Apr 7, 2021 | News
Brown Hyena
The brown hyena, Hyaena brunnea, is a species found in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It is currently the rarest species of hyena. Brown hyenas average 34 to 55 inches in head and body length. They run 28 to 31 inches at the shoulder. The average adult male weighs 88 to 97 pounds. There are no significant size differences between the male and female. Unusually large animals can weigh as much as 160 pounds. Interesting fact: about five million years ago there was a species of hyena that weighed 450 pounds. This mega-scrounger could crack elephant bones.
Hyenas have relatively short bodies and large, strong chests and neck. They somewhat resemble wolves, but have very distinctive hindquarters that slope down towards the rump. Their forelegs are longer than their hind legs. The brown hyena runs with a unique gait, seemingly crippled as it streaks after prey.
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Brown hyenas have powerful jaws. Within five minutes of birth, young hyenas can crack the leg bones of an impala. This ability disappears as hyenas age and their teeth dull and wear. Brown hyenas have a society similar to wolves, with both an alpha male and an alpha female. They maintain a stable group hierarchy by engaging in mock fights and aggressive displays. Female brown hyenas typically produce their first litter when they reach two years of age. Mating happens from May to August. After a 97-day gestation, a litter of one to five cubs are born. Unlike spotted hyenas, the brown hyena cubs are born with their eyes closed and remain that way for eight days. All adult members of the group will bring food back to the pups, which spotted hyenas won’t do.
Brown hyenas get most of their food from scavenging carcasses brought down by larger predators like leopards, cheetahs, and jackals. They will eat just about any animal protein including, but not limited to rodents, insects, eggs, and fruit. Brown hyenas have been observed chasing leopards off kills and treeing the leopard. Sometimes lions and spotted hyenas will be seen hunting brown hyenas and killing them.
When the brown hyena has an excess of food, it will hide it in holes or in shrubs for up to one day. They are poor hunters and seldom catch live prey such as spring hares, foxes, or springbok lambs. In the Kalahari Desert, brown hyenas are active most of the night searching for food over areas as large as 34 square miles. Their powerful sense of smell allows them to locate carrion as far as one mile downwind.
Spotting, walking, or stalking the likely habitats is the best way to locate the animal. Identifying the sex of the hyena is somewhat difficult as the genitalia of the female resembles that of the male. If there are other hyena around for comparison, then the larger brown hyena is probably the male. (Except for the spotted hyena where the female is larger than the male.) Watch for vultures in the air over a kill. Where vultures or marabou storks gather, usually hyenas are present. Trophy measurement is judged by skull size, so shoot the largest one you can locate. Any rifle that is used for plains game will do. However, wounded hyenas can be extremely dangerous, so make double sure that the brown hyena is really dead. Ammunition is much cheaper than plastic surgery.
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Seven Brown Hyena Facts
- Scientific name: Hyaena brunnea
- Male height: 28-31 inches at the shoulder
- Male weight: 97 pounds
- Hyena predators: lion, leopard, cheetah
- Life expectancy: 8-11 years
- Gestation period: 97 days
- Litter: 1-5 cubs
Striped Hyena
The striped hyena Hyaena hyaena, is a species native to North and East Africa, along with populations in India and Asia. The global population is thought to be near 10,000 animals, but due to human interference, habitat loss and hunting, the animal could be facing a ten percent drop over the next few years. The striped hyena is the smallest of the hyenas with the mature male weighing between 50 pounds and 120 pounds and standing 24 to 30 inches at the shoulder. Its senses of smell and hearing are weak, but it has excellent eyesight.
As with other hyenas, the striped hyena has extremely powerful jaw muscles and can crack an antelope thigh bone easily. It is a nocturnal hunter, leaving its den only when the sun is fully set. It’s primarily a scavenger, hunting dead animals, and it’s not terribly concerned about the state of decomposition. Sometimes it will eat entire bones, but normally it will crush them into small pieces, and then consume them. About the only animal it won’t eat is the vulture, possibly because of professional courtesy – one scavenger to another?
Its distribution in Africa is northern Africa from Morocco and Senegal to Egypt and then south through Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, and finally into central Tanzania. The best place to go hunting striped hyena in Africa is northern Tanzania.
The striped hyena lives in dens. Sometimes it will dig its own, but it will use caves, overhanging rocks, dirt channels and burrows dug and abandoned by warthogs, aardvarks, and other animals. The easiest way to detect a hyena’s den is by the animal bones around the entrance. The hyena hides in deep cover during the day to avoid periods of extreme temperature and to keep out of predators’ sight.
The striped hyena will attack any animal it thinks it can subdue. It attacks by sinking its teeth into the groin area and pulling out the internal organs, causing the prey to die. The striped hyena will scavenge leopard, cheetah, and other cats’ kills. It can win in one-on-one encounters with cheetahs and leopards, but avoids lions.
Each African country has different regulations when it comes to hunting striped hyena. For example: Burkina Faso only allows hunting outside national parks and to control livestock depredation. Cameroon offers no protection for hunting striped hyena. In Tanzania, they can be hunted. Ethiopia has a strict protocol concerning hunting striped hyena. A special permit must be purchased.
There are a number of methods that can be used for hunting the animal. Spotting with optics; tracking to the den, and stalking can result in success. During the day, scan for vultures in the sky; where there are flying scavengers, the hyena will be close by. Or use bait and build a blind as if you were hunting a cat. In countries where it’s legal, hunting at night using spotlights can be very successful.
Identifying gender can be quite difficult. Usually, the largest animal is male. However, one can quite easily shoot a female. The best trophy is judged by skull measurements. Aim for the biggest head you can find.
Seven Striped Hyena Facts
- Scientific name: Hyaena hyaena
- Male weight: 50-120 pounds
- Male height: 24-30 inches at the shoulder
- Behavior: nocturnal
- Conservation: Not Threatened
- Trophy measurement: skull
- Rifle: .270-300 caliber
Spotted Hyena
The spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta, is a species of hyena native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is sometimes called the laughing hyena due to the sounds it makes similar to human laughter. When you are hunting and hear one for the first time, you will think there’s a crazy person out there in the bush. The spotted hyena has the largest clan sizes and the most complex social manners of all the species. Its social organization is more similar to baboons than carnivores.
The spotted hyena is very vocal, producing any number of sounds including grunts, groans, giggles, yells, whines, and its ubiquitous laugh. When attacked by lions or dogs, it will defend itself aggressively. The male spotted hyena stands 27-36 inches at the shoulder and weighs 90-120 pounds. Females are larger at 97 to 141 pounds. Exceptional specimens can weigh upwards of 200 pounds.
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The skull of the spotted hyena is much larger than that of other hyena species. Combined with its large jaw muscles, it can exert over 1,000 pounds per square inch of biting force. Spotted hyenas have been observed cracking open giraffe bones to get at the marrow.
The species dwells in partial deserted areas, open woodlands, dense dry woodland, and mountainous forests up to 11,000 feet in altitude. It is scarce or absent in rain forests and coastal areas. Its preferred habitats in West Africa include the Guinea and Sudan savanna, and is absent in the belt of dense coastal forest. In the Namib desert, it occurs in riverine growth along seasonal rivers, the pro-Namib and the adjoining inland plateau. In ideal habitats, the spotted hyena outnumbers other large carnivores, including other hyena species. However, the striped and brown hyena occur at greater densities than the spotted species in desert and semi-desert regions.
Territory size varies dependent on location. In the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, the spotted hyena range is roughly 25 square miles, while in the Kalahari Desert, the range can be as much as 600 square miles. Clans are very defensive of their territories. They defend through vocal displays, scent marking and perimeter patrols.
Spotted hyena groups are known as clans. These clans can contain up to eighty individuals of both sexes. Females are dominant. Even the lowliest female is dominant over all the males. Spotted hyena clan dominance is passed on down through the female side of the family; dominant mother passes responsibility down to daughter.
Spotted hyenas can breed any time of the year, but it is more common during the rainy season. Gestation length varies but averages around 110 days after which one to four cubs are born. Cubs are born with their eyes open and will attack each other shortly after birth. The weaker cubs are killed. Survival rates for cubs vary, but only 75% live through the first month. Spotted hyenas reach sexual maturity in three years. Life expectancy in the wild is seven to nine years.
The rifle to use when hunting spotted hyena is the same rifle used for plains game hunting. Anything in the .270-.300 caliber range will work well. Shot placement should be right behind the shoulder and one-third of the way up the body. The methods used when hunting are stalking, spotting and walking, or the more productive method is to use bait and build a blind. The sex of spotted hyenas can be very hard to determine. If there are other hyenas around look for the one with the largest head. Trophy judgement is biased on skull size, so take the largest one you can find.
Seven Spotted Hyena Facts
- Scientific name: Crocuta crocuta
- Male weight: 90-120 pounds
- Male height: 27-36 inches at the shoulder
- Population: 27,000-47,000
- Diet: carnivore/omnivore
- Gestation: 110 days
- Litter: 1-4 pups
Ndumo Safaris
Apr 7, 2021 | News
Company Name: Umlindi Taxidermy
Contact: (Owner/Manager) Cecil Henning
Physical Address: Braemore Farm, Cradock, 5880
Tel + 27 72 335 1358
Contact Email: Bernie@umtaxidermy.co.za
Website: www.umlinditaxidermy.co.za
Current processes offered
Pick up & collect trophies Yes
Own tanning facilities: YES
Do you buy in forms or sculpt your own? Both
Delivery time (approximate):
Dip and Pack & European Mounts: 90days
Shoulder & full mounts: 6months
Apr 7, 2021 | News
Drums of the Morning, by respected and highly experienced Zimbabwean professional hunter Wayne Grant, is a must read. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any sport hunter interested in classical fair-chase lion hunting, should consider this book as required reading.
It’s not often that a really good hunting book hits the shelves, but this one certainly steps up to the plate – in no small measure.
Readers familiar with Wayne’s writing will no doubt have read his equally superb Into the Thorns, a book widely regarded as the most definitive work to date, on hunting the African leopard.
Now, we are fortunate to have his latest book Drums of the Morning, written and presented in much the same vein, but with the focus this time being on lion hunting and lion conservation issues.
Having spent the last forty years guiding hunting safaris across much of East and Southern Africa, Wayne is eminently qualified to write a book of this nature. His relaxed style of writing is fluid and easy to read, and his book is highly informative – a real mine of information relative to every aspect of lion hunting, for both seasoned hunters, and neophytes alike.
In the opening chapters, Wayne describes some of his youthful experiences growing up in the once-proud country called Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). As 1978 drew to a close and the Rhodesian war raced inexorably toward a final crescendo, Wayne left school and joined the army to do his compulsory military service. After passing officer selection and completing officer training at the School of Infantry, he was posted to the Rhodesian Light Infantry as a troop (platoon) commander. The RLI was an air mobile unit which introduced and perfected the highly effective anti-guerrilla tactic known as ‘fireforce’ – (vertical envelopment of the enemy by helicopter and parachute).
Throughout the last year of the war Wayne experienced constant combat as a young officer commanding equally young soldiers both on fireforce operations inside Rhodesia and on ‘external’ operations into Mozambique and Zambia.
In his first book Wayne did not cover the Rhodesian war in any great detail, but in Drums of the Morning he devotes a whole chapter explaining the circumstances which led to the war, and some of his experiences while serving his country. When the war came to a halt in 1980, Wayne commenced his career as professional hunter.
Drums of the Morning isn’t only for those interested in lion hunting. It’s also an important historical record of how much wildlife conservation and its future in Africa has changed over the last forty years. Sadly most of these changes have been for the worst. When it comes to using facts to illustrate gross mismanagement, corruption, and poor governance, the author doesn’t hold back. And quite rightly so.
Due to the future of Africa’s wildlife currently looking so bleak, the days of shying away from constructive criticism for fear of being branded ‘politically incorrect’ are over. Any true sport hunter concerned about the situation regarding Africa’s wildlife, and the future of safari, would do well to read this book.
In this book Wayne takes an objective look at the controversial captive-bred lion hunting operations in South Africa, and he also puts the whole sorry ‘Cecil the lion’ saga in Zimbabwe, into perspective.
His anecdotal style of writing, coupled with a dry sense of humour, periodically brings a smile to the reader, and importantly, the author includes his family, and his hard working loyal staff in many of the stories.
I found it interesting that Wayne ends his book by identifying practical remedies that could halt, and rectify, the rapid slide of Africa’s safari wilderness areas into overgrazed barren ground. The measures he talks about are not new, and they are not just ‘pie-in-the-sky’ impractical dreams – many of these ideas are already being implemented by committed hunter-conservationists, but Wayne points out that these solutions need to be put into practice far more widely, and quickly, before it is too late.
From my perspective as someone who has witnessed firsthand, the regression of some of Zimbabwe’s finest hunting concessions (like Chirisa) into poached-out empty land, I found this chapter extremely thought-provoking, and it leaves the reader with an optimistic, positive hope, that committed hunter-conservationists may be able to turn things around.
Drums of the Morning – like Into the Thorns – is a hefty (589 pages, 1.5kg), with an attractive eye-catching cover. It has been well crafted and bound by Tien Wah Press; and is full of interesting photographs, and superb illustrations done by Wayne’s son Lucas – a gifted wildlife artist. I have no doubt that Drums of the Morning will be well received, not only by hunters, but also by collectors of Africana.
I have only one minor criticism of this excellent book – the maps of Zimbabwe and Tanzania are a bit small, and the printing of place names on those maps are very difficult to decipher – especially for us older folk! I’m guessing that this was just a ‘techno’ glitch gremlin that crept into the works.
Drums of the Morning can be purchased from drumsofthemorning@gmail.com
Mar 18, 2021 | News
As the 2021 season kicks off, I thought some insights from someone who understands big game could be interesting.
Stretch Ferreira, a professional hunter and now full-time guide, based in arguably one of the most wonderful areas of southern Africa – Mana Pools – has been hunting and now exclusively guiding safaris for 37 years.
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Mar 4, 2021 | News
The Hunt Is On
With new hunting blinds, record animal births and thriving populations of South Africa’s most prized game, 2021 is poised to be an unforgettable year at Eastern Cape Bowhunting.
As the world knows, 2020 was unlike any year ever before experienced—and that was true for life at Eastern Cape Bowhunting. When the government implemented the lockdown, we refocused our efforts on our hunting grounds, staff, facilities and animals to elevate every experience for future guests.
Thriving Populations
The rainfall in the 2020 season was so much better than the previous seven years, which led to thriving animal populations and record new births. Because there was no hunting in 2020, the prospects for success have truly never been better. With the improved rainfall and feed availability, we’re seeing some truly impressive bulls. This hunting season is going to be remarkable!
New Hunting Blinds
We built two new bowhunting blinds to provide guests with new opportunities. Dassie Blind is set into the side of a kopje (stone outcrop) and has a rugged feel, unlike the concrete blinds on the property, making it an ideal spot for baboons, kudu and waterbuck. Cliff Blind is situated along the Tarka River on a remote part of the property, where we’re seeing nyala, kudu, sable and golden wildebeest.
Pop the Cork
With the help of our head sommelier in Cape Town, we’ve acquired some very exciting wines for our guests. The cellar is stocked with prize-winning South African wines, as well as a few new selections to keep things interesting. If you’re new to South African wines, fear not—we’re always excited to host wine tastings for your group. And, of course, when the occasion calls for it, we happily open a beautifully chilled bottle of champagne!
Caring for Staff Families
During the lockdown, all our staff’s children came to stay with them on the farm. Because we feel so strongly about education, we’ve been supplementing their learning with educational materials and games. We built a community vegetable garden to supplement food through the year for our families and created a sports area for the children to play netball and soccer. We even hosted a proper South African Christmas party with all the kids!
Ready for the Hunt
The start of 2021 has seen all our rivers flowing, our dams full, and we’re irrigating our newly planted crops with strategically collected rainwater. There’s plenty of green grass and the animals have had a bumper birthing season. The excitement, trophies, camaraderie and friendships forged in the pursuit of the hunt are all starting up. The firewood has been prepared and the campfires are eagerly awaiting your return to the starry African skies. The hunt is on!
To learn more about Eastern Cape Bowhunting and make your reservation for 2021, visit easterncapebowhunting.com, Password: hunting.
Mar 4, 2021 | News
The publication of a tender document for the auction of four groups of elephants in Namibia triggered howls of protest from the animal rights lobby all around the world. As often happens in these cases, the mainstream media published sensational and misleading information that vilified the Namibian government with accusations of corruption and all other kinds of malfeasance. The Namibian Chamber of Environment (the NCE) is a respected non-government organisation – a comprehensive assessment of the issue has now been published on its website.
Gail Thompson has written a very useful account of the background to the controversial move by the government of Namibia which puts things into perspective. Readers can find the article here: http://conservationnamibia.com/blog/b2021-elephant-auction.php. A summary of Gail’s document follows.
Towards the end of 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) announced its intention to sell a total of 170 elephants from four different locations in Namibia. The rationale was to address the increased human-elephant conflict in the four areas, which has been exacerbated by the recent drought. In each area, the elephants to be taken were entire family groups (females and young) plus a few bulls. Potential purchasers of these elephants had to employ qualified Namibian game capture teams and move them to suitably fenced private reserves in Namibia, or if exporting them to another country, adhere to all CITES requirements.
Important to note are MEFT’s insistence on taking whole family groups (rather than individuals) and their requirement that the buyer and destination abide by national and international law. This would exclude unscrupulous buyers who might want to take young elephants that can be tamed for the purpose of human entertainment. The requirements for proper fencing in Namibia are to ensure that the elephants do not simply cause conflict in other areas of the country, or return to the capture locations.
The tender advert does not provide sufficient information to understand the thinking behind the decision. Gail obtained a draft copy of a document called An Overview of Elephant Conservation and Management in Namibia that accompanies the Draft National Elephant Management Plan. This document details all of MEFT’s recent public consultations, past and present elephant research and monitoring, and approaches to reducing human-elephant conflict by MEFT and non-governmental organisations. The information contained in this extensive document (commissioned by MEFT, but prepared by an independent consultant) provides valuable insight into the reasoning behind MEFT’s intention to sell these 170 elephants.
Gail discusses in detail the history of elephant populations in Namibia. The country was colonised by Germany; then in 1920, after the end of World War I, the League of Nations mandated administration of the colony to South Africa. As the mandatory power, South Africa imposed its laws, including racial classification and policies. The central and southern areas of the country most suited for farming were fenced and elephants were exterminated.
At the same time, rural Namibians were pushed into apartheid-type ‘homelands’. With the passage of time and the independence of Namibia, these communal rural areas have adopted the practice of ‘communal conservancies’, where wildlife has thrived and elephants have multiplied. And elephants have also prospered in Namibia’s game reserves.
However, the farms are still privately owned, and the people living on this land farm for commercial purposes with livestock or wildlife. The infrastructure on the livestock farms includes windmills and diesel pumps to provide water for cattle, and fences have been erected to manage livestock grazing. The farms that have converted to wildlife are fenced with high game fences to keep valuable wildlife in (some are particularly valuable, such as sable and roan antelope), and while internal fences have been dropped, water is still pumped for game species to drink.
Over time, elephants in the communal areas and the wildlife conservation areas in the northern parts of the country have multiplied and expanded, now causing substantial damage to the commercial farms in their quest for water. The human-elephant conflict that is addressed in MEFT’s tender for selling 170 elephants is targeted at elephant populations that have moved onto freehold farmlands from neighbouring communal lands and National Parks. With an estimated 180 freehold farms affected by elephants, infrastructure damages could come to N$ 9 million (US$ 600,000) using a conservative estimate of N$ 50,000 per farmer per year. The situation as it stands is untenable; doing nothing is not an option.
The simplest solution would be to cull the elephants and sell their meat. The Namibian government is trying to avoid this by seeking a short-term solution to the problems of the commercial farmers, while working on some longer-term solutions. A better understanding of the situation would hopefully make the media more mindful of the true story about these elephants.
Namibia’s wildlife management policies are the most progressive and successful on the African continent. This has resulted in the country having growing populations of all species of wildlife, including rhinos and elephants. When elephant numbers increase, conflicts with humans become inevitable, and Botswana is now experiencing the costs of successful elephant conservation. Managing human-elephant conflict is not easy, and those who approach the issue with compassion and good intentions deserve to be treated fairly by the media. Readers are encouraged to access Gail’s comprehensive article, and to share it with friends and objective journalists.
Dr John Ledger is a past Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, now a consultant, writer and teacher on the environment, energy and wildlife; he is a columnist for the African Hunting Gazette. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.Ledger@wol.co.za
Spotting, walking, or stalking the likely habitats is the best way to locate the animal. Identifying the sex of the hyena is somewhat difficult as the genitalia of the female resembles that of the male. If there are other hyena around for comparison, then the larger brown hyena is probably the male. (Except for the spotted hyena where the female is larger than the male.) Watch for vultures in the air over a kill. Where vultures or marabou storks gather, usually hyenas are present. Trophy measurement is judged by skull size, so shoot the largest one you can locate. Any rifle that is used for plains game will do. However, wounded hyenas can be extremely dangerous, so make double sure that the brown hyena is really dead. Ammunition is much cheaper than plastic surgery.
