Jan 21, 2025 08:27 PM
(This post was last modified: Jan 21, 2025 08:39 PM by C C.)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1071007
INTRO: A spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) has been found in South Eastern Egypt: the first recorded instance of the creature in this region for thousands of years. The lone individual was caught and killed by people around 30km from the border with Sudan, a paper in De Gruyter’s Mammalia reports.
“My first reaction was disbelief until I checked the photos and videos of the remains,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Adbullah 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.”
The sighting took place some 500km north of the known range of spotted hyena in neighbouring Sudan. The researchers theorized that a regional, decadal weather cycle, part of the Active Red Sea Trough phenomenon, could have resulted in increased rainfall and plant growth, opening up a migration corridor for the hyena where better grazing opportunities supported sufficient prey... (MORE - details, no ads)
INTRO: A spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) has been found in South Eastern Egypt: the first recorded instance of the creature in this region for thousands of years. The lone individual was caught and killed by people around 30km from the border with Sudan, a paper in De Gruyter’s Mammalia reports.
“My first reaction was disbelief until I checked the photos and videos of the remains,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Adbullah 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.”
The sighting took place some 500km north of the known range of spotted hyena in neighbouring Sudan. The researchers theorized that a regional, decadal weather cycle, part of the Active Red Sea Trough phenomenon, could have resulted in increased rainfall and plant growth, opening up a migration corridor for the hyena where better grazing opportunities supported sufficient prey... (MORE - details, no ads)