South Clan Den: Beautiful and Secluded

Hello again from Serena camp! 

As you may have seen from our last two posts on North and Happy Zebra clan, we are updating everyone on the current den situations in each territory. Read on below for the news of South clan's communal den! 

In our South territory, we were lucky enough to dart and collar SNUG (the matriarch of South clan). It quickly became apparent that the primary culprit behind South clan’s hard-to-find communal den was the distance that it was located from any pre-determined tracks. Indeed, this communal den was found only after about 1km of off-roading! Additionally, it is located next to two intersecting luggas, which means that the land slopes down on all sides to obscure the space from binocular scans on all fronts. That being said, the space itself is quite beautiful, and we can regularly see Serena lodge balloons flying overhead during observation sessions.

 

See above for a collection of GPS points on SNUG’s collar. We circled the communal den in green.

 

When we first began spending time at this den, our team noticed a lack of activity here in comparison to our North and Happy Zebra dens (which were teeming with plenty of new cubs). However, after taking some time to warm up, we now have four new cubs, and suspect that there are younger cubs still waiting to emerge. In fact, we have noticed that one of our moms who regularly spends time laying in the den hole (HONR), has had some small black cubs peeking out from behind her. Unfortunately, we can’t assign these cubs official names yet until we see them nursing from their mother.

 

Interestingly enough, another unlikely set of residents in South clan’s den hole (other than the hyenas of course) are the flourishing population of bats that frantically exit whenever we arrive in the evening hours.

 

See below for some of the exciting outcomes of our observations of South clan’s communal dens over the past few months.

 

Above you can see NORB (left) and JOSI (right). NORB is ISSA’s cub, and their full name is Norbert. ISSA’s lineage is “Animals that Hagrid takes care of (Harry Potter)”, so NORB is affectionately named after Hagrid’s pet dragon in Book 1 of the series! JOSI’s full name is “JosiDog”, as their mother is KNIN and her lineage is “brands of dogfood”.

 

Above you can see FLGO (cub of SNUG) whose full name is Fulgoromorpha. SNUG’s lineage is Hemipterans, which refers to an order of insects, and Fulgoromorpha is the scientific name for a type of bug called planthoppers.

Here we have Surprise, our fourth and final larger cub at South’s communal den. Unfortunately, we don’t have an official name for Surprise yet as we have not witnessed them nursing from their mother yet. Until that time, they will keep their cub name, which we initially use to nickname cubs before their lineage is identified.

 

THANK YOU FOR READING!

 

If you're new to the blog, check out our last two posts which contain updates on North clan and Happy Zebra clan. 

Warmly,

Taylor and Brianna

 

 

Happy Zebra Clan Den Update (and news of a split)!

Our Happy Zebra clan’s den is located very far off-road. When we first arrived at this location, there was a secondary den system that could be found roughly 50m to the South, and this area appeared to be one of our mom’s natal dens (where she birthed her cubs). We kept an eye on this space, but eventually realized that she had cleared out after our initial sighting of her and brought her cubs to the primary communal den. The primary space is actually a network of three den holes (two of which we suspect may connect to each other underground). The area itself is optimal for visibility in a way that North and South clan’s dens are lacking – we are able to drive all the ways around the mound of the den itself, and the grass is relatively cleared out in front of the most active spaces.

 

See above for a collection of GPS points on ARGO’s collar. We circled the communal den in green, and you can see that ARGO has had quite a bit of movement throughout our Happy Zebra territory.

 

We were able to find Happy Zebra’s den thanks to ARGO (daughter of RUMG, the last known matriarch), the hyena that we collared in this territory. Based on Happy Zebra’s current clan list and dominance hierarchy, one would assume that ARGO is the matriarch of the clan, yet this doesn’t appear to be the case. This difference in what is officially listed is likely due to the fact that Happy Zebra clan has been in a period of upheaval since 2020, leading our leadership team to ultimately decide to cease studying the lower-ranking hyenas. See below for the official explanation of why (courtesy of Jana Woerner, current PhD student of Kay Holekamp):

           

Happy Zebra Clan split into two clans sometime in 2020 - there was limited sampling due to the pandemic, so the exact dates are unknown. The hyenas were using two communal dens, one that was primarily used by higher rankers and one by lower rankers, for several years. However, there was still regular movement between the two dens and most animals were seen in all parts of the territory. Since 2020, however, there has been no movement between the two groups and the lower rankers that split from the main group only hang out in the Northwestern part of the former territory. We named the new clan “Not-so-happy Zebras (NZ)” and all clan members that split off are now marked as NZ Clan hyenas in the Master Hyena List. Their new territory is located pretty far from our camp and covers a lot of unknown/difficult-to-maneuver terrain. There has also been very limited sampling effort in that area since 2021, so most of the new cubs/subs are unknown. Therefore, we have decided to officially stop studying these hyenas in August 2024.

 

Even though ARGO may not be the highest-ranking hyena, it is apparent that she is enjoying life from her constant romping and need to play. In fact, on one memorable morning, we watched ARGO jump about, seemingly ensconced in a fit of the zoomies, and throw herself backwards onto the ground in an admirable imitation of a backflip. She is definitely a team favorite here in Serena camp!

 

Notably, the space that Happy Zebra clan’s den occupies seems to be a hotspot for many other species. We have been lucky enough to see pangolins there on THREE separate occasions, which was an incredibly special set of sightings as they are notoriously elusive creatures. Additionally, one can find themselves surrounded by Oribis, Wildebeests, or Elephants when journeying on the track that we made to Happy Zebra’s den. Overall, it seems like our clan chose an excellent neighborhood for raising their large brood of cubs.

 

See below for some of the exciting outcomes of our observations of Happy Zebra clan’s communal dens over the past few months:

 

Above you can see KRKN with her two cubs GRDN (Garden City Mall) and TIO (The Junction Mall). KRKN”s lineage is shopping malls in Nairobi.

 

Above you can see MALA (Malachite King Fisher) playing with two of adult hyenas at the communal den. One of those adults is ARGO, who is currently collared. MALA is the cub of DUKY, whose lineage is “different species of water birds”.

 

Above you can see VINE (Vine), cub of BARD (whose lineage is “Social media”). We like to remember VINE by the winding swirl on their side that resembles the tendril of a vining plant!

 

In addition to GRDN, TIO, MALA, and VINE we have four more known cubs (mothered by LANC, JUJU, and THLS). That being said, we believe that there may be more black cubs that we have yet to assign to mothers!

 

 

THANK YOU FOR READING!

Warmly,

Taylor and Brianna

 

P.S. Keep an eye out for our update on South clan!

 

 

North Clan Update: Collars and Dens Galore!

 

Hello again from Serena camp!

 

Exciting things have been happening with all three of our clans since we last had a chance to update everyone here. Per Taylor’s recent post, we were able to find our North clan’s communal den (which isn’t the current space that they’re using now, as we’ll explain below). Since then, our team has been able to successfully dart and collar three of our study hyenas (with the generous assistance of KWS vet Michael Njoroge), locate all three of our clan’s dens, resurrect a hyena once thought to be missing, and add a multitude of new cubs to our clan’s ranks. Below we’ll give a run-down on the comings-and-goings in our North clan!

 

During our early observations of the den that we originally found in North without the aid of collars, ARIA (the granddaughter of SOUP) alarmed all of us by grabbing one of her young black cubs and loping speedily off to the West. Naturally, after existing for so long without dens located, we were extremely concerned that ARIA’s departure marked a shift of North clan’s communal den. This worry led to us to follow closely in pursuit of ARIA, off-roading at a safe distance, while being cautious of the steadily increasing grass length. Unfortunately, ARIA quickly lost us in the tall grass, and we decided to turn back due to dangerous off-roading conditions (as the land sloped down into a potentially watery lugga). At this point we remained optimistic, as although ARIA had left, SOUP (the matriarch) was still regularly frequenting what we believed to be the primary communal clan space. Without the safety net of GPS-tracking collars, the concern that we may lose the den was always nagging at the back of our minds. We resolved to keep a close eye on the situation in case any other moms seemed to be departing in a similar direction with cubs.

 

These concerns were quashed when, with Eli Strauss’s arrival in late July, our team was able to dart and collar ARIA, the very hyena that had concerned us with her abrupt departure. The initial GPS points that we received confirmed our suspicions, and we off-roaded (using VHF tracking), to ARIA’s picturesque den-site. It was quickly apparent that not only ARIA was using this space, as SOUP and other high-ranking moms began to bring their cubs to this location (located, unsurprisingly, to the West of our first den across the lugga that we avoided off-roading through). For a period, we monitored both spaces, splitting our time between the initial communal den that we found, and ARIA’s new space (affectionately coined “Collar Den”). However, in early September, we noticed that only lower-ranking moms were spending time at the first den, and that even they had begun to transition to Collar Den. As of mid-September, we determined that the initial den was vacant, and focused all our energy on observing Collar Den.

 

See above for a collection of GPS points on ARIA’s collar. We circled the original den that we found without tracking her in blue, and you can see the current, primary communal den that ARIA established in green. Each individual point is connected to the following point by a red line, which is helpful for giving us an idea of the clan’s territory/range.

 

 

See below for some pictures of the exciting outcomes of our observations of North clan’s communal dens over the past few months.

 

See above, GLOB (in front) and WALL (behind). WALL and GLOB are MUTT’s cubs, and they are named after American Newspapers (per MUTT’s lineage theme). GLOB’s full name is the Boston Globe and WALL’s full name is the Wallstreet Journal. We estimate that they were born in mid-February of this year, and both of them are male.

 

 

KETL (Kettle Foods) can be viewed above. KETL’s mother is HOHO, whose lineage is chip brands. We estimate that KETL was born in early May of this year, and he is male.

 

 

Above you can see two younger cubs who we believe to be ARIA’s cubs (with ARIA laying down on the left): CABG and DARL. ARIA’s lineage theme is “nicknames for boyfriends/girlfriends,” so CABG’s full name is “Little Cabbage”, and DARL’s full name is “Darling.” In this photo we estimate that they are around roughly 12 weeks old.

 

 

In addition to WALL, GLOB, KETL, DARL, and CABG, we have six more known cubs (mothered by POL, RMON, REMI, and ANA). That being said, we believe that there may be more black cubs that we have yet to assign to mothers!

 

 

 

THANK YOU FOR READING!

 

Hopefully we will be able to keep you posted as further developments occur. Keep an eye out for two more posts with information on our South and Happy Zebra clans!

Warmly,

Taylor and Brianna

 

P.S. Please don’t hesitate to comment with any questions you may have about any of the above content. We will try to keep a keen eye on the blog so as to respond to any inquiries.