What a sign of maturity it would be for our species to acknowledge the profound limitations inherent in human knowledge and the destructive consequences of our crude but powerful technologies. It would mark the beginning of wisdom to pay attention to ecosystems delineated by nature--mountain ranges, watersheds, valley bottoms, rivers and lake systems, wetlands--rather than regions determined by politics or economics. "
-David Suzuki, 1997
We found this clan of hyaenas during the peak of the flood season. Matt and I went into Liuwa Plain in late January, as the floods were in full force, just to see what we could see and maybe even get some work done. No researchers had ever been in Liuwa Plain in the flood season; we were the first to do so. In one week in January we accomplished a lot; we located more than a dozen of the study animals and determined they were alive and downloaded GPS information from three of the four collared wildebeest (unbelievable that we managed to do so, given the flood conditions, the massive amount of land in which the wildebeest could be, and the sheer volume of wildebeest in the region at that time; how we managed to locate three specific wildebeest out of potentially 35,000 from the ground, without air support, during flood conditions is beyond me...). The last night we were in Liuwa, we searched for this specific clan of hyaenas. The sun was setting over Angola, and the angle of the light lit up the golden grass on the floodplain in almost a radiant sort of way. The light, sounds, and smells alone were enough to wash away any difficulties we might have encountered, and allowed us both to take a step back and realize how unbelievably beautiful Liuwa Plain is during the flood season. As we traversed through the floodplain, we picked up a signal for one of the collared hyaenas. We zeroed in on it and came ever closer. Quietly, and almost stealthily, two of the hyaenas poked their heads up out of the grass behind us, one of whom was holding a wildebeest leg in its mouth. A few more hyaenas picked their heads up and watched us, some of whom casually strolled 15 yards further away, and others who simply laid back down in the grass. Seeing this clan in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but the rich smells of grass, the sounds of thousands of migratory birds, and the angle of the Angolan sunset was among the most incredible moments of my time in Zambia.
Slowly repositioning herself to further gnaw on her wildebeest leg. A yearling hyaena cub proceeds her in the background.
This hyaena appeared to have been caught in a snare, with the resulting scar around its neck quite obvious. Snaring is a regular occurence in Zambia for a few reasons: villagers will set snares to catch antelope species and other mammals for food; villagers will also set snares to catch species pestering their farmland, garden, or livestock. I'm not sure how or where this hyaena was snared, or just as curiously, how it got out of the snare..
Hyaenas are powerful animals. Their jaws are powerful enough to crush bones. And not just any bones, but big bones like zebra femurs. That's a lot of pounds per square inch of jaw power. With that in mind, it's easy to see how hyaenas might lose an ear in an inter or intraclan altercation..
My first morning in Liuwa Plain and we came across this scene. We first found the smalll pride of lions, sometime around 6 am. Then in the distance, no more than 200 yards away, we saw some frenzied movement. We drove closer and found these hyaenas devouring the remains of a wildebeest likely killed by the lions that night.
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