Content uploaded by Abdullah Nagy
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Abdullah Nagy on Nov 23, 2024
Content may be subject to copyright.
Short Note
Abdullah Nagy*, Said El-Kholy, Alaaeldin Soultan and Omar Attum
First record of the spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta in
Egypt during the past 5,000 years
https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2024-0031
Received March 5, 2024; accepted September 26, 2024;
published online ▪▪▪
Abstract: An individual of spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta
was killed by local people in Elba Protected Area, South-East
Egypt in winter of 2024. This record constitutes the first
record of the species in contemporary Egypt since its
extinction over 5,000 years ago. The possibility of increased
rainfall and grazing practices creating a corridor for hyena
dispersal from neighboring Sudan was investigated. The
record is 500 km north of the known range of the spotted
hyena.
Keywords: Egypt; Elba protected area; spotted hyena;
Crocuta crocuta
Spotted hyenas, Crocuta crocuta (Erxleben, 1777), are one of
the most abundant carnivores in Africa with a sub-Saharan
distribution between 17°N and 28°S (Hatton et al. 2015;
Holekamp and Dloniak 2010). Spotted hyenas are remark-
ably adaptable, living in a wide range of habitats. Although
they more commonly occur in mixed forest-savanna, they
also occur in deserts and forests. In semi-arid and arid
regions, spotted hyena populations tend to be smaller
(Holekamp and Dloniak 2010). The species has not been
recorded in contemporary Egypt (Anderson 1902; Basuony
et al. 2010; Hoath 2009; Hoogstraal et al. 1954; Osborn and
Helmy 1980), since becoming extinct over 5,000 years ago
(Yeakel et al. 2014). However, Hofer and Mills (1998),
mentioned unconfirmed records from Egypt through ques-
tionnaire surveys. The nearest stable population is in Sudan,
with populations in north and south Darfur, north Kurdufan,
and Dinder national park (Elfaig et al. 2016; Mohammed et al.
2019; Wilson 1979, 1980).
In some instances, spotted hyenas are a human subsi-
dized predator that can co-exist or benefit from humans,
even experiencing population increases or range expansion
(Gade 2006; Green et al. 2018; Struller et al. 2022). Spotted
hyenas have been reported in unusual areas far from their
known distributional range (Juste and Castroviejo 1992) as
they can travel approximately 27 km in a day (Bothma and
Walker 1999). This study reports the first documented record
of spotted hyena in contemporary Egypt. We also explore the
possibility that this new record is attributable to climatic
factors, livestock grazing and human activity in the area.
In February 2024, a spotted hyena killed two goats
belonging to local people in Wadi Yahmib over a two-day
period, within Elba Protected Area, 30 km north of the
Sudanese and Egyptian border (Figures 1 and 2). The goat
depredations occurred at night. The local people are master
trackers and familiar with all large mammals of the area.
The hyena was tracked by local people, located, chased, and
intentionally hit by a pickup truck on February 24, 2024. The
body was observed by (SE), photographed, and left for
scavengers to consume.
The spotted hyena was located 5 km from a small human
settlement of just a few families, in a sandy plain inter-
spersed with rocky hills (Figure 1). The settlement sits 180 m
above sea level. The study area (in which the spotted hyena
was observed) consists of an arid climate, with hot, rainless
summers and mild winters. Precipitation falls mostly in the
autumn and winter months, but is not an annual event
(Mahmoud 2010). The mountains bordering the Red Sea
coast trap moisture as the clouds rise and condense, which
results in higher precipitation and occasional flashfloods.
The modest levels of seasonal precipitation (annual average
for the years between 1983 and 2022 is 18 mm ±SE 0.155)
transforms these arid plains into temporary meadows which
are intensively utilized by local pastoralists (De Vries et al.
2013; Funk et al. 2015). The monthly mean temperature
varies between 24 and 38 C˚during the summer and 12 and
26 C˚during the winter (as cited in Mahmoud 2010). This
area is considered a continuation of the Sudanese tropical
region and is the most floristically diverse part of Egypt
(Abd El-Ghani and Abdel-khalik 2006). The area is dominated
by Vachellia tortilis,Lycium shawii, and Balanites aegyptiaca
*Corresponding author: Abdullah Nagy, Zoology Department, Faculty of
Science, Al Azhar University, 11682, Cairo, Egypt,
E-mail: A.nagy@azhar.edu.eg
Said El-Kholy, Shelter and Campfire Association, Cairo, Egypt
Alaaeldin Soultan, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland
Omar Attum, Department of Biology, Indiana University Southeast, New
Albany, IN 47150, USA
Mammalia 2024; ▪▪▪(▪▪▪): 1–4
CORRECTED PROOF
vegetation (Abd El-Ghani and Abdel-khalik 2006; Zahran and
Willis 2009).
We used historic normalized difference vegetation index
(NVDI) as an index of precipitation and corresponding pas-
toral grazing opportunity. The interannual average of winter
NDVI was estimated for the potential corridor area between
the northern most range of the spotted hyena in Sudan (Bohm
and Höner 2015; Kingdon 2015) and the tropic of cancer in
Egypt (Figure 1). The NDVI values were obtained using the
Google Earth Engine to analyze the Landsat 5 and 7 satellite
imagery (Gorelick et al. 2017). We examined long-term
changes in NDVI values between the years 1984 and 2022.
Analysis of NDVI values in the potential corridor area
reveals fluctuations, with multi-year droughts followed by
shorter ‘wet’periods (Figure 3). Precipitation and corre-
sponding NDVI values have been higher during the past
Figure 1: New spotted hyena record in Egypt (triangle) in relation to the known distributional range (hashed) and potential corridor area (bold dashed
line) in which NDVI values were calculated between 1984 and 2022 (Figure 3).
Figure 2: The spotted hyena’s cadaver in Elba
protected area.
2A. Nagy et al.: Spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta in Egypt
CORRECTED PROOF
five years (2019–2022) when compared to the previous two
decades (Figure 3). This five-year period of less severe
environmental conditions in the corridor area could facili-
tate the dispersal of a spotted hyena northwards into the
south-eastern Egypt. For example, precipitation quantity
and corresponding grazing opportunity is believed to shape
movement and population dynamics of ungulates in the area
(Attum et al. 2014). This period of higher NDVI values is
believed to be associated with increased grazing and stock-
ing rate of livestock (Nagy pers. Observation). The increased
grazing potential as indicated by higher NDVI levels is also
believed to have resulted in a change of pastoral grazing
practices, in which locals now prefer to allow their livestock
to graze freely (free-range grazing) instead of keeping them
in a confined area with supplementary food, even trans-
porting camel herds from Nile valley to the area for free
pasture. In addition, the spotted hyena observation occurred
in the winter, which is the season with the least environ-
mental severity. A male leopard (Panthera pardus) was also
killed in 2014 during the winter, after a livestock depreda-
tion. Leopards historically occur in the area and it is believed
that there may be a few Individuals that still reside in the
southeastern mountains of Egypt or disperse from Sudan
during the winter (Soultan et al. 2016).
Spotted hyenas can live entirely on human food waste,
livestock carcasses, and occasional livestock depredation
(Abay et al. 2011; Struller et al. 2022; Yirga et al. 2015). Native
ungulates occur in the area but their numbers are consid-
ered too low to support a population of large predators due
to environmental and human disturbance (Attum et al. 2014;
Nagy et al. 2022). The people of south-east Egypt are mostly
pastoralists that manage free ranging livestock such as
camels Camelus dromedarius, sheep Ovis aries, goats Capra
hircus, and donkeys Equus asinus. In addition, spotted
hyenas could have been attracted by the nearby slaughter-
house in the village of Shalatin (124 km), which has attracted
numerous scavenger species (such as Egyptian vulture
Neophron percnopterus and Lappet faced vulture Torgos
tracheliotos). Spotted hyena populations are often attracted
to slaughterhouses and even small rural clusters of people
can support hyena populations (Gade 2006). The current
political instability and civil war in Sudan could contribute
to increased spotted hyena populations or distribution as
hyenas engage in anthropophagy and will depredate weak-
ened or vulnerable humans, especially during times of
human crisis (Gade 2006).
Humans in the horn of Africa have tolerated spotted
hyenas given their long history of cohabitating and spotted
hyenas providing the ecosystem service of acting as organic
garbage disposers. There is no cultural history of local peo-
ple in south-eastern Egypt existing with spotted hyenas and
any livestock depredation can be financially devasting to
local people, especially given their lack of alternative income
(Gade 2006). The local people are more tolerant of smaller
scavengers in Elba Protected Area, such as striped hyena,
Hyaena hyaena, and lappet faced vulture that do not attack
livestock (Basuony et al. 2010). If spotted hyenas would
become established, they would become apex predators in
south-eastern Egypt, given the rarity or lack of large pred-
ators (Soultan et al. 2016). However, we believe that human
persecution and human wildlife-conflict will prevent spotted
hyenas from becoming established even when environ-
mental conditions and food availability potentially become
permissible (Green et al. 2018). Our record supports the need
of the spotted hyena’s IUCN Red List assessment to be
continuously reviewed to account for the species ability
to disperse and expand its range as a result of changing
climatic conditions or unstable political situations.
Figure 3: NDVI time series for the potential
corridor area between the northern most
range of the spotted hyena in Sudan (Bohm
and Höner 2015; Kingdon 2015) and the tropic
of cancer in Egypt as shown in Figure 1.
A. Nagy et al.: Spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta in Egypt 3
CORRECTED PROOF
Research ethics: Not applicable.
Informed consent: Not applicable.
Author contributions: The authors have accepted respon-
sibility for the entire content of this manuscript and
approved its submission.
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning
Tools: None declared.
Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: Not applicable.
References
Abay, G.Y., Bauer, H., Gebrihiwot, K., and Deckers, J. (2011). Peri-urban
spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in Northern Ethiopia: diet, economic
impact, and abundance. Eur. J. Wildlife Res. 57: 759–765.
Abd El-Ghani, M. and Abdel-khalik, K. (2006). Floristic diversity and
phytogeography of the Gebel Elba national park, South-East Egypt.
Turk. J. Bot. 30: 121–136.
Anderson, J. (1902). The zoology of Egypt: Mammalia. Revised and completed
by W. E. de Winton, ed. Hugh Rees, Ltd, London.
Attum, O., Ghazali, U., El Noby, S.K., and Hassan, I.N. (2014). The effects of
precipitation history on the kilometric index of Dorcas gazelles.J. Arid
Environ. 102: 113–116.
Basuony, M.I., Gilbert, F., and Zalat, S. (2010). Mammals of Egypt: atlas, red
data listing and conservation. Ministry State of Environmental Affairs,
Cairo, Egypt.
Bohm, T. and Höner, O.R. (2015). Crocuta crocuta [online]. The IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species [online], https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/5674/
0 (Accessed 24 February 2024).
Bothma, J.D.P. and Walker, C. (1999) The spotted hyaena. In: Larger
carnivores of the African savannas. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg,
pp. 158–199, https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-662-03766-9_7
(Accessed 24 February 2024).
De Vries, A.J., Tyrlis, E., Edry, D., Krichak, S.O., Steil, B., and Lelieveld, J. (2013).
Extreme precipitation events in the Middle East: dynamics of the active
Red Sea trough. J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos. 118: 7087–7108.
Elfaig, A.H., Abdalla, A.M., Elnou, A.H.B., and Eisa, A.M. (2016). Spatial
biodiversity’s changes in Khor Abuhabil Area-Sudan (1972–2013). Elixir
Environ. For. 95: 40757–40763.
Funk, C., Peterson, P., Landsfeld, M., Pedreros, D., Verdin, J., Shukla, S.,
Husak, G., Rowland, J., Harrison, L., Hoell, A., et al (2015). The climate
hazards infrared precipitation with stations: a new environmental
record for monitoring extremes. Scientific Data 2: 150066.
Gade, D.W. (2006). Hyenas and humans in the Horn of Africa. Geogr. Rev. 96:
609–632.
Gorelick, N., Hancher, M., Dixon, M., Ilyushchenko, S., Thau, D., and Moore,
R. (2017). Google Earth Engine: planetary-scale geospatial analysis for
everyone. Remote Sens. Environ. 202: 18–27.
Green, D.S., Johnson-Ulrich, L., Couraud, H.E., and Holekamp, K.E. (2018).
Anthropogenic disturbance induces opposing population trends
in spotted hyenas and African lions. Biodiversity Conserv. 27:
871–889.
Hatton,I.A.,McCann,K.S.,Fryxell,J.M.,Davies,T.J.,Smerlak,M.,Sinclair,
A.R.E., and Loreau, M. (2015). The predator-prey power law:
biomass scaling across terrestrial and aquatic biomes. Science 349:
aac6284.
Hoath, R. (2009). Afield guide to the mammals of Egypt. The American
University in Cairo Press, Cairo, Egypt.
Hofer, H. and Mills, G. (1998) World distribution of hyenas. In: Hyaenas:
status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland
and Cambridge, UK, pp. 154.
Holekamp, K.E. and Dloniak, S.M. (2010) Intraspecific variation in
the behavioral ecology of a tropical carnivore, the spotted hyena. In:
Advances in the study of behavior. Elsevier, pp. 189–229,
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0065345410420069
(Accessed 24 February 2024).
Hoogstraal, H., Wassif, K., and Kaiser, M.N. (1954). Results of the NAMRU-3
Southeastern Egypt expedition: introduction, itinerary, and
environmental conditions. Bulletin Zool. Soc. Egypt 13: 1–12.
Juste, J. and Castroviejo, J. (1992). Unusual record of the spotted hyena
(Crocuta crocuta) in Rio Muni, Equatorial Guinea (Central Africa).
Z. Säugeticrkunde 57: 380–381.
Kingdon, J. (2015). The Kingdon field guide to African mammals. Bloomsbury
Publishing, London, UK.
Mahmoud, T. (2010). Desert plants of Egypt’s Wadi El Gemal National Park.
American University in Cairo Press, Cairo, Egypt.
Mohammed, A., Bauer, H., El Faki, A., and Sillero-Zubiri, C. (2019). Lion and
spotted hyaena abundance in Dinder National Park, Sudan. Afr. J. Ecol.
58, https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12683.
Nagy, A., Mohallal, E.M.E., El-Kafrawy, S., and Saber, S.A. (2022). Which is a
stronger predictor of the abundance of Dorcas Gazelle,Gazella dorcas
in the Eastern desert of Egypt: human or natural factors? Zool. Middle
East 68: 189–197.
Osborn, D.J. and Helmy, I. (1980). The contemporary land mammals of Egypt
(including Sinai). Fieldiana: Zool. 5.
Soultan, A., Attum, O., Hamada, A., Hatab, E.-B., Ahmed, S.E., Eisa, A.,
Al Sharif, I., Nagy, A. and Shohdi, W. (2016). Recent observation for
leopard Panthera pardus in Egypt. Mammalia 81: 115–117.
Struller, F., Bauer, H., Yirga, G., and Vos, M. (2022). Growing up urban: hyena
foraging groups and social structure at a city waste dump. Front.
Conserv. Sci. 3: 866836.
Wilson, R.T. (1979). Wildlife in Southern Darfur, Sudan: distribution
and status at present and in the recent past. Mammalia 43:
323–328.
Wilson, R.T. (1980). Wildlife in Northern Darfur, Sudan: a review of its
distribution and status in the recent past and at present. Biol. Conserv.
17: 85–101.
Yeakel, J.D., Pires, M.M., Rudolf, L., Dominy, N.J., Koch, P.L., Guimarães, P.R.,
and Gross, T. (2014). Collapse of an ecological network in Ancient
Egypt. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 111: 14472–14477.
Yirga, G., De Iongh, H.H., Leirs, H., Gebrehiwot, K., Deckers, J., and Bauer, H.
(2015). Food base of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in Ethiopia.
Wildlife Res. 42: 19.
Zahran, M.A. and Willis, A.J. (2009). The vegetation of Egypt. Springer Science
& Business Media b.v, Dordrecht, Netherlands.
4A. Nagy et al.: Spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta in Egypt
CORRECTED PROOF
