 Reference Base  Research on the effects of temporary horn removal on blac... |
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| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - Namibia |
| Subject: |
Diseases - External causes |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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Namibia - Diceros bicornis. The brown hyaena Hyaena brunnea (which almost never preys on large mammals [Mills. 1990; Skinner & Smithers, 1990]), occurs throughout the Kunene region of Namibia, and partly overlaps in track dimensions with spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta. Much of the region has coarse substrates not suitable for accurate distinction between the tracks of related species. Intriguingly, Berger & Cunningham (1993, 1994a) report no hyaena presence from area DC at all, while both species have regularly been recorded there (Skinner & Smithers, 1990; unpublished MET records; pers.obs.) Spotted hyaenas were found at the carcass of the sub-adult rhino which died in 1992 (Table 1) in the DC area which, according to Berger & Cunningham, had no large predators at all. In a later manuscript, Berger and Cunningham (in press) mention that the number of spotted hyaenas had not been determined in their study area, and yet they state elsewhere with conviction that some parts of their huge study area had no hyaenas while other parts did.
We conclude that their survey methods were inadequate, given the importance attached to apparent differences in predator density as a factor in rhino calf survival. There is, in fact, no evidence for predation on rhino calves in area DC, where both species of hyaena occur sympatrically with rhinos which were dehorned in 1991.
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