War‐induced behavioral change in spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) populations in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

In Tigray, northern Ethiopia, there is a long tradition of peaceful coexistence between spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and humans. While historically the coexistence has been relatively stable, we assessed the impact of the recent war in Tigray on this coexistence. We investigated the effects of war on the scavenging and hunting behavior of spotted hyenas, and the consequences for local people in Tigray. We compared current spotted hyena foraging at six battle sites with six control sites across Tigray using diet analysis, hyena abundance through playback experiments, and assessed human−wildlife interactions via semistructured interviews in 1200 households. Spotted hyena diets at both site types consisted exclusively of domestically derived prey; however, the composition of prey species differed significantly (χ2=64.03, df=6, p=0.001). Human hair was prevalent in hyena scats from battle sites but was absent in scats collected from the control sites. In total, 318 hyenas responded to 48 call stations, response rates were significantly higher at battle sites (x=36.7±9.7 SD) than at control sites (x=16.3±14.6 SD). There were several lines of evidence that human−wildlife interactions were more negative. Reported livestock predation was 18.85% higher at battle sites, with 78.5% of depredation events occurring during the war, compared to 6% pre-war and 15.5% post-war. We conclude that changes in hyena feeding behavior during the war and siege period can be linked to changes in the availability of scavengable food sources. These results yield insight not only into the consequences of war for the people of Tigray but also into how the many armed conflicts in regions with large scavenger/carnivore populations may have long-lasting impacts on human−wildlife conflict around the globe.