Food base of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in Ethiopia

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gidey Yirga ◽  
Hans H. De Iongh ◽  
Herwig Leirs ◽  
Kindeya Gebrehiwot ◽  
Jozef Deckers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Scat Analysis ◽  
Livestock Depredation ◽  
Waste Dumps ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Study Sites

Context Livestock depredation and scavenging of waste by the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) occurs widely across Ethiopia. Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the food base of the spotted hyena and livestock depredation across Ethiopia. Methods The diet of spotted hyenas was assessed in 17 randomly selected study sites across the country, including two national parks, by scat analysis. We conducted an extensive survey of livestock depredation and economic impact in 10 randomly selected subdistricts using semistructured interviews with 3080 randomly selected households. Key results We found that even spotted hyenas from national parks feed predominantly on anthropogenic waste. Households reported losses of 2230 domestic animals, 3.9% of their stock or an average annual financial loss of US$10.3 per household over the past five years. The diet of spotted hyenas showed only prey items of domestic origin except in Chebera Churchura National Park, where a few items of prey of wild species were found. Frequencies of prey remains of cattle, sheep, donkey and goat were highest in decreasing order. Key conclusions Survival of hyenas in Ethiopia is thus largely and widely dependent on management of livestock conflict and waste. Some hairs in scats originated from depredation, but most food intake is from waste dumps and slaughterhouses. Implications Waste management, spotted hyena persistence and environmental sanitation area are linked.

Taphonomic and zooarchaeological implications of spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) bone accumulations in Kenya: a modern behavioral ecological approach

Paleobiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah W. Lansing ◽  
Susan M. Cooper ◽  
Erin E. Boydston ◽  
Kay E. Holekamp
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Behavioral Variability ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
Bone Accumulation

The significant impact of extant carnivores, particularly spotted hyenas, on the depositional history and physical characteristics of archaeofaunal and paleontological assemblages is well recognized. We focus on the behavioral ecology of extant spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in relation to bone accumulations produced by one East African clan at communal dens. Limbs and skulls of prey animals more frequently appear at dens than do other carcass portions. These items reflect the relative abundance of prey species near dens; carnivore remains are poorly represented. Comparative analysis reveals that bones are deposited far more slowly (<7 carcass portions per month) and accumulations tend to be smaller at Crocuta dens than at dens of either brown (Parahyaena brunnea) or striped (Hyaena hyaena) hyenas. We propose that extant Crocuta bone accumulation rates and sizes are likely affected by prey species abundance, clan size, social interactions within the clan, and the type and availability of den sites. We also suggest that the potential for intraspecific behavioral variability in bone accumulation patterns is important when comparisons are made among spotted hyena populations and across hyena species. For example, accumulation patterns may be dramatically influenced by the temporal span, potentially ranging from days to hundreds or thousands of years, in which bones are collected, depending on the species-specific history of occupation at a given site. Understanding the behavioral and ecological variability likely to influence bone accumulation patterns at dens used by different hyaenids will allow taphonomists and zooarchaeologists to refine their knowledge of mechanisms underlying site formation processes and potential causes of variability in deeper-time den assemblages.

scholarly journals Post-weaning maternal effects and the evolution of female dominance in the spotted hyena

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1665) ◽  
pp. 2291-2298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather E. Watts ◽  
Jaime B. Tanner ◽  
Barbara L. Lundrigan ◽  
Kay E. Holekamp
Keyword(s):  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Compensatory Mechanism ◽  
Feeding Apparatus ◽  
Skull Development ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Maternal Presence ◽  
New Hypothesis

Mammalian societies in which females dominate males are rare, and the factors favouring the evolution of female dominance have yet to be clearly identified. We propose a new hypothesis for the evolution of female dominance and test its predictions with empirical data from the spotted hyena ( Crocuta crocuta ), a well-studied species characterized by female dominance. We suggest that constraints imposed by the development of a feeding apparatus specialized for bone cracking, in combination with the intensive feeding competition characteristic of spotted hyenas, led to the evolution of female dominance. Specifically, we propose that protracted development of the feeding apparatus in young hyenas led to selection for increased aggressiveness in females as a compensatory mechanism for mothers to secure food access for their young after weaning. Our analyses yielded results consistent with this hypothesis. Morphological and behavioural measurements indicate that skull development is indeed protracted in this species; spotted hyenas do not achieve adult skull size or feeding performance capabilities until after sexual maturity. The period between weaning and completed skull development is particularly challenging, as indicated by high mortality. Finally, maternal presence between weaning and full skull maturity, as well as the relative ability of females to aggressively displace conspecifics from food, are important determinants of offspring survival.

Glacial/Interglacial Size Variation in Fossil Spotted Hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) from Britain

1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Klein ◽  
Katharine Scott
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Temperature Variation ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Bergmann’S Rule ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Bergmann's Rule ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe lower carnassial lengths of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in 12 late Pleistocene samples from Britain indicate that, on average, local hyenas of the last (Devensian) glaciation were significantly larger than their last-interglaciation (Ipswichian) counterparts. Together with the tendency for spotted hyena carnassial length to increase with latitude in present-day Africa, this suggests that spotted hyena body size is inversely related to temperature, as predicted by Bergmann's rule. The implication is that spotted hyena carnassial length can be used as an independent gauge of Pleistocene temperature variation, though the combined African and British data imply that the relationship between carnassial length and temperature is curvilinear, such that as temperature declines, equal amounts of further decline produce progressively smaller increases in average carnassial length.

A keystone predator at risk? Density and distribution of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in the Etosha National Park, Namibia

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (10) ◽  
pp. 941-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Trinkel
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Migratory Species ◽  
Mathematical Correlation ◽  
Equus Burchelli ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
The Status ◽  
Connochaetes Taurinus

For wildlife management and conservation biology, it is important to be able to estimate the status and distribution of animals and to monitor their population trends. In the Etosha National Park, Namibia, there is a lack of knowledge about numbers and distribution of spotted hyenas ( Crocuta crocuta (Erxleben, 1777)) and factors regulating their population. To estimate hyena density and distribution, tape-recorded vocalizations (call-ups) were performed to attract hyenas in the central and eastern parts of Etosha. Eighty-five adult and subadult hyenas responded to the calls, with most of them responding in an area with high density of migratory ungulates, principally springbok ( Antidorcas marsupialis (Zimmermann, 1780)), wildebeest ( Connochaetes taurinus (Burchell, 1823)), and Burchell’s zebra ( Equus burchelli (Gray, 1824)). These migratory species are the main prey of spotted hyenas in Etosha. There was a strong spatial relationship between hyena density and migratory prey biomass. Based on this mathematical correlation, I estimated 203 ± 79 hyenas, i.e., 2.7 ± 1.1 hyenas/100 km2, in the central and eastern parts of Etosha. Applying this correlation to the western part of the park, it was possible to estimate 339 ± 176 spotted hyenas, corresponding to an overall density of 2.1 ± 1.0 hyenas/100 km2, in the whole Etosha National Park.

scholarly journals Bells, bomas and beefsteak: complex patterns of human-predator conflict at the wildlife-agropastoral interface in Zimbabwe

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e2898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Loveridge ◽  
Timothy Kuiper ◽  
Roger H. Parry ◽  
Lovemore Sibanda ◽  
Jane Hunt Hunt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Foraging Success ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Livestock Depredation ◽  
Domestic Species ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
Disproportionate Number ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
The One ◽  
Large Predators

Reports of livestock depredation by large predators were systematically collected at three study sites in northwestern Zimbabwe from 2008–2013. We recorded 1,527 incidents (2,039 animals killed and 306 injured). Lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) were mostly responsible, and cattle and donkeys most frequently attacked. Patterns of predation were variable among study sites. Nevertheless, some overall patterns were apparent. Predators selected livestock close to the size of their preferred wild prey, suggesting behaviours evolved to optimise foraging success may determine the domestic species primarily preyed upon. Most attacks occurred when livestock were roaming outside and away from their ‘home’ protective enclosures at night. Hyaena attacks were largely nocturnal; lions and leopards (Panthera pardus) were more flexible, with attacks occurring by day and at night. Livestock fitted with bells suffered a disproportionate number of attacks; the sound of bells appears to have conditioned predators to associate the sound with foraging opportunities. Lion and hyaena attacks on cattle were more frequent in the wet season suggesting that seasonal herding practices may result in cattle vulnerability. Only a small proportion of conflict incidents were reported to wildlife management officials with a bias towards lion predation events, potentially prejudicing conflict management policies. Predation on domestic stock involves an intricate interplay between predator behaviour and ecology on the one hand and human behaviour and husbandry practices on the other. Our data suggest that improved livestock husbandry (supervision of grazing animals, protection at night in strong enclosures) would greatly reduce livestock depredation.

scholarly journals Emotions and Cultural Importance Predict the Acceptance of Large Carnivore Management Strategies by Maasai Pastoralists

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Dheer ◽  
Eve Davidian ◽  
Maarten H. Jacobs ◽  
Julius Ndorosa ◽  
Tanja M. Straka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategies ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Panthera Pardus ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Lethal Control ◽  
Livestock Depredation ◽  
Cultural Importance ◽  
Spotted Hyenas

Management strategies to reduce human-carnivore conflict are most effective when accepted by local communities. Previous studies have suggested that the acceptance depends on emotions toward carnivores, the cultural importance of carnivores, and livestock depredation, and that it may vary depending on the types of strategies and carnivores involved. However, no study so far considered these factors simultaneously to compare their influence on the acceptance of management strategies. We quantified the predictive potential of these factors on the acceptance of three management strategies frequently applied to mitigate human-carnivore conflict: no action, relocation, and lethal control. We interviewed 100 members of the Maasai community in Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania. We used structured, closed questionnaires and focused on the three large carnivores involved in the most depredation regionally: spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), lions (Panthera leo), and leopards (Panthera pardus). We found that the majority of respondents accepted no action and rejected relocation and lethal control for all three carnivores. The acceptance of the management strategies was strongly influenced by the emotion joy and by the cultural importance of carnivores, and the effects of joy and cultural importance were stronger than the effect of livestock depredation. We conclude that authorities should evaluate the emotions and cultural importance that local communities associate with carnivores when seeking to gain acceptance of management strategies and account for differences between species. Finally, we recommend that future human-carnivore coexistence studies should consider the socio-psychology of local communities and be done longitudinally to detect shifts in cultural, emotional, and ecological factors over time.

scholarly journals Pastoralist activities affect the movement patterns of a large African carnivore, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (6) ◽  
pp. 1941-1953 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S Green ◽  
Kay E Holekamp
Keyword(s):  
Protected Area ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Gps Collars ◽  
Spotted Hyenas

Abstract Populations of large carnivores are declining in many parts of the world due to anthropogenic activity. Some species of large carnivores, however, are able to coexist with people by altering their behavior. Altered behaviors may be challenging to identify in large carnivores because these animals are typically cryptic, nocturnal, live at low densities, and because changes in their behavior may be subtle or emerge slowly over many years. We studied the effects of livestock presence on the movements of one large carnivore, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). We fit 22 adult female spotted hyenas with GPS collars to quantify their movements in areas with and without livestock or herders present, in and around a protected area in southwestern Kenya. We investigated anthropogenic, social, and ecological effects on the speed of movement, distances traveled, long-distance movements, and extraterritorial excursions by spotted hyenas. Hyenas living primarily within the protected area, but in the presence of livestock and herders, moved faster, traveled over longer distances, and were more likely to be within their territories than did conspecifics living in areas without livestock and herders. Hyenas of low social rank were more likely than hyenas of high social rank to engage in long-distance travel events, and these were more likely to occur when prey were scarce. The movement patterns of this large African carnivore indicate a flexibility that may allow them to persist in landscapes that are becoming increasingly defined by people.

scholarly journals Palaeopopulations of Late Pleistocene Top Predators in Europe: Ice Age Spotted Hyenas and Steppe Lions in Battle and Competition about Prey

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cajus G. Diedrich
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Cave Bear ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Modern Analogue ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
Steppe Bison

Late Pleistocene spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823) and steppe lion Panthera leo spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) were top predators in Central Europe. The fossil record (2.303 hyena/1.373 lion bones = ratio 3/1) from 106 cave and open air sites demonstrates comparable associations to modern African hyenas/lions resulting in competition about prey and territory. Cannibalism within extinct spotted hyenas is well documented, including two individual skeletons. Those hyenas produced bone accumulations at dens. Feeding specializations on different megamammal groups are demonstrated for Late Pleistocene hyenas whose prey partly overlaps (e.g., cave bears) with those of lions and wolves. At most fossil sites, 1–3% of the lion remains indicate scavenging of lions by hyenas. The larger Late Pleistocene felids focussed on cervids (reindeers specialization during the high glacial = LGM), on bovids (steppe bison/aurochs), and possibly on saiga antelope and on the cave bear, hunting deep in caves during their hibernations and targeting cubs. The cave bear feeding was the target of all three top predators (lions, hyenas, and wolves) in the Late Pleistocene boreal forests which caused deathly conflicts in caves between them, especially with lions/hyenas and herbivorous cave bears that have no modern analogue.

Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) concentrate around urban waste dumps across Tigray, northern Ethiopia

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gidey Yirga ◽  
Herwig Leirs ◽  
Hans H. De Iongh ◽  
Tsehaye Asmelash ◽  
Kindeya Gebrehiwot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Northern Ethiopia ◽  
Urban Waste ◽  
Waste Dumps ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Frequency Occurrence ◽  
Agricultural Areas

Context The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) lives in remarkably close proximity to humans in the degraded and prey-depleted landscapes in Tigray in northern Ethiopia, predominantly feeding on human organic waste. Aims We sought to provide an estimate of spotted hyena abundance at garbage dumps and open agricultural areas across Tigray. Methods We used 28 calling stations, including 12 at garbage dumps and 16 in open agricultural areas located in nine randomly selected urban districts across Tigray. We also used 65 randomly placed calling stations in three districts to establish spotted hyena abundance in Tigray. We also collected 610 scat samples during wet (n = 134) and dry season (n = 476) so as to identify diet. Key results A total of 398 hyenas responded, including 356 hyenas at garbage dumps and 42 hyenas in open agricultural areas. The response at the garbage dumps was significantly higher. Approximately 2525 hyenas were estimated from 65 calling stations in three districts. There was no statistically significant difference in the diet of hyena between wet and dry seasons for any food item. Frequency occurrence of prey remains of donkeys and cattle were dominant, followed by human, goat and sheep, respectively. Key conclusions We infer that a very large hyena population persists in unprotected areas of Tigray in northern Ethiopia, where they concentrate around urban waste dumps at night for scavengeable food resources, mainly originating from slaughterhouse waste of livestock. Implications We suggest promotion of nature-based ecotourism of this exceptional coexistence of hyenas and humans in Ethiopia. We raise questions about local hyena social structure, movement, home-range, activity pattern and the implications for human–hyena coexistence.

Brain and Body Size Relations among Spotted Hyenas (Crocuta crocuta)

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 82-95
Author(s):  
Michael D. Mann ◽  
Lawrence G. Frank ◽  
Stephen E. Glickman ◽  
Arnold L. Towe
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Spotted Hyenas ◽  
Body Weights ◽  
Vertebrate Zoology ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between brain size and body size across species “from mouse to elephant” is described by a function of positive slope. Almost uniformly, the relationship between brain size and body size within a species has a positive slope, though this is less steep than across species. The spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta, differs from most other mammals in a number of ways including the fact that, on average, adult females weigh more than adult males and occasionally display greater body lengths. Brains of 5 female and 4 male hyenas were weighed in the field near Moyale in Northern Kenya, and body weights and body lengths were obtained from the same animals. When our analyses of brain/body relationships in these animals revealed an unanticipated negative relationship between brain size and body length, we extended our measurements to include intracranial volume in 19 skulls (8 females and 11 males) from the collection at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley; body weights and lengths were also available. A third dataset was formed by measuring intracranial volumes in 60 spotted hyena skulls (27 females and 33 males) in the Natural History Museum, London, UK; body lengths and intracranial volumes were available. Brain/body size slopes, in general, were not significantly different from zero except in 3 cases: brain weight/body length for Moyale males alone and males and females together, and cranial volume/body weight for Museum of Vertebrate Zoology males and females together. Although most of the slopes were not significantly different from zero, they were all negative, and a statistical test which combined probabilities from the 3 datasets supports the conclusion that there is a negative relationship between brain size and body size in spotted hyenas. Possible explanations for the negative slopes are discussed, including costs and benefits of large brains and large bodies and physiological mechanisms.

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