Diet of striped hyaena in northern Kenya

Abstract

A study of striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena (Linnaeus, 1758)) in Lothagam, northern Kenya was conducted to understand the interactions of H. hyaena with the local Turkana people and their livestock. Data were collected from skeletal parts, fresh scats, ecological survey, and from interviews at different homesteads. Analysis of skeletal remains was broadly divided into three categories: species, skeletal part and bone damage. Insects, birds, fish, crocodile, seeds, leaves and fifteen species of mammalian prey were identified. The high proportion of livestock, dog and human remains in the bone accumulations indicate a significant dependence on the lifestyles of the local Turkana people. The study provides evidence to suggest that striped hyaenas predate on small livestock and demonstrate an opportunistic behaviour, which enables them to survive as the largest carnivore in this marginal environment. A greater abundance of bones are associated with striped hyaena dens than with those of the spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta (Erxleben, 1777)). Bone modification by the striped hyaena differs from spotted hyaena bone modification. Bone breakage patterns can be attributed to the relative specific gravity, degree of epiphyseal closure and nutritive fat content of bones.

Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds

“…The leopard is the greatest habitat generalist today, breeding from rainforest to desert, albeit preferring habitat with vegetation cover. Sources: Anyonge, 1993Anyonge, , 1996Bailey, 1993;Barry, 1987;Berta, 1981;Boaz et al, 1979;Brain, 1981Brain, , 1994Busse, 1980;Caro, 1987Caro, , 1989aCooke, 1991;Fanshawe & FitzGibbon, 1993;Ferretti, 1999;FitzGibbon, 1990a,b;Geraads, 1997;Hendey, 1974Hendey, , 1980Holekamp et al, 1997;Hunt, 1996;Keyser, 1991;Leakey, 1999;Lewis, 1997;Marean, 1989;Martin, 1989;Palmqvist, 1995, 1996;Miller & Carranza, 1996;Mills, 1989;Palmqvist, 2002;Palmqvist & Arribas, 2001;Palmqvist et al, 1996Palmqvist et a...…”

“…Except for the leopard, all the extant African large carnivores are most abundant in open savannas and savanna-woodlands (variable mixtures of trees, grassland, and bushland where visibility is less than 100 m on average), coincident with highest ungulate densities (Table 17.1). Nevertheless, several carnivores can breed successfully within very arid regions or dense forest (Leakey et al, 1999;Bailey, 1993). The leopard is the greatest habitat generalist today, breeding from rainforest to desert, albeit preferring habitat with vegetation cover.…”

<b>The persistence of the Striped Hyena <I>Hyaena hyaena</I> Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia: Carnivora: Hyaenidae) as a predator of Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Lepidochelys olivacea Eschscholtz, 1829 (Reptilia: Testudines: Cheloniidae) eggs</b>

“…As scavengers, hyenas are known to consume a huge variety of food, including leaves, fruits, insects, fishes, reptiles, birds and mammals (Leakey et al 1999;. Carlton & Hodder (2003) report the occurrence of Striped Hyena as a predator of intertidal fauna, such as crabs, along the Kenyan coast.…”

First Confirmed Record of Striped Hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) Den in Nepal

“…They appear to avoid open desert and dense thickets and forests [6][7][8] and have only been found below 3,300 m [6,7,9]. Striped hyaena generally favors and consistently revisits larger caves for resting [6,7,10,11]. The striped hyaena is monogamous, with the male helping the female to establish a den, raise young and feed her when cubs are born.…”

“…Striped hyena cubs are reared in dens and intense digging behaviour in the females announces parturition [6]. Dens may be holes dug by the mother, holes formed and abandoned by other species [9,12] or deep, natural, and sometimes complex, caves [8,11,13]. Striped hyaena is one of the protected mammals by National Park and Wildlife conservation ACT, 1973AD.…”