Page 34 - KGR 2020 Review Book

COLLABORATIVE CONSERVATION

In July, Karingani was called to assist with a historical collaborative conservation
project to bring spotted hyenas back to Zinave National Park as the first phase
of a large predator re-introduction project. Zinave National Park was declared
a protected area in 1972 but was ravaged by sixteen years of civil war causing
wildlife populations to be decimated. Over the last five years, Peace Parks
Foundation and National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC) have
worked to protect and restore Zinave to its former prestige by bringing in
13 species including plains game, giraffe, elephant and buffalo. A feasibility
study conducted by the Endangered Wildlife Trust confirmed that Zinave’s
herbivore population has grown well, and the system was now ready for the
reintroduction of large predators.

A hyena clan from Sabie Game Park was identified for this momentous
translocation and the ground team at Sabie began habituating the animals to
vehicle and human activity in order to make the capture go smoother. Karingani
warden, Ellery Worth, and field ecologist, Jo Taylor assisted Saving the Survivors
The first spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is immobolised for relocation from Sabie Game Park veterinarians Dr Joao Almeida and Dr Hugo Pereira at Sabie during the capture.
July 2020 Hyenas are extremely clever animals and the task of capturing four individuals
over the course of a single night proved to be quite challenging.

Spotted hyenas find prey not just by sight, but also by hearing and smell. Their
acute hearing can pick up on noises emanating from other predators killing
prey or feeding on a carcass up to 10 km away. To simulate this, predator calls
targeted for hyenas were played over loudspeakers to entice the hyenas to a
bait carcass. The intelligence of the hyenas shown through with their immediate
suspicion towards the free meal – they knew that something was happening.
The hyenas would dart in to feed quickly, and then run off again, never allowing
the veterinarian a clear shot. After three nights of attempting to bring the
hyenas in closer for darting in the dark of night, a plan was devised to place
mild anaesthetics in the bait carcass in an effort to slow the response time of
the hyenas down and allow for a better darting opportunity. A trail camera
was placed at the bait which would alert the team to any activity and the team
retreated far away to allow the hyenas a chance to ingest the anaesthetic.
Within an hour of the team leaving, the first few clan members took up the bait
and began feeding. After giving enough time for the anaesthetics to take effect,
the team returned to the bait. The hyenas were visibly under the influence of
the medications, but hyenas are tough, powerful animals and they were still
One of the hyenas while in the predator holding boma at Karingani
July 2020 able to move around at speeds most animals would have been incapable of