The Skeleton Coast Brown Hyena Project

The year also marks the end of an era for the Hoanib clan as Maya succeeded Stevie as the breeding female. Maya, born to Stevie in 2019, stepped into a role her mother had held for almost a decade. 

Stevie was the breeding female of the Hoanib clan from 2015 and successfully raised many litters during that time. She provided remarkable stability within the clan and became a constant presence throughout much of my research. I learnt an incredible amount from following her life, her movements and the way she navigated the challenges of raising cubs in a harsh environment. Watching her offspring grow and eventually take their place within the clan has been one of the greatest privileges of this project.

With Maya now leading the clan, a new chapter begins. Every breeding female shapes the dynamics of a clan in her own way, influencing den sites, movement patterns and how the landscape is used. Maya is already establishing her routines and making different decisions from her mother. It will be fascinating to see how these subtle changes shape the clan over the coming years and what new insights they reveal about brown hyena behaviour.

A recent milestone saw the first GPS collar fitted to an urban brown hyena living on the outskirts of Swakopmund. This marks an entirely new chapter for the project and opens up fascinating opportunities to compare the behaviour of hyenas living alongside people with those inhabiting remote wilderness areas.

Urban hyenas face a very different set of challenges. Rather than relying solely on natural food sources, they must navigate roads, fences, domestic animals, industrial areas and increasing human activity, all while avoiding conflict. 

I am excited to see what the coming years reveal as we begin to collect more data. Understanding how these animals survive in human-dominated landscapes will not only broaden our knowledge of brown hyaena ecology, but may also help inform future conservation and conflict mitigation efforts.