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Spotted hyaena are the most abundant of all large carnivores in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring in a wide variety of habitats. However, their range was drastically reduced during the 20th century, continuing into the current one. The reduction in numbers and distribution has been accelerating as the human population grows, resulting in an increase in conflict between hyaena and human development. This problem is accentuated in areas of high human density. The future for spotted hyaena outside protected areas remains precarious. It is difficult to reconcile the presence of spotted hyaena in agricultural areas, as they are formidable livestock killers and are actively persecuted. Because the spotted hyaena is unable to inhabit agricultural areas successfully its future is tied to the long-term future of conservation areas.

The Caprivi has three National Parks: Bwabwata National Park (BNP) in the west, and Mudumu and Mamili National Parks in the east. High-density human settlements and related livestock farming practices on the periphery of these protected areas result in the highest Human Wildlife Conflict area in Namibia.

In some conservancies in the eastern Caprivi, spotted hyaena are thought to be responsible for over 50% of all livestock losses to large carnivores. Next to elephant they are considered the biggest problem animal in all conservancies throughout Namibia.

Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) is a threat to conservation and the goals and objectives of the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme that is practiced within the Caprivi conservancies. At the same time spotted hyaena are considered conservation-dependent and much of their range in Namibia is data deficient. The Caprivi Spotted Hyaena Project is the first attempt to study their ecology and related Human Wildlife Conflict in the north-east region of Namibia.

Objectives
The overall aim of the project is to determine the demography, land use characteristics and limiting factors of spotted hyaena in the Caprivi, including protected areas, with a view to assisting with conservation and conservancy management strategies.

The project will produce an overall management plan for spotted hyaena within Protected Areas and the surrounding human settlement areas of the Caprivi Region. This management strategy will be relevant to policies for the greater Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) of which the Caprivi forms a significant part.

Conservancies and livestock farmers will benefit from the study of spotted hyaena and their interaction with livestock and the effectiveness of farming methods presently used in human settlement areas.

Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism will benefit through a spotted hyaena management plan that will pertain not only to the Caprivi Protected Areas, but to other parks that fall within spotted hyaena distribution in Namibia. Research results will be most relevant in indicating whether consumptive use practices are sustainable.

Community Development NGOs  play a significant role in assisting communities in setting trophy hunting quotas every year. These quotas are based on number of conflict incidents as well as numbers of a particular species to be hunted, and are obtained from regular and ongoing wildlife census work, but are not relevant to carnivore species. For the first time information on a carnivore population estimate as well as the makeup of the social group will be available to guide these management decisions.

Methodology
The project will focus on conservancies falling within the Mudumu North Complex (MNC), a human and livestock settlement area that falls between two national parks, BNP and Mudumu National Park. As large scale poisoning of problem animals is no longer practised spotted hyaena have become significant predators of livestock in this area. It is perceived that problem animals originate from the adjacent protected areas rather than within the conservancies themselves.

A hyaena clan originating in the Mudumu National Park will be studied intensively to monitor their movements both within the park and in the livestock farming areas on the park boundary. In addition, data on diet through scat analysis will be collected to determine whether livestock is a significant food source for spotted hyaena in the Caprivi.

In the communal conservancies, attempts have been made to offset the financial losses of conflict by introducing trophy hunting, which targets and eliminates problem animals. Hunting quotas are set intentionally low as there have been no intensive population studies or long-term monitoring. Some large carnivore species are robust in the face of lethal control; however, spotted hyaena are known to be extremely sensitive to persecution. The clan structure is based on a dominance hierarchy and the removal of only a few key individuals will result in the destruction of the entire clan in the long term.

In addition to the removal of animals through trophy hunting, problem hyaena are killed by community rangers. The effects of this compounded removal on the stability and long-term conservation of spotted hyaena is unknown. Human-related mortality among large carnivores in other studies in hyaena ranges has been known to create population 'sinks' around protected areas; the resulting edge effect appears strong enough to cause local extinction. This project will thus study the size and structure of a clan of spotted hyaena in the eastern Caprivi and monitor this over time to determine whether off-take through trophy hunting is a suitable and sustainable practice.

September 2011
New additions to the Lwazaza Clan.
Lwazaza is one of two waterholes established during the development of the Mudumu North Complex along with large number of wildlife reintroductions by MET. It is situated in the state forest, which is adjacent to the Kwandu Conservancy and close to the Zambian Border. There was very little information on which species of wildlife are found within this thick woodland until an infra-red remote camera was placed at this waterhole. Before long, there were detailed photos of predators, particularly spotted hyaenas, but also wild dog, leopard and caracal.

The spotted hyaena photographs were good enough to identify individuals and age classes within a clan structure. Although, not much information is available on this clan, with photographs taken over the last couple of months, it has become clear that the den of this clan must be very close to the waterhole. The reason for this is that two young cubs have been photographed playing with their mother and other clan members for many hours at the waterhole. Young cubs of this age do not venture far from the den and are very dependent on the mother’s milk for survival, which is their only sustenance until they are over one year old. There is now photographic evidence that there are now a minimum of seven members of the Lwazaza Clan, which includes the new cubs. It is encouraging to know that despite hyaena populations being fragmented within areas of livestock farming, they are able to exist in stable groups immediately adjacent if the group is left undisturbed.

Please click here for the full report.
Please click here for a reference map with location names.

June 2011
In the past year there have been some significant changes in the BNP. One that affects spotted hyaenas in many ways is the settling of a pride of lions in the Kwando core area.

These two species have a very interesting co-existence, which has often been misinterpreted by wildlife managers. Spotted hyaena numbers have been blamed for the suppression of lion populations in many wildlife areas in Africa. This in fact is not the case, as lions and hyaena fulfil different niches in the ecosystem. For the first time in many years there have observations of interaction between these two species in Bwabwata.

During a transect foot count in September 2010, a spotted hyaena was found scavenging off of a lechwe killed by lions. An adult hyaena carcass was found in the Sanzo Omuramba during a foot patrol in March 2011 my MET Park staff. Examining the carcass revealed that it had been killed by lions.

Please click here for the full report.
Please click here for a reference map with location names.

Annual Report 2011
The project examined the role of spotted hyaena as well as livestock management practices that contribute to Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC), and attempted to establish the density and population stability of the species.

It is perceived by livestock farmers that problem animals originate from Protected Areas (PAs) to kill livestock. Data on predator related livestock losses showed that highest number of losses occurred within Mashi Conservancy (69 cattle and 53 goats) followed by Sobbe (19 cattle and 19 goats), assumed to be due to their close proximity to Mudumu National Park.

To assess farmer vigilance, the road from Singalamwe in Kwandu Conservancy to the Mudumu entrance gate was driven nightly between 19:30 and 22:30. All livestock outside kraals and unaccompanied by herders were recorded. Farmers within Kwandu adhere strictly to the HACCSIS (Human Animal Conflict Community Self Insurance Scheme) whereas many in Mashi Conservancy leave cattle to graze for weeks in the veld unguarded.

Methods used to assess hyaena presence and density included baiting areas, collaring one individual (unsuccessful) due to poor network coverage) and covering transects in search of scat and latrines. From four baiting areas, only two spotted hyaena were recorded on infrared camera at one baiting site within the conservancy areas. Three sites had no hyaena response and two had no response from any predator at all.

Despite extensive driving and walking, no latrines have been located. Only five individual scat samples were recovered throughout the MNC access roads; these consist mostly of powdery calcium with minimal prey remains, indicating that all were the result of scavenging activity. The few species found in the scat include springhare and duiker.

Results therefore indicate that spotted hyaena play a much smaller role in HWC than is thought. It is clear that farmer vigilance contributes significantly to HWC mitigation. There is every indication that density is extremely low and that the population in the east Caprivi is fragmented due to trophy hunting and persecution.

Recommendations have been made to MET to remove spotted hyaena from the trophy hunting quota in the west Caprivi due to the park’s role in protecting species; further research into the sustainability and effects of trophy hunting on this species in the Caprivi is a matter of urgency.

October 2010
From the field
As the previous baiting site was surprisingly unsuccessful, a new bait site was established in the Ngonga Wildlife Corridor near the new Njalimgombe waterhole, the corridor which crosses between the east and west Caprivi. There has been a lot of spotted hyaena activity within the corridor and spoor has been seen right up against the floodplain going back up into the forest. Spoor has also regularly been seen around the Njalingombe waterhole and the whooping sound of hyaena communicating are also becoming more frequent. Although this is not an indication of increasing numbers of hyaena, it is possible that there is more frequent use of the area due to use of the newly available water supply and lack of human habitation. Hunting within the wildlife corridor is also forbidden.

While there was hyaena activity at this bait site, the East Caprivi hyaena are exceptionally shy of people as they are killed in retaliation for livestock predation and trophy hunting, therefore hyaena would not approach the bait when a vehicle was parked anywhere in the vicinity. However, finally a male hyaena in the area was immobilized, ear notched and collared. He was in excellent condition although very scarred due to fighting which suggests the presence of other hyaena. A three year old adult, he weighs approximately 55 kg. Blood samples and smears were taken. CCC-7 therefore is the first east Caprivi hyaena to be captured.

Unfortunately the GSM collar has not yet transmitted any data on CCC-7's movements. The collar has been set to take a location every hour on the hour throughout the night so that nightly movements can be monitored. GSM collars are dependent on an adequate cell phone network reception and will download data at a preset time. Despite the East Caprivi having adequate cell phone towers, the hyaena is obviously not currently within the range at the right time. However with radio telemetry he was tracked down from an aircraft and found within the Mudumu National Park about eight kilometres south of the border. Although extremely limited, this information suggests large movements across a number of conservancies as well as a national park, which has implications for conservancy species management decisions.

MNC Waterhole monitoring

A camera has been set up at the Lwazaze waterhole situated approximately 15 km east of the Kwando River and about 5 km south of the Zambian border right in the north of the MNC and Njalingombebeen. The camera has been monitoring species of wildlife that have been visiting the waterholes. The Lwazaze camera has recorded more predators than any other species of wildlife, which is very interesting considering the thickness of the forest in the area. Predator records include leopard, wild dog and spotted hyaena. Through photo ID, five individuals of one clan have been identified as using this waterhole. They are regular visitors and repeated photos have helped with identifying association of individuals within groups as well as recording some interesting behaviour. The group consists of one sub-adult and two adult females of which one has two large cubs of approximately one year old. All predators have approached the waterhole from the north, which suggests that they are also likely to also live in the Sioma Ngwezi National Park just over the border in Zambia. From photographic evidence only, the age classes of these hyaena suggest a stable group. This clan would be ideal for a trans-boundary study between a National Park in one country and a subsistence farming area in another.

Diet of East Caprivi hyaena

The evidence of the choice of prey is based on three scats which were picked up at both waterholes and on the track leading to Njalingombe waterhole. Some of the prey items identified are bush buck, duiker, kudu and springhare. No livestock has been present in any of the samples.

Despite extensive driving and walking throughout the Mudumu North Complex, no hyaena latrines have been found. Access to the forest area is limited so the extensive network of game trails need to be explored on foot. Game Guards who patrol fixed routes throughout their conservancies only occasionally find hyaena scat and no latrines were located during the wildlife transect count which is carried out on foot throughout the entire MNC conservancies. When more data on the movements of east Caprivi hyaena is obtained from the collars then these areas can be examined for evidence of latrines.