A Spotted Hyena Became The First To Visit Egypt In 5,000 Years, Then It Got Shot
The extraordinary discovery of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in Egypt after 5,000 years of being assumed extinct in the country serves as a high point of evolution and an anomaly in its own right.
The lone individual was encountered approximately 30 kilometers from the Sudanese border.
“My first reaction was disbelief until I checked the photos and videos of the remains,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Abdullah Nagy, from Al-Azhar University, Egypt. “Seeing the evidence, I was completely taken aback. It was beyond anything we had expected to find in Egypt.”
A discovery unheard of before
This is astonishing because this sighting was approximately 500 kilometers away from the region where they are usually found in Sudan. These creatures, predominantly found in sub-Saharan Africa, can travel up to 27 kilometers per day following livestock migrations and are known for their adaptability.
The paper describes the discovery: “In February 2024, a spotted hyena killed two goats belonging to local people in Wadi Yahmib over a two-day period, within Elba Protected Area, 30 km north of the Sudanese and Egyptian border. The local people are master trackers and familiar with all large mammals of the area. The hyena was tracked by local people, located, chased, and intentionally hit by a pickup truck on February 24, 2024. The body was observed, photographed, and left for scavengers to consume.”
The researchers believe the hyena’s unexpected journey may be linked to a regional climatic phenomenon known as the Active Red Sea Trough. This weather cycle brings increased rainfall and vegetation growth, potentially creating temporary corridors for wildlife migration.
To investigate, the team examined a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)—a satellite-derived measure of vegetation health and precipitation—obtained from satellite data on Landsat 5 and 7 from 1984 to 2022. The data revealed notable patterns of multi-year droughts, some relatively wet periods, and shorter cycles. Over the last 5 years, the areas consistently showed high NDVI, which indicated improved vegetation that could sustain prey populations in the area.
“The fact that the corridor area has become less environmentally harsh, offering easier passage along ‘the highway,’ may explain how the hyena reached this far north,” says Nagy. “However, the motivation for its extensive journey into Egypt is still a mystery that demands further research.”
Ecological and conservation implications
The appearance of hyenas reveals the constant shifts and movements that differentiate species distribution in relation to climatic conditions. Spotted hyenas have been reported to shadow human-protected livestock movements and scavenging or occasionally killing them.
This leads to the reconsideration of the zones where spotted hyenas and multiple other species are located, especially due to their active movement in response to certain conditions. In this case, the hyena’s predation on goats led to its tracking and eventual death.
This furthers the evidence that indicates the impact of regional climate changes on animal migrations, directly impacting wildlife ecology and conservation.
Even if the exact motivations behind the lone hyena’s expedition are unknown, the hyena’s presence in the southeastern part of Egypt highlights the intersection of climate, ecosystems, and animal behavior during the current era of a dramatic shift in the environment.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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A Spotted Hyena Became The First To Visit Egypt In 5,000 Years, Then It Got Shot