Activity pattern & depredation upon livestock of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Abstract: Many carnivores outside protected areas are declining as they are being killed for their involvement in depredation on livestock. More knowledge of when and why predators leaves protected areas are key questions in mitigating the human-wildlife conflict. Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya, holds the one of the country’s highest densities of predators, with approximately 100 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). Ol Pejeta is therefore a suitable site to learn more about the activity pattern of predators inside protected areas by analyzing photos from camera traps. The aim of this survey is to investigate the spatial and temporal movement pattern of spotted hyena and correlate it with moon phase and precipitation. If changes in clan size and attacks on livestock correlates with the environmental factors will also be studied. The results from this study showed that spotted hyenas walked out of the reserve after sunset and arrived before sunrise. Activity was higher when moonlight was bright compared to medium illuminance. Rainfall that arrived 30 days before had a negative correlation with activity, meaning that if precipitation was low the activity was higher. Group size mostly consisted of one or two individuals and could not be direct correlated to clan size nor to any environmental factor. Spotted hyena have had seven attacks upon livestock during this one year survey and could not be correlated with any temporal nor abiotic factors. Precaution during nighttime is preferable as the spotted hyenas are leaving the reserve even though they show a stronger preference for wild prey than livestock.