Tracking hyaenas

A study being carried out by a team at Nottingham Trent University is aiming to fit brown hyaenas with devices that transmit their location over a mobile phone network using text messages.

With estimates of the brown hyaena population in South Africa thought to be less than 1,700, the species is known to be at risk because of the perceived danger that they pose towards livestock. Although legally protected, many farmers are known to kill the animals.

PhD student Louisa Richmond-Coggan, from Nottingham Trent University’s School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, will fly to South Africa later this month. She will spend six months working with wildlife experts at the Pilanesberg National Park, to humanely capture hyaenas roaming in farmland outside the protected park area. One hyaena will also be captured from within the protected area.

Once caught, the team will attach special collars to the hyaenas that house a global positioning system (GPS) device and radio transmitter.