Oliver Höner still remembers the first hyena he identified by name in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater—Frida, a matriarch of the Simba clan, her scarred muzzle and steady gaze marking her as a survivor. That moment in 1996 launched a 30-year scientific odyssey that has now yielded a surprising truth: the much-maligned spotted hyena, often cast as a livestock raider and ecological threat, is largely innocent of these charges in one of Africa’s most biodiverse landscapes. Drawing on a monumental dataset from the Ngorongoro Hyena Project, Höner and his team at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research have analyzed 371 usable fecal samples collected over 24 years, using DNA metabarcoding to reveal exactly what these predators are—or aren’t—eating. The findings offer a rare beacon of hope in the often fraught arena of human-wildlife coexistence.
For decades, fears have simmered that hyenas might be preying on endangered black rhinos or threatening the livelihoods of local pastoralists by attacking livestock. With over 200,000 cattle, donkeys, and sheep grazing in the wider Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the potential for conflict seemed high. Hyenas do roam beyond the crater when prey is scarce, raising concerns. But the DNA evidence tells a different story. Of 434 prey detections, only 18 were from domestic animals—just 4.1% of the diet. Donkeys appeared seven times, cattle six, and goats twice. Most strikingly, not a single sample contained black rhino DNA, despite the species’ presence in the ecosystem and its "critically endangered" status on the IUCN Red List.
Wildebeest dominate the hyena menu, showing up in 229 detections—more than half of all prey records. Zebras and buffalo follow with 75 and 57 detections, respectively. This rich buffet of wild ungulates likely explains why hyenas rarely turn to domestic animals. The study also uncovered a nuanced behavioral insight: hyenas that consumed livestock were, on average, 9.1 years old—nearly three years older than those feeding solely on wild prey. This suggests older, perhaps more experienced or less competitive individuals may take greater risks when foraging, though social rank and sex showed no correlation.
The implications are profound. For conservation managers, the data provide clear evidence that spotted hyenas are not a threat to black rhino recovery efforts in Ngorongoro. For local communities, the findings suggest that coexistence is not only possible but already happening at a meaningful scale. "Concerning human-wildlife conflicts as well as conservation issues, discussions and decisions are often made without sufficient evidence regarding the impact of predators," Höner notes. With over 3,300 individual hyenas monitored across ten generations, this project stands as one of the most detailed long-term studies of any wild mammal. As climate and land use pressures grow, such evidence-based clarity will be essential. In the crater’s golden grasslands, where hyenas once howled in the shadows of myth, science is finally giving them a fair hearing.