One week to find hyena’s mother

After three weeks at the Joburg Zoo, the nine-month-old brown hyena darted in Randburg late September will be released next week.

But its release could coincide with a family reunion.

The hyena captured the imaginations of city dwellers when it roamed Johannesburg’s busy streets on 26 September, after leaving the Kloofendal Nature Reserve in Roodepoort the prior weekend.

Over that weekend, conservation organisations like the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the national Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and FreeMe Rehabilitation Centre worked together to recapture the animal by capturing the animal’s movements and to work with the public in ensuring both their, and the animals’ safety and welfare.

Dr Brett Gardner from Johannesburg Zoo was able to dart the animal. It was established that due to the animal’s lacerated feet it was necessary for it to be treated at the zoo, before returning home.

“Hyenas scavenge with their mothers up to the age of 15 months,” said Nicci Wright, senior animal manger at FreeMe. With the pending release of the animal, it would be much safer for it to be released back to the care of its mother.

As a result cameras have been erected at Kloofendal ridge so the animal’s mother can be traced. If successful, the animal will have an easier road ahead when released back into the peri-urban wild.

“If we can’t locate the mother on time, a collared approach will be taken to release the hyena,” Wright said.

This will see the animal wear a satellite collar to track its progress back in the wild.

The brown hyena’s capture brought to the forefront animals living close to city and suburban spaces.

“Animals are in the pockets in and around the city, and they adopt to their habitat,” Wright explains.

“People are creating habitats at golf courses and large estates, so of course the animals move in,” she said.

This is one of the reasons the hyena will be tracked, to ensure it stays far enough from the same situation, where it roamed suburban streets, and rather get back to areas like Kloofendal where there is a habitat for the animal.

The public is welcome to help with raising funds for the collar, it is planned to use it in other release projects by animal groups involved with the hyena.

Details: e-mail wild3@nspca.co.za or Kellym@ewt.org.za or nomondem@ewt.org.za