Hyena Tracking Research

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One evening our group got to accompany wildlife biologist Axel Hunicutt to apply tracking collars on Spotted Hyenas. Axel was collaring the hyenas to better understand their movement in and outside of parks, in order to understand the reasons for their regional decline. Hyenas are extremely difficult to capture. It was a learning curve for Axel and his team to devise ways to best work with the hyena and bring them close enough for successful collaring. This meant many weeks of ‘habituation’, in other words, enticing the hyena out to a tasty meal, where they could see the vehicle, and slowly become accustomed to it. Axel’s secret weapon, after much trial and error, is a mix of the “call-up” audio plus…hot sauce! According to Axel, it seems to be a hyena favorite, sprinkled sparingly on a giraffe or other carcass laid out to tempt the hyena to the site and within aim of the vet to be darted with the tranquilizer.

Before coming to SA, Axel studied Grizzly bears in Alaska. Before starting research on Hyenas, Axel studied the rare and endangered Suni antelope. Axel is now the Gray Wolf Coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. As an aside: if you happen to be interested learning about the natural recolonization of Gray Wolves in California, go to this site: https://wildlife.ca.gov/conservation/mammals/gray-wolf