Hyena biologists protested against the animal's portrayal, though the complaints may have been somewhat tongue-in-cheek. One hyena researcher, who had organized the animators' visit to the University of California, Berkeley, Field Station for the Study of Behavior, Ecology, and Reproduction, where they would observe and sketch captive hyenas, listed "boycott "The Lion King"" in an article listing ways to help preserve hyenas in the wild, and later "jokethat "The Lion King" set back hyena conservation efforts." Even so, the film was also credited with "spark[ing an interest" in hyenas at the Berkeley center.