Jakarta -A spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) was found in Southeast Egypt. This is the first recorded instance of the species in this region in thousands of years.
The animal was captured and killed by people about 30 km from the border with Sudan, according to local media reports.
“My first reaction was disbelief until I checked the photos and videos of the animal carcass,” said the lead author of the study, Dr. Abdullah Nagy from Al-Azhar University, Egypt, as quoted by Phys.org.
“Seeing the evidence, I was truly shocked.” It was beyond our expectations that the animal was found in Egypt,” he continued.
The sighting occurred about 500 km north of the area known to be inhabited by spotted hyenas in the neighboring country of Sudan. Researchers theorize that regional and decadal weather cycles, part of the Active Red Sea Rift phenomenon, could result in increased rainfall and plant growth. These conditions open migration corridors for hyenas and support sufficient prey availability.
To test this idea, they used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a measure of rainfall and suitable grazing opportunities, with NDVI values obtained from Landsat 5 and 7 satellite images between 1984 and 2022.
The analysis results revealed drought over several years with shorter wet periods. Over the past five years, the region has had higher NDVI values than the previous two decades, indicating that increased plant growth can support prey for the curious spotted hyenas when they move around.
“The fact that the corridor area has become less environmentally friendly, making travel easier along the ‘highway,’ might explain how hyenas have reached the northern region so far,” said Nagy.
“However, the motivation behind his long journey to Egypt remains a mystery that requires further investigation,” he said.
Spotted hyenas are successful pack predators, usually found in various habitats in sub-Saharan Africa. They can cover distances of up to 27 km in a day, following the semi-nomadic livestock migrations managed by humans and surviving by occasionally killing livestock.
The individual described in this study killed two goats herded by the community in Wadi Yahmib in the Elba Protected Area, and was subsequently tracked, located, chased, and killed at the end of February 2024. The killing was photographed and geotagged, providing an opportunity for wildlife ecologists to follow up on the sighting.
The findings of this research force a rethinking of the agreed distribution of spotted hyenas and add to the available data on how regional climate change can affect animal migration.
