Kalahari

12 Oct 2026

Peer-reviewed Africa

Reintroduced hyenas used dense cover, water—and roads only when human pressure was low

Evidence: Peer-reviewed
Geography: Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa
System: Semi-arid reserve / large-carnivore landscape

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Reintroduced spotted hyenas selected denser vegetation and areas near permanent water, avoided places without herbivores and waterholes near lodges, and used roads more under cooler or lower-traffic conditions. The study illustrates how ecological resources and human activity jointly structured use of a restored carnivore landscape.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Reintroduction success depends on the spatial pattern of resources and disturbance after release, not simply on whether habitat is nominally protected.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

Only five reintroduced animals were studied in a fenced reserve without other top predators. The results describe space use in a particular reintroduction context, not a general habitat-selection rule for spotted hyenas.

SOURCE

Journal of Mammalogy — primary field tracking study
View original evidence ↗

Tracking five spotted hyenas in a fenced South African reserve links space use to vegetation, permanent water, prey and the timing of human disturbance.

Read the Wild Lands assessment →

2 Oct 2026

Peer-reviewed Africa

Indigenous tracking mapped a 22,000-km² wildlife corridor that conventional surveys struggle to cover

Evidence: Peer-reviewed
Geography: Western Kgalagadi Conservation Corridor, Botswana
System: Kalahari multiuse wildlife-management areas

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Researchers combined biannual track surveys by Indigenous certified trackers with a density-estimation framework across roughly 22,000 km² over three years. The team analyzed 22,793 tracks from 13 large-herbivore and carnivore species collected along 6,222 km of transects. Some herbivores declined over the study period while carnivore densities showed no detected change. Cattleposts were negatively associated with most species; burned areas, vegetation and distance to mineral pans had species-specific associations. Predictive maps identified higher-density areas and potential movement pathways away from concentrated human activity.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

The important method signal is that monitoring can be built around knowledge already adapted to the landscape. In sandy systems where tracks are persistent and expert identification is available, Indigenous tracking can generate spatially extensive wildlife information at a scale that would be costly to reproduce with cameras or captures alone. The land-use result also keeps the corridor problem concrete: multiuse land can remain functional for wildlife while becoming less permeable around sedentary livestock infrastructure.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

Track-density estimators depend on assumptions about track accumulation, animal movement, detectability and correct identification; they are not direct censuses. Associations with cattleposts, fire, vegetation and pans are observational rather than experimental. The approach also depends on suitable substrate and highly skilled trackers, so the exact method is not automatically transferable to every landscape.

SOURCE

Conservation Biology — primary study
View original evidence ↗

Over three years in Botswana’s Kalahari, certified trackers logged 22,793 tracks across 6,222 km; cattleposts were negatively associated with most of 13 monitored species, while burned areas produced mixed responses.

Read the Wild Lands assessment →

Reintroduced hyenas used dense cover, water—and roads only when human pressure was low

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

SOURCE

Indigenous tracking mapped a 22,000-km² wildlife corridor that conventional surveys struggle to cover

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

SOURCE

Follow the systems. Find the connections.