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First record of the spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta in Egypt during the past 5,000 years

  • Abdullah Nagy EMAIL logo , Said El-Kholy , Alaaeldin Soultan and Omar Attum
Published/Copyright: November 15, 2024

Abstract

An individual of spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta was killed by local people in Elba Protected Area, South-East Egypt in winter of 2024. This record constitutes the first record of the species in contemporary Egypt since its extinction over 5,000 years ago. The possibility of increased rainfall and grazing practices creating a corridor for hyena dispersal from neighboring Sudan was investigated. The record is 500 km north of the known range of the spotted hyena.


Corresponding author: Abdullah Nagy, Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Al Azhar University, 11682, Cairo, Egypt, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: None declared.

  7. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-03-05
Accepted: 2024-09-26
Published Online: 2024-11-15
Published in Print: 2025-01-29

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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