Malawi: Hyaena

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

We deploy camera traps to monitor which species live in Vwaza – especially nocturnal animals, which we would not otherwise spot. Some of these animals are caught on our cameras every year, but no less exciting to find anyway – civets, mongooses, genets and of course elephants and hippos (both wander the woods at night, feeding). But occasionally we capture an image of a rarer species. Two years ago we found the first ever evidence of wild dogs in Vwaza in this way. This year when we checked a camera we had set up facing an animal carcass, which we noticed had been dragged away, we found the culprit on camera: a hyaena! Interestingly, the images showed the animal investigating the camera rather than scavenging the carcass: hyaenas are known to show much interest in camera traps and sometimes even pull them off their tree and chew them to destruction. Although we have had evidence of hyaenas at Vwaza before (we spotted some footprints in the sand nearby at the start of the expedition), this is still a notable discovery.

We continue to see elephants daily, although there does seem to be a pattern of ‘good ele days’ alternating with ‘bad ele days’.

Our rest day involved a trip to the market town of Rumphi and a cultural visit to the local elementary school. We had prepared a very simple presentation for the children, which was translated by the teacher, telling them what we are doing here and hopefully inspiring them about wild animals. They in turn sang some songs for us. It was good to make a connection with local people like this.

We only have a couple more full days to go on this year’s expedition, but the team are working well and we are getting a lot of good data in. And tonight we will retrieve the remaining camera traps: who knows what animals we will find on those SD cards!

Update from our Malawi volunteer expedition including elephant volunteer Africa and lion volunteer Africa