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Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

node · earth · Serengeti–Mara ecosystem

The Serengeti's most numerous large carnivore, and the one whose behaviour is most visibly shaped by the migration. Hofer and East's long-term study described a commuting system: hyenas hold permanent clan territories containing a communal den, but spend 46–62% of the year travelling to whichever migratory herds are nearest. Lactating females must return to the den to nurse cubs that depend on milk for at least a year, so their commuting effort exceeds that of other adults by at least 2.6-fold. This is why resident predators cannot simply follow the herds south and take the calf crop.

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Evidence · 2
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Assembled narrative · 1

Assembled from 34 blocks · 2 evidence · 31 related

  1. Story
  2. The Serengeti's most numerous large carnivore, and the one whose behaviour is most visibly shaped by the migration. Hofer and East's long-term study described a commuting system: hyenas hold permanent clan territories containing a communal den, but spend 46–62% of the year travelling to whichever migratory herds are nearest. Lactating females must return to the den to nurse cubs that depend on milk for at least a year, so their commuting effort exceeds that of other adults by at least 2.6-fold. This is why resident predators cannot simply follow the herds south and take the calf crop.
  3. Knowledge
  4. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
  5. Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
  6. Connections
  7. Synchronised Wildebeest Calving
  8. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
  9. The calving pulse on the short-grass plains
  10. Serengeti–Mara Rainfall Gradient
  11. Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii)
  12. Western Corridor and Grumeti Reserves
  13. Southern Serengeti Short-Grass Plains
  14. Serengeti National Park
  15. Southern Serengeti Short-Grass Plains
  16. Mara River
  17. Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)
  18. Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)
  19. Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
  20. Serengeti Biodiversity Programme
  21. Rinderpest disappears from the Serengeti–Mara ecosystem
  22. The wildebeest population irrupts from roughly 250,000 to over a million
  23. Drought kills roughly a quarter of the wildebeest population
  24. The Mara–Loita migration collapses by about 81%
  25. Edge degradation squeezes wildlife into the ecosystem core
  26. The rut
  27. The calving pulse on the short-grass plains
  28. The herds cross the Grumeti River in the western corridor
  29. The Mara River crossings
  30. TAWIRI Aerial Point Survey estimates 1,366,109 wildebeest
  31. AI satellite survey returns fewer than 600,000, and is contested
  32. Evidence
  33. Serengeti spotted hyenas hold permanent den-centred territories but spend 46–62% of the year commuting to migratory herds, with lactating females bearing at least 2.6-fold the commuting effort of other adults
  34. Global conservation status for the species involved, and the caveat that global Least Concern status does not describe the risk to the migratory behaviour itself
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