The raid and the secret weapon

From Eli

Even before the raid it had been an interesting night. A steady stream of people and hyenas had come and gone, each leaving satisfied with the fruits of the evening. Koti had made her first appearance in over a week, strutting about the place like the alpha she is. Abbas had even gotten some of the hyenas to chomp down on the steak-shaped squeaky toy that Marcus brought from Australia, although they seemed a bit betrayed to discover it wasn’t food. After the first set of hyenas had left, a few latecomers had come, including a one-and-a-half year old sub-adult making its first foray to the feeding site.

Abbas and the squeaky steak. Photo courtesy of Kaylee Everly.

When the Aboker hyenas descended, the four latecomers, led by a square-faced female named Botole, were staring longingly at the last piece of meat lying on the ground. She wanted it real bad, but it was just a bit too close to people for her comfort. Suddenly, they all looked up, growling with tails bristled.

Then, chaos.

Where there were four hyenas a second ago, hyenas were now running every which-way. From south along the road to Suqutatberi their came the sound of hyenas lowing in unison, marking the center of the conflict. I rushed over, but there was nothing to be seen. As soon as it had begun, the raid was over.

Hearing groans from the hill by the feeding place, I walked over to find eight Aboker hyenas, including five huge females, reveling in their victory. Tails held high, the females marched up the hill to the Sofi latrine site that marks the feeding place as Sofi property. There the conquering females sniffed intently about and enthusiastically pawed the ground, depositing scent chemicals from the interdigital glands between their toes.  Finally, like an army raising their flag over a recently won battlefield, the Aboker hyenas began whooping.

A hyena’s whoop carries a lot of information, and it carries far.  From the top of the hill, the Aboker hyenas were sending a resounding message that was certainly heard loud and clear by the Sofi hyenas at the dump: Aboker hyenas had taken the feeding site.

We waited for a while for the Sofi counter attack. Having seen the dump at night, I knew that there must have been at least twenty Sofi hyenas that heard those Aboker whoops.  Where were Koti, Gurra Murra, Jaagi, Botole, Eegey, Duleti, or any of the other big Sofi females? Many of them had been there earlier that night. Nevertheless, the response from the Sofi hyenas that I expected was not forthcoming. Which isn’t to say the Sofi feeding place went undefended.

Armed with the steak-shaped squeaky toy, Abbas walked to the top of the hill and made that steak sing. The Aboker hyenas jumped, visibly unnerved by the sound. He worked his way down the hill, vigorously squeaking the steak and sending the Aboker hyenas into a startled frenzy.  They watched anxiously as Abbas whistled the same whistle he uses early in the evenings to attract Sofi hyenas to the feeding site. He was calling for reinforcements.

Despite Abbas’ efforts, the Sofi clan never showed. The Aboker hyenas again settled on the hill, and again Abbas drove them off with the squeaky steak. This time, the invaders dispersed, some back towards Argoberi and their territory, others towards Suqutatberi, further into Sofi territory. Relinquishing the steak, Abbas retired to his home.

I stayed another half an hour, thinking about the night’s events and waiting for any further developments. When I finally left, there was one Aboker hyena rummaging through the dumpster behind Abbas’ house. The last piece of meat lay forgotten on the ground.

To the boldest, the spoils

From Eli

In my opinion, the social system of the spotted hyena is one of the most interesting attributes of the species. They live in clans ranging from 3 to over 120 individuals, and every hyena has a unique rank inherited from its mother. Despite the sometimes massive clan sizes, hyenas usually congregate in subgroups and the whole clan is almost never together all at once. Hyenas recognize and know the ranks of all other individuals in the clan, and will alter their behavior depending on who is nearby. A hyena’s rank is a huge determinant of the sort of life it might live, because rank determines access to food and other coveted resources. If you have ever seen hyenas interacting with each other, you probably remember lots of chasing, giggling, and growling. These are parts of everyday hyena life, where higher-ranking individuals behave aggressively towards lower-ranking hyenas, sometimes to take food from them and sometimes just to remind them who is boss.

After spending two weeks with the Harar hyenas, however, it has come to my attention that there may be a factor more important than rank in determining the success of these hyenas: boldness around humans. This is particularly pronounced at the hyena-feeding site, where the hyena that is most comfortable approaching and taking food from Abbas ends up eating the most. In fact some hyenas, such as Marcus’ friend Willi or the new boldest-hyena-in-town Willi II, use their boldness to protect themselves from the meddling of higher ranked hyenas. These hyenas will approach Abbas from the side closest to the spectators, placing them in an area that most (higher ranking) hyenas aren’t comfortable going.

The boldest of them all: Willi II’s extreme comfort with people lets him enjoy the bulk of the food while higher rankers are too nervous to do anything but sit and watch.

Of course, boldness isn’t only important at the feeding site. It also plays a role in who gets access to food left on the streets and the dumpsters of Jogol, as well as who gets first crack at the garbage as it is delivered to the dump in the mornings.  It’s hard to say exactly how influential boldness is on the life and health of Harar hyenas, but it is certainly an interesting question. Who knows, maybe, when it comes to determining the success of Harar hyenas, boldness outranks rank.

Swish of the tail

From Marcus

There’s something hyenas do a lot which, more than most things, lets me see what’s going on inside their heads. I call it a ‘swish of the tail’. Whenever a hyena is putting something behind themselves, they give a little swish of the tail and move on. Whenever a hyena finishes doing a poop, he gives a swish of the tail and puts that shit behind him. If Willi was startled by a noise or movement, he’d nervously investigate what it was and then once he’d established that it was something harmless, he’d give a swish of his tail and move on. I remember Bebe competing with some really big female hyenas at the feeding place. Yusuf was holding the meat really high in his hand so while Bebe jumped up to try and reach it, Chaltu was already on the way down with the meat. Chaltu’s huge snout smacked into Bebe’s with an audible ‘clunk’ and the little hyena reeled. She shook her head and sniffed while she walked over to the dumpster where she lay down and licked her nose for a bit. But hyenas are made of tough stuff and pretty soon Bebe’s attention was drawn once again to the feeding. She stood up, gave a little swish of her tail, and re-entered the fray, seeking an opportunity for more food.

Eli has been making a lot of progress. He went to the garbage dump just this morning to make more identifications and found himself the subject of some hyenas’ attentions. Three of them took an interest in what he was doing and approached to within a few metres before he moved and startled them. I have a feeling that it won’t be long before they include him in their worlds of recognisable beings and the boldest of the sub-adults might end up giving him some attention. Eli, bring something for them to chew or else it will be your camera or notebooks that wind up covered in hyena slobber. I’m looking forward to following Eli’s progress and the fortunes of the Sofi clan of which I still consider myself a member.

Tonight is my last night in Harar. I’m taking the bus back to Addis tomorrow and heading for my wife’s country where I’m hoping to find some interesting stuff on the horse culture there. I have a lot of fond memories from Harar (and some not so fond); and I’ve lost friends both hyena and human. It’s a rough environment. But hyenas are a pragmatic bunch. You can’t be too sentimental when your friends die and disappear at such a rate. And when your childhood playmates become your tormentors, there’s not much scope for dwelling on fond memories of old frienships. I have to admit I’ve acquired some of this pragmatism. So many Sofi hyenas who I knew are gone and the remainder are like strangers to me. Watching them now, I find it very hard to identify with the hyenas with whom I used to be so close. But that’s life in the world of hyenas. You find something, you feel something, you lose something, then you move on. This is my swish of the tail.

Koti’s multispecies agenda

After a conspicuous absence, Koti is back! The dominant female of the Sofi clan has been missing each time that the Aboker hyenas have raided the Sofi feeding place. It’s almost like she feels she doesn’t have enough support from the troops to be able face up to the invaders (and no apologies for using warfare terminology here). This is unsurprising considering the way that those eight Sofi hyenas turned and ran at the appearance of two Aboker hyenas. If Koti was there she would have either had to face up to the Aboker hyenas alone or run off with the others. Or maybe if Koti was there, her underlings would have felt a bit more obligation to stand and fight.

Regardless, she caused a bit of a stir when she showed up at the feeding place the other night. The night began quietly. Jaagi was the only hyena present and the tourists looking on were a bit disappointed. Jaagi was nervous and too afraid to come and take food so Yusuf simply threw the odd scrap in her direction. Then from the direction of the cemetery, an Aboker hyena arrived. Jaagi went across to this individual, sniffed his muzzle and then bolted towards the forest leaving the Aboker hyena to himself.  He was king of the feeding place but not for long. Three hyenas arrived, including Willi II and Gurba and the Aboker hyena went into submissive mode. He held back while the other three gave the tourists some excitement; jumping up to take the food Yusuf was holding aloft.

That was when Koti arrived with her entourage. Willi II and Gurba made way for the big female who was really worked up. But she wasn’t so much interested in feeding as she was in rousing the other hyenas.  Growling and groaning and with her tail up, she marched around the place with a gaggle of followers all getting very excited. Meanwhile the Aboker hyena had absented himself and I saw him heading up the road towards Aboker territory. I really did think that Koti was going to enlist a bunch of hyenas and take them up the road to the Aboker territory for a settling of scores with the Aboker hyenas. But then, Harar is a funny place and there’s always an extra ingredient thrown into the mix:

While I was on the road watching the Aboker hyena leaving, an Oromo woman came walking down the road and into the Sofi feeding place, muttering to herself. Once at the feeding place, she began shouting at the Sofi hyenas in Oromo. While Koti and her entourage swarmed over to the grassy hill, very much absorbed in their own excitement, The Oromo woman followed after them shouting as she went. She was calling out that she’d done something bad – she’d been unfaithful – but that she wasn’t ashamed. Still, she expected that people would judge and insult her for what she’d done so she had come to the hyenas for help. She yelled out, ‘Hyenas! I want you to attack the people who judge and insult me. Attack them and their children!’ Meanwhile Koti and her followers looked for all the world like they were ready to. The hyenas were heading up the hill behind the feeding place in single file and the woman called after them, ‘Go, you soldiers. Go and attack my enemies’, and before long the hyenas had gone. The night had transmogrified from interesting to bizarre.

Raid No. 2

If things weren’t interesting enough already, they’re really switching on now. Two nights ago there were eight Sofi hyenas at the feeding place as well as a handful of tourists and Abbas, the hyena-man. Everything was normal until all of the Sofi hyenas present suddenly looked away from the feeding towards the path at the back of the feeding place. Then something remarkable happened. Out of the darkness emerged two very large, very aggressive looking Aboker hyenas marching towards the feeding place. They looked unstoppable with their manes bristling and their tails held stiffly over their backs, and the Sofi hyenas must have thought the same. Despite their numerical advantage, the Sofi hyenas took off, with the Aboker hyenas now joined by a third running in pursuit. Once at the edge of the hill the Aboker hyenas stood and stared for a while at the forest into which the Sofi hyenas had disappeared before turning and heading back to the feeding place. Abbas was unfazed by this and simply started calling to the Aboker hyenas and offering them food, which they took.

As the night wore on more and more Aboker hyenas arrived – including a 6 month old cub – and they had the run of the Sofi feeding place. In fact I followed them all the way down to Suqutatberi which is deep in Sofi territory.

What was the effect of this invasion? Well, last night at the Sofi feeding place, there was at least a dozen tourists waiting to see hyenas but by 8pm none had come. Poor Abbas was on the hill calling in vain to hyenas who apparently had no desire to come and be given food. It was really weird; normally at least one hyena is there by 7pm. But after 8pm a few hyenas began arriving. Borrocha was the first and he was the only one of three present sufficiently motivated to take food directly from Abbas. Then Jaagi came and kept the others away while she hogged the food. And that’s it. I really do wonder what is becoming of the Sofi clan.