Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
She has spent 17 years in one of the world's most brutal deserts, following an animal that most people have never even heard of, the brown hyena or strandwolf.
Local people call her the Hyena Lady. Her name is Ingrid Wiesel. And the animal she is searching for has just vanished.
This is the story of Tosca a rare brown hyena on Namibia's wild Skeleton Coast and the scientist who will cross the world's oldest desert to find her. Tosca is one of Ingrid's most-studied animals an efficient hunter and devoted mother who travels across the scorching desert to bring food back to her pups.
Then one day, Tosca disappears.
The hyenas are abandoning their beachfront hunting grounds on the Skeleton Coast and moving inland. What has driven one of nature's most resilient predators away from the territory she has held for years?
Strandwolf is the local name for the brown hyena, meaning beach wolf. This is the first feature-length, high-definition film ever made about these remarkable and mysterious animals. It is a film about science and devotion, about wildness and change, and about the extraordinary bond between a researcher and the animals she has dedicated her life to protecting.
🔔 Subscribe to Terra Mater for more landmark wildlife documentaries
👍 Like this video if you love stories of science, wilderness and discovery
💬 Had you ever heard of the brown hyena before? Tell us below
📽️ Facts
Written & Directed: Joe Kennedy, Garth Lucas and Ann Strimling
Executive producers: Andrea Gastgeb, Sabine Holzer
Production companies: Produced by Talking Pictures and Table Mountain Films for Terra Mater Factual Studios
🔗 More about the production: https://www.terramater.at/productions/strandwolf/
Chapters:
00:00 Strandwolf - Predator of the Skeleton Coast
01:02 The Brutal Coastline of Namibia
02:25 On the Hunt for the Brown Hyena Tosca
06:50 Brown Hyena Hunt Baby Seals on the Beach
08:40 Home Sweet Hyena Home
10:40 Tosca the Strandwolf is Missing!
13:30 Jackals Hunt on the Seal Beach
17:02 Meeting an old and scared friend!
21:50 The Hunt for Tosca leads into the Desert
28:00 Hunting for Hyenas in a Ghost Town
33:05 The Search needs Air-support!
36:20 Tosca's Signal has been located
39:00 A Dead Brown Hyena on the roadside
43:00 No Camera Trap is Save from a Hyenas Jaws!
45:00 Mass Seal Deaths chased Tosca away
48:15 Back at the New Den - Tosca is a Mother!
#terramater #brownhyena #wildlife #strandwolf
She has spent 17 years in one of the world's most brutal deserts, following an animal that most people have never even heard of, the brown hyena or strandwolf.
Local people call her the Hyena Lady. Her name is Ingrid Wiesel. And the animal she is searching for has just vanished.
This is the story of Tosca a rare brown hyena on Namibia's wild Skeleton Coast and the scientist who will cross the world's oldest desert to find her. Tosca is one of Ingrid's most-studied animals an efficient hunter and devoted mother who travels across the scorching desert to bring food back to her pups.
Then one day, Tosca disappears.
The hyenas are abandoning their beachfront hunting grounds on the Skeleton Coast and moving inland. What has driven one of nature's most resilient predators away from the territory she has held for years?
Strandwolf is the local name for the brown hyena, meaning beach wolf. This is the first feature-length, high-definition film ever made about these remarkable and mysterious animals. It is a film about science and devotion, about wildness and change, and about the extraordinary bond between a researcher and the animals she has dedicated her life to protecting.
🔔 Subscribe to Terra Mater for more landmark wildlife documentaries
👍 Like this video if you love stories of science, wilderness and discovery
💬 Had you ever heard of the brown hyena before? Tell us below
📽️ Facts
Written & Directed: Joe Kennedy, Garth Lucas and Ann Strimling
Executive producers: Andrea Gastgeb, Sabine Holzer
Production companies: Produced by Talking Pictures and Table Mountain Films for Terra Mater Factual Studios
🔗 More about the production: https://www.terramater.at/productions/strandwolf/
Chapters:
00:00 Strandwolf - Predator of the Skeleton Coast
01:02 The Brutal Coastline of Namibia
02:25 On the Hunt for the Brown Hyena Tosca
06:50 Brown Hyena Hunt Baby Seals on the Beach
08:40 Home Sweet Hyena Home
10:40 Tosca the Strandwolf is Missing!
13:30 Jackals Hunt on the Seal Beach
17:02 Meeting an old and scared friend!
21:50 The Hunt for Tosca leads into the Desert
28:00 Hunting for Hyenas in a Ghost Town
33:05 The Search needs Air-support!
36:20 Tosca's Signal has been located
39:00 A Dead Brown Hyena on the roadside
43:00 No Camera Trap is Save from a Hyenas Jaws!
45:00 Mass Seal Deaths chased Tosca away
48:15 Back at the New Den - Tosca is a Mother!
#terramater #brownhyena #wildlife #strandwolf
