A Happy Hyena Thanksgiving

While you are all celebrating your Thanksgiving tomorrow, your thanks will be no doubt be shared by one lucky brown hyena now safe here at Shamwari.  As I reported on our most recent blog post, a hyena was spotted on a cattle farm just north of Shamwari, and the farmer gave the Shamwari conservation team the opportunity to capture and relocate it before he shot it.  We set a trap last Friday.  Last night we went to check on the trap - no luck.  The bait was still there, and no sign of a hyena.  We sat near the trap and played the sounds of distressed animals (not pleasant sounds).  We were not optimistic that we would catch the hyena, and started to doubt whether the farmer had actually seen one.

This afternoon, the Shamwari conservation team got a call from the farmer - the hyena was in the trap.  Seems like the sounds we played did the trick, and the camera trap we set captured this picture of the hyena at the cage only 20 minutes after we left last night!

Tonight the team retrieved the lucky hyena and brought him back to the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

So that he could be measured, tested, collared and photographed

Tomorrow we'll release him onto the reserve, where hopefully he'll be safe.  And with that, we will bid a fond adieu to Shamwari, and off we go on the next leg of our adventure!

To all our friends and family, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Save us some turkey and stuffing!