For the past 15 years, biologist Kay Holekamp has been studying a clan of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. The focus of her research has gradually shifted, as her subjects' prospects for survival have dwindled. Holekamp, 51, was first drawn to hyenas in 1976 when, as a tourist, she watched a group of them tackle a wildebeest in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater. In that instant, she managed to see past the “Lion King” image of skulking carrion-eaters to recognize a terrific hunter and generally remarkable beast. Hyenas turn the gender rules of other mammals on their head. The female dominates the male. She is larger and more aggressive, and even has a “pseudo-penis” that looks a lot like the male's equipment – the painful catch being that it serves as a passageway for newborn cubs. Their role-reversed traits make hyenas fascinating research subjects, particularly since scientists have yet to understand either the process or the evolutionary reasons for the females' “masculinization.” Holekamp, who teaches at Michigan State University, is a bold female in her own right. She travels unescorted in a country which offers little security and, as she notes, where people can trade a loaf of bread for an AK-47. In her affectionate defense of the hyena, she has also aggressively challenged other researchers’ reports, based on what she calls “flimsy evidence”, that sibling murders are common. Her research team is taking on this Cain-and-Abel view of the species, using ultrasound devices to detect the number of fetuses carried by pregnant females and then counting surviving cubs. Holekamp's team has also looked into issues such as the evolution of intelligence, mating preferences, and why some hyenas may migrate and settle outside their original territory. For years they studied the clan as if its members lived in isolation, but this is no longer possible. Human settlements around the reserve have increased, leading to more and more clashes. Until the mid 1990s, lions were the hyenas’ main enemy, but with lions growing scarcer, humans have moved to the head of the line. As the most numerous large carnivores in Africa, hyenas occasionally compete with people for protein-rich meals. (Occasionally they also pursue people as protein-rich meals.) This competition is becoming more acute throughout the continent, as ranchers have moved cattle onto areas once dominated by antelope and other wild creatures, even within supposed reserves. The hyenas attack the cattle, and the ranchers shoot, poison, and snare the hyenas. “There are typically several thousand head of cattle grazing all day, every day in our study area, which is entirely within a national reserve”, says Holekamp. “There are rules against this, but no enforcement whatsoever.” The result: hyena numbers are now in decline. Holekamp has helped draw official attention to these growing threats during the decade-plus she has served on a special hyena-survival commission of the World Conservation Union. Increasingly, she has also devoted more of her research towards trying to pinpoint the dangers. Starting in the late 1990s, satellite data revealed that Holekamp's hyenas were moving about in a radically different way. No longer were they spending most of their time in traditional hunting grounds. The females also seemed to be traveling further between sightings and were becoming more active at night. In a recently published paper in Animal Conservation (2003; 6: 1–10), Holekamp and her students found that this was because of new pressures from livestock in the reserve. The team now pursues related questions concerning both hyenas and lions, which face similar pressures. Among other things, they're looking into whether cattle grazing affects hyenas' use of time and space, as well as their reproductive behavior. Holekamp has also begun to assess conservation strategies such as payments to farmers who don't kill the carnivores. Meanwhile, Holekamp and her team give scores of lectures each year to groups of tourists and students, seeking to challenge the “Lion King” calumny and show just “how cool” hyenas really are. “Did you notice in that film that one of the hyenas is named Shenzi?” Holekamp says indignantly. “That's Swahili for slovenly!” Holekamp knows she faces both professional and physical risks. Keeping in mind the still-unsolved 1985 murder of Dian Fossey – a staunch foe of Rwanda's gorilla poachers – Holekamp is careful to remain cautiously diplomatic in her dealings with the local Masai cattle ranchers, who see her beloved hyenas as dangerous pests. Holekamp is also mindful of the danger that colleagues will perceive her as excessively partial to her research subjects. Yet she says she has faith in the peer-review process, adding, “I have complete confidence that, if I stray in my scientific writing too far into ‘advocacy’ from the facts available in the data I collect, my peers will promptly reign me in”. Katherine Ellison
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Dec 31, 2009
Bo Söderström + 1
Open Access