Abstract:
The brown hyaena in the southern Kalahari is predominantly a
scavenger of mammal remains, supplementing its diet with wild fruits as
well as other vertebrate remains, insects, birds' eggs and the occasional
small animal which is killed. Brown hyaenas are solitary foragers, but
most of them live in small groups which inhabit large territories. The
rest of the population consists of dispersing subadults and nomadic adult males. Territory size is mainly affected by the dispersion pattern of
the food in the territory and group size by the "quality" of the food.
Mating is carried out between nomadic males and group-living females and
group-living males help with the feeding of cubs. Communication is
carried out mainly through olfactory and visual means. Subadult
recruitment and emigration are mainly responsible for group size
regulation. Evolutionary trends in Hyaenid behaviour are briefly discussed
as is the management of the brown hyaena in the southern Kalahari and
other areas.
