalanga, has been finding out why.

- Katy Williams

Using data from 984 camera trap stations located at sites across seven South African provinces, Dr Katy Williams and her colleagues at the University of Mpumalanga and Durham University are determining which factors affect brown hyenas’ land usage.

The camera traps were set up in national parks, nature reserves, and on game and cattle farms. Panthera, an international organisation dedicated to the conservation of wild cats, ran the surveys in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute and other stakeholders.

“The results indicate that land usage by brown hyenas is driven by human disturbance and co-occurring predator species,” says Williams. “Higher levels of activity by humans on foot and spotted hyenas had a negative effect on brown hyena land usage, while higher levels of vehicle activity and leopard activity had a positive influence.”

SHY AND SOLITARY

Many farmers may not even realise they have brown hyenas on their land, and few will encounter one. The animals are active almost exclusively at night, foraging alone, moving silently through the veld and rarely calling. During the day they rest in a communal den.

Brown hyenas do not attack humans. In fact, Williams’s research determined that they actively avoid areas with high human foot traffic. This may be because humans present a threat to them through poaching, legal hunting or damage causing animal control.