Such tactics are not for the faint-hearted, yet somehow hyenas have an enduring reputation for being a bunch of wimps. Field studies have found that lions actually steal more kills from spotted hyenas than vice versa. The idea that hyenas are cowards has persisted well into the modern age.
On safari one misty morning near Lake Nakuru, Kenya, I caught up with a pack of spotted hyenas hunting a zebra, their favorite prey. It was a tough watch. The hyenas were now following this semi-eviscerated beast, waiting for its inevitable collapse.
It was hard not to anthropomorphize the actors before me: the zebra seemingly dignified in the face of death, the hyenas cruel and cowardly.
The animosity between the animals is, however, very real: These two species are arch enemies, locked in battle over territory and food. While lions may have the size advantage, the hyena makes up for this with intelligence.
The hyena is a pathetic fool in The Lion King, but these feminist freaks are the brains of the savannah — and smarter than your average carnivore. A few years ago, I got to spend a couple of days watching spotted hyenas in the Maasai Mara with Sarah Benson-Amram, an expert in hyena intelligence.
But it gives them this sort of awkward, dopey appearance. She has plonked her puzzle box before various predators from polar bears to panthers to gauge their problem-solving skills. Instead, they spend much of their time in smaller splinter groups that coalesce in order to fight, hunt or feed. This arrangement is known as a fission-fusion society , and maintaining it demands sophisticated communication skills.
They make a wide range of sounds including that famous giggle actually a sign of submission , but the whoop — a quintessential sound of the savannah — is their signature call. It is a ghostly echo that can carry on the wind for up to three miles, transporting with it a wealth of information about the caller, including its identity, sex and age. And Benson-Amram has found that hyenas respond differently depending on whether they hear the whoops of one, two or three individuals.
This means the spotted hyena sisterhood can, in some sense, count — a useful tool when trying to gauge whether to fight a rival gang. She has also shown that rival hyena clans will use their numeracy and communication skills to band together and fight off a common enemy, such as the lion. Despite being wired for aggression, spotted hyenas use their intelligence to keep the peace and collaborate. Recent fieldwork suggests that the social structures of the spotted hyena are every bit as complex as those of baboons, and CT scans have confirmed that hyena brains have evolved in a similar frontal direction to primates, with the region involved in complex decision-making enlarged.
They have even out-performed chimpanzees on certain cooperative problem-solving tests. This supports the idea that living in a complex fission-fusion society — as both chimps and hyenas, along with dolphins, other apes and, of course, humans, do — is key to the evolution of big brains.
This may even help explain why our species evolved a brain that is seven times bigger than what would be predicted for an animal our size. This shared portion of the evolutionary path may also provide the ultimate clue to our unswerving contempt for these calculating creatures.
Bones that show cut marks from early stone tools mixed with tooth marks of hyenas suggest hyenas were laughing at humans and stealing our dinner for as much as 2. Common Name: Spotted Hyena. Scientific Name: Crocuta crocuta. Type: Mammals. Diet: Omnivore. Group Name: Clan. Size: Head and body: 34 to 59 inches; tail: 10 to 14 inches.
Weight: to pounds. Explore more! Amazing animals videos Watch to discover interesting facts about animals from all over the world. Save the Earth tips Save the Earth tips.
Endangered Species Act How this law protects animals. Striped hyenas have long hair that is gray to straw-colored. Their muzzle is black, and there are black stripes on the head, torso and legs. Aardwolves are the smallest species of hyena. They weigh from Aardwolves resemble striped hyenas , with similar fur texture and color. Where hyenas live depends on their type. Brown hyenas have a very limited range and live only in Southern Africa, including the Kalahari and Namib deserts.
There are two distinct populations of aardwolves. One subspecies lives in southern Zambia, Angola and Mozambique, as well as northeastern Uganda and Somalia. The other subspecies extends into central Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. Spotted hyenas have a little bit larger range and live south of the Sahara Desert. They occur throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and are the most numerous large predators in the Serengeti. The striped hyena has the largest range of all.
Hyenas can adapt to almost any habitat and are found in grasslands, woodlands, savannas, forest edges, sub-deserts and mountains as high up as 13, feet Hyenas are very social and live in groups called clans.
Clans can have up to 80 members, according to the National Wildlife Foundation. Not only are spotted hyena females larger, they are also more aggressive and are dominate in their clans. All females rank higher than males in the clan. However, the brown and striped hyenas and aardwolves have male-dominated clans. Aardwolves are insectivores, and they only eat termites. Though the termites secrete a toxin, aardwolves do not seem to be affected by it, according to ADW.
They consume the termites by licking them off surfaces with a flat, sticky tongue. They can consume 30, termites every night.
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