Hyaena comming out of den.

Striped Hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) is the only species of Hyaenidae family found in Nepal. It has been classified as “Near threatened” on IUCN Red list of threatened species and nationally assessed as Endangered, with estimated population fewer than 100 individuals. It is also one of the protected mammals of Nepal as assessed by the National park and wildlife conservation Act (NPWCA, 1973). Hyaena has been recorded from low lands to mid hills of Nepal with little knowledge on its habitat and activity patterns.

Rare image of mother hyaena breastfeeding her cub was captured.

Deukhuri Valley is situated in Dang district of Mid Western Development Region. The valley falls in the Churia range and is most probably the best habitat for the species in Nepal. The research of Hyaena has been carried out for a couple of years now in the valley. Camera trap images from camera trap survey (2014-2015) confirmed its presence with genuine evidence. The confirmation of this species led to the distributional study of hyaena in the valley using camera trap and sign survey methods with support from Rufford Small Grants. This research not only studied the distribution of Hyaena but also explored the faunal diversity in Deukhuri valley. Previous research project has shown a valley-wide distribution and has therefore been named as “the Valley of Hyaena”.

Striped hyaena in denning site.

Hyaena Den is poorly documented in Nepal. This project will help in monitoring previously recorded hyaena den and analyze the denning activities using camera traps. Previous research of the Hyaena has demonstrated presence of Hyaena in community forest of valley. Hence, it becomes important to aware the Community forest users on the species and its habitat conservation. Activities like capacity building training for forest guards of community forest and conservation programs in radio will ensure the perpetual conservation of hyaena to a greater mass. Therefore, this project has been designed to study the denning activities along with long term conservation of hyaena in valley.