The Baiting Tree Exhibition at These Four Walls Gallery

The Baiting Tree Exhibition provides a unique, non-invasive insight into the secret lives of the inhabitants of the Bwabwata National Park

Over the last few decades, the natural habitat for spotted hyaena has shrunk dramatically. With a reputation as formidable livestock killers, hyaenas have been widely persecuted outside protected areas, which have made them conservation dependent.

The Caprivi Spotted Hyaena project is the first of its kind in the Bwabwata National Park for this species. This recently proclaimed park falls within the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area and includes protected areas in five different countries - Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Founded and conducted by Lise Hanssen, The Spotted Hyaena Project is dedicated to collecting baseline data on spotted hyaena ecology and reducing Human Wildlife Conflict incidences in the area to secure the long-term conservation of the species.

Caprivi hyaenas are exceptionally wary of people and Lise found it impossible to dart, mark and collar these hyaenas for research purposes during the first two years of the project.

As hyaenas have an extremely powerful sense of smell and are attracted to carcasses and rotten meat, Lise decided to lure the hyaenas to a baiting tree on a nightly basis, which would enable her to record their movements and allow her an opportunity to fit them with GSM radio collars.

A remote camera was placed about five meters from the tree and, triggered by movement, the camera recorded thousands of images of hyenas’ hoping to get an easy snack over a period of several months. To Lise's surprise, the baiting tree also attracted many other visitors...

Light finger food will be served along with 2009 vintage red and white wine, kindly provided by the award-winning Grande Provence 1694 Heritage Wine Estate in Franschhoek.

Proceeds of sale of images will go to the Caprivi Carnivore Project.

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