Range, Habitat and Population
The spotted hyena's distribution once ranged in Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the Urals, where it remained for at least one million years. Remains have also been found in the Russian Far East, and it has been theorised that the presence of hyenas there may have delayed the colonisation of North America. The causes of the species' extinction in Eurasia are still largely unknown. In Western Europe at least, the spotted hyena's extinction coincided with a decline in grasslands 12,500 years ago. Europe experienced a massive loss of lowland habitats favoured by spotted hyenas, and a corresponding increase in mixed woodlands. Spotted hyenas, under these circumstances, would have been outcompeted by wolves and humans which were as much at home in forests as in open lands, and in highlands as in lowlands. Spotted hyena populations began to shrink after roughly 20,000 years ago, completely disappearing from Western Europe between 14–11,000 years ago, and earlier in some areas.
Historically, the spotted hyena was widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. It is present in all habitats save for the most extreme desert conditions, tropical rainforests and the top of alpine mountains. Its current distribution is patchy in many places, especially in West Africa. Populations are concentrated in protected areas and surrounding land. There is a continuous distribution over large areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia and the Transvaal Lowveld areas of South Africa.
The species dwells in semi-deserts, savannah, open woodland, dense dry woodland, and mountainous forests up to 4,000m in altitude. It is scarce or absent in in tropical rainforests and coastal areas. Its preferred habitats in west Africa include the Guinea and Sudan savannahs, and is absent in the belt of dense coastal forest. In the Namib Desert, it occurs in riverine growth along seasonal rivers, the sub-desertic 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. Population densities based on systematic censuses vary substantially, from 0.006 to 1.7 individuals per km².
| Country | Population | Status | Threats/Protection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | Unknown | Data Deficient | Although present, its numbers are unknown due to the Angolan Civil War |
| Benin | 50–100 | Threatened | Although generally tolerated, spotted hyenas in Benin are declining due to persecution and prey depletion |
| Botswana | 1,000–2,000 | Lower Risk | Botswana's spotted hyena population is stable and legally protected by the Fauna Conservation Acts of 1982 and 1987, where it is listed as a game animal. A single game licence is required to hunt one, and control measures have largely removed the species from settled areas |
| Burkina Faso | 100-1,000 | Data Deficient | Burkina Faso's hyenas are depleted in number because of hunting, poaching and declining prey populations. Though still poisoned and trapped in retaliation against livestock depredations, the species is otherwise tolerated |
| Burundi | Unknown | Threatened | Probably on the verge of extinction |
| Cameroon | 100-1,000 | Threatened | Although protected within national parks, Cameroon hyenas suffer from habitat desertification and human expansion, and are sometimes killed by tourist hunters and herdsmen |
| Central African Republic | 100-1,000 | Data Deficient | Although spotted hyena populations in CAR are probably stable and are generally tolerated, their level of legal protection is unknown |
| Chad | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Republic of the Congo | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Djibouti | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Equatorial Guinea | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Eritrea | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Ethiopia | 1,000–2,000 | Lower Risk | Ethiopia has a stable population of hyenas which are considered valuable in clearing urban and rural populated areas, and are occasionally provisioned by the hyena men of Harar. There is no active bounty on them, even though they are considered vermin. They may be hunted without licence outside of national parks for five Ethiopian Birr (US$ 2.50) |
| Gabon | Unknown | No Record | |
| Ghana | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Guinea-Bissau | Unknown | Lower Risk | Althoug still relatively common in some protected areas, spotted hyenas are lively declining due to persecution |
| Kenya | 2,000–4,000 | Lower Risk | Kenya's spotted hyena population differs in status for protected and unprotected areas, being Lower Risk in protected areas and Threatened elsewhere. They are thought to be declining due to persecution through poisoning, shooting, snaring and trapping |
| Liberia | 0 | No Record | |
| Malawi | 100-1,000 | Data Deficient | Malawi hyena populations occur at reasonable densities, though a growth in human population, habitat destruction and reduction in prey have caused the species to disappear from the central highlands. They are protected inside national parks, but are not tolerated elsewhere |
| Mali | 10–50 | Threatened | |
| Mauritania | 100–500 | Threatened | Spotted hyenas are still present in the Adrar |
| Mozambique | Unknown | Data Deficient | Although protected by law, spotted hyenas are still hunted for their body parts |
| Namibia | 2,000–3,000 | Lower Risk | Namibian hyena populations are classed as Lower Risk in protected areas and Threatened elswhere. They are occasionally killed in communal and commercial farming areas |
| Niger | 20–50 | Threatened | Niger's hyena populations are declining due to drought, desertification, eradication and poisoning |
| Nigeria | 100 | Threatened | Nigerian spotted hyenas are on the verge of extinction, due to lack of legal protection, declines in prey populations and persecution in retaliation to livestock predation |
| Rwanda | Unknown | Threatened | Although present in Rwanda, it is unlikely that many individuals have survived the destruction of conservation areas during the Rwandan Civil War |
| Senegal | 100-1,000 | Data Deficient | Although considered useful scavengers and are afforded legal protection in national parks, spotted hyenas are not tolerated elsewhere |
| Sierra Leone | Unknown | Threatened | Although no longer regarded as pests, the population size and dynamics of spotted hyenas in Sierra Leone are unknown |
| Somalia | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| South Africa | Cape: 80–100 Transvaal: 50–100 Kruger: 1,300–3,900 Natal: 250-1,000 |
Cape: Threatened Transvaal: Threatened Kruger: Data Deficient Natal: Threatened |
Cape spotted hyena populations are even smaller than those of local brown hyenas, due to past persecution. Transvaal's spotted hyenas are not protected, though they are not bountied. Natal's spotted hyenas have been increasing in number within all game preserves and nature reserves, where they are protected. |
| Sudan | Unknown | Data Deficient | |
| Tanzania: Serengeti | 7,200–7,700 | Lower Risk | |
| Tanzania: elsewhere | 3,000–4,500 | Threatened | |
| Uganda | 100-1,000 | Data Deficient | Although protected and tolerated, Ugandan hyenas rarely occur outside protected areas |
| Zambia | 1,000–2,000 | Data Deficient | Zambia's hyenas are increasing in the Luangwa Valley, but declining elsewhere |
| Zimbabwe | 5,600 | Lower Risk | Spotted hyenas are not protected and are considered problem animals in the 8th Schedule of the Parks and Wildlife |
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