Trail cameras disappear across the country: hungry hyenas exposed as culprits
A camera placed as part of an urban nature survey in Rehovot was chewed and disappeared along with its memory card. The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) says this is not an isolated case: three similar incidents have been documented in the north, reflecting the growing presence of hyenas near city outskirts.
Trail cameras deployed by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) have been disappearing one after another recently—and the primary suspects are not human. In Rehovot, a survey team discovered that a camera had been chewed and vanished; field tracks identified the culprit as a striped hyena. Along with the camera, the memory card and all recorded data were lost. Three similar cases have already been documented in the north of the country.
The SPNI is currently conducting an urban nature survey for the Rehovot municipality, funded by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The project aims to map natural infrastructure to assist in sustainable planning and the preservation of urban nature.
Recently, Yitzhak Cohen, a senior surveyor with the SPNI, visited a site on the outskirts of Rehovot to check three trail cameras placed to document large mammals. One camera was found broken, its body and memory card missing. A field inspection confirmed this was not theft or vandalism: tracks of a striped hyena were found nearby, suggesting the animal had taken an interest in the device and chewed it until it was destroyed.
In the Upper Galilee, other cameras managed to document the "culprit." Liron Shapira, the SPNI’s nature conservation coordinator for the Northern District, noted that a hyena devoured a camera last week, following a similar incident a few weeks prior. Another case was recorded about two months ago in the Jezreel Valley.
"It turns out this is known behavior," said Shapira. "Hyenas tend to be more curious than other mammals, although not all individuals behave this way. There are likely particularly curious hyenas."
Yael Zilberstein-Barzida, manager of the urban nature survey unit at the SPNI, added that the phenomenon is well-recognized:
"Striped hyenas are omnivores, and in recent years we have seen them approaching city edges more frequently, identifying them as an available food source. Hyena populations around cities like Rehovot, Rishon LeZion, Modi'in, Jerusalem, and Be'er Sheva are on the rise. This issue will require preparation by authorities, especially regarding waste management and the use of animal-proof trash cans."
