Hyena hunting in South Africa

Two species of Hyena occur in South Africa, the more common of the two is the Spotted Hyena found throughout Africa except the arid and jungle regions of the continent. The Brown Hyena is only found in Southern Africa and is mostly nocturnal solitary and difficult to hunt. Spotted Hyenas may be hunted at night over bait with a spotlight. They also respond very well to hyena calls but in areas where pressurised by hunting they can become extremely cunning and difficult to hunt. They occur in territorial clans and are more vociferous than their close cousins, the Brown Hyena. The Southern Brown Hyena subspecies are exceptionally shy and need to be baited in a similar way to a Leopard hunt. They are mostly solitary and seldom vocalise like Spotted Hyenas. Both species are listed as Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) in South Africa, which require a prearranged hunting permit from the South African conservation authorities. No other permits are required to export these trophies.