Hyaena in Zimbabwe
By Randall Bush


In August of 2003 1 again had the pleasure of hunting with Alec and Jan Strauss of Savannah Safaris in Zimbabwe. Although I took 10 different species in a couple of different locations in that country, I am placing emphasis on only one of the animals, the hyaena. For some unknown reason I have had a desire to hunt hyaena in Africa. It may have stemmed from talking to Doug Smith, who could make hunting a cockroach seem exciting.

I had mentioned to Alec that I would like to try calling in some hyaenas, but for 2 weeks we were so busy pursuing other species that little further thought was given to the idea. On the last day of a 15-day hunt we decided to give it a try. One of the trackers knew where a pack of hyaenas had their den in a rock kopje. We loaded a pop-up blind, electronic game call and some very fragrant animal remains into the truck and off we headed. About a mile before we got to the den we started dragging the accumulation of animal remains behind the truck. This was to leave a scent trail from the den to our blind. After about a half mile one of the trackers tapped on the cab of the truck and pointed to a young bull elephant to our left about 40 yards. Alec stopped the truck and I started to video the bull.

The peaceful mood was soon shattered when the tracker started beating on the top of the cab like a drummer in a rock band. We turned to see another elephant charging us at full tilt from the right. Alec had taken the truck out of gear when we first stopped and he was trying desperately to get it back in gear. We managed to pull away just a split second before the elephant would have rammed us. The elephant chased us for a short distance before giving up. Usually in a mock charge the elephant will come at you with ears flared out and screaming. This one came silently with the ears laid back, which means business. With a little distance between us now we can look over the situation. The elephant doing the charging was a tuskless cow, accompanied by a half grown calf and a very young calf. Alec said a tuskless cow had the worst attitude of all the other elephants since they have a lesser defense system. This one definitely had a bad attitude along with the protective mother instinct. This incident made a strong impression on us. Alec said at least 3 local natives had been killed this year, two by elephants and one by a hippo.

After regaining our composure and cleaning our pants we continue our drag toward the hyaena den. Within a quarter of a mile of the rock kopje the going gets too rough for the vehicle so we continue on foot with the trackers dragging the bait. As we circle the kopje you can tell it has been used for many, many years for a den site. The ground is covered with hyaena tracks as well as feces that has long since turned white due to the calcium in the bones that the hyaena have eaten. We can see the well-worn trail up to the cave opening about half was up the kopje. We circle the kopje with the bait and backtrack to the truck.

Returning to where we had started our drag we proceed to set up our blind. This is at least a mile from the hyaena den, but Alec assures me they will be able to hear the call easily. We are at a kopje with a watering hole at its base. Alec suggested that we set the blind against some rock structures that formed somewhat of a cave. We placed the entry to the blind against the opening. The purpose of this was in case the elephants returned we could get into a safer location in a hurry. We located the speaker of the electronic call about 50 yards out from the blind. The hyaena call was in two series. The first series was the classic hyaena howl with the other being a hyaena feeding frenzy. The feeding frenzy sounds exactly like a group of people bent double in laughter. Hyaenas are very territorial and if they think another pack has invaded their territory they come running.

It is good dark now and we crank up the electronic call. We do a couple of series of calls, each lasting about 45 seconds and about 5 minutes apart. Alec tells me that he is uneasy about our setup. We are too close to where we had encountered the elephants and they were surely still in the area. He said it would be much safer if we packed up, got back in the truck and did our calling about every quarter of a mile as we got closer to the den. Needless to say, if Alec is uneasy about the situation, this ole boy is terrified. We don’t have to put up with a whole lot of elephants in Alabama.

We make our first stop about half a mile from where we left the blind. We set the speaker on the hood of the truck and I stepped out leaving the truck door open. When we cranked up the call we got an immediate response. It seems the pack was already coming to our first series of calls made at the blind. We were just intersecting them. We shut the call off and the pack continued their howling and barking, getting ever closer. I grabbed my rifle from the truck and the tracker handed me the shooting sticks. Alec said to tell him when I was ready so he could shine the spot light. The pack was right on us by now. When the light went on we could see 4 hyaena about 35 or 40 yards in front of us. One animal stood out from the others as being larger and lighter in color. It was an easy shot and the end to a very exciting adventure.
I don’t think anyone can say that a hyaena is pretty, but this one sure looked good to me.