Research Summary
Pilanesberg National Park and neighboring areas, Northwest Province, South Africa — Despite their traditional bad reputation, brown hyaenas are actually social mammals that live in tight-knit clans, where members will even help suckle each other's young. Like other carnivores and large scavengers, brown hyaenas are suffering from shrinking habitats and conflict with humans. The land around protected areas is being increasingly developed, and hyaenas that venture into neighboring farmland and game ranches are at risk of being poisoned, trapped, or hunted down as pests. Finding a way to live peacefully on land outside of parks may be the only means of survival for the fewer than 1,700 brown hyaenas living in South Africa.
Any attempts to improve the situation for hyaenas will depend upon a thorough understanding of the regions they inhabit, and especially of the roles of other scavengers. Maintaining a delicate balance between hyaenas, vultures, and dung beetles—three key scavengers in the area—is essential for a healthy ecosystem. Just as some scavengers may begin to succumb to the pressures of human presence, others may be more successful in adapting—so assessing them in one project will provide critical data for future overall conservation efforts.
You can help researchers Dr. Dawn Scott and Dr. Richard Yarnell and Lynne MacTavish assess the conservation value of areas with different levels of protection for brown hyaenas by seeing how they and other scavengers thrive—or fail to thrive—in this rich landscape that combines protected areas and unprotected zones.
Meet the Scientists
Dr Dawn Scott
University of Brighton
Dr Dawn Scott is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology at the University of Brighton. She holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Durham and earned her Ph.D. researching desert rodents in Jordan. She also holds a post-graduate teaching qualification and is a member of the British Ecological Society and Biogeography Research Group, and is currently a council member of the Mammal Society. Dr Scott has more than 10 years of experience in academic research with expertise in mammal ecology, biodiversity and behavior, and has undertaken several field research projects on human-wildlife conflict in Jordan, Chile, Zambia, South Africa, Indonesia and the UK. She has also been a visiting research fellow at the Zoological Society of London, where she was involved in a project investigating how endangered cat species can survive outside protected areas.
Dr Richard Yarnell
Nottingham Trent University
Dr Richard Yarnell is a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. He holds a degree in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen and a Master’s in Ecology from the University of Wales, Bangor. He earned his Ph.D. researching the effects of game ranch management on small mammal populations, in collaboration with the University of Brighton and the University of Pretoria. Dr Yarnell’s experience includes research on the impact of habitat management on mammal ecology, cooperative breeding in meerkats in South Africa, and hyaena numbers in Northwest Province, all in South Africa, as well as a project investigating badger and fox populations in relation to pest management for the UK government. He has also served as Chief Executive of The Badger Trust in the UK. He is particularly interested in the conservation of carnivores and in human-wildlife conflict.
Lynne MacTavish
Mankwe Wildlife Reserve
Lynne MacTavish has been Operations Manager at Mankwe Wildlife Reserve since 1999. She has a Diploma in Tourism and has worked in the tourist industry for nearly 20 years. She also runs her own catering business. MacTavish is an experienced Level 3 Field Guide with the South African Field Guide Association and is also qualified in First Aid. She was the recipient of the UBS African Scientists Programme fellowship award for training in Principal Investigator responsibilities, scientific training and support. She will be in charge of all the logistical management and arrangements during the expedition.