Hyenas
All rights reserved.
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Botswana
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
Few animals have attracted such hatred and disparagement from humans as the Spotted Hyena, long regarded as a cowardly scavenger dependent upon the left-overs from the lion.
But long-term research projects in Tanzania, Botswana and elsewhere in Africa have shown this perception to be quite false and have revealed the Spotted Hyena to be a fascinating animal and a highly sociable predator in its own right.
Research has also revealed that female hyenas are dominant over males and are responsible for defending group territories.
In undisturbed ecosystems, the Spotted Hyena typically lives in social groups known as clans, which contain around 30 or 40 individuals. Female hyenas remain in the clan in which they were born, but the males leave the group when they are between two and three years of age. The communal den, often excavated at the base of a termite mound or drainage gully, is the social centre of the clan, with cubs of all ages belonging to several different mothers. Female cubs typically gain a rank immediately below that of their mother. One female is the matriarch, or clan leader.
Spotted Hyenas are most active after dark but are more often seen during the day than any other large carnivore; they kill by running down their prey until it becomes exhausted, usually choosing lame or young antelope and zebra. The victim is then pulled apart and devoured, a messy but often quicker death than the slow strangulation employed by lion and leopard.
Much food is obtained through scavenging and they easily rob cheetah of their prey; hyenas have been seen to follow the movements of vultures descending from the sky to carrion. Powerful canines and molars allow hyenas to consume just about all of an animal, from hide and flesh to hooves and bones.
The characteristic white droppings reflect the high calcium content of their diet. Meat and bones are only rarely brought back to the nursing den. (www.wildwatch.com)
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Botswana
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
Few animals have attracted such hatred and disparagement from humans as the Spotted Hyena, long regarded as a cowardly scavenger dependent upon the left-overs from the lion.
But long-term research projects in Tanzania, Botswana and elsewhere in Africa have shown this perception to be quite false and have revealed the Spotted Hyena to be a fascinating animal and a highly sociable predator in its own right.
Research has also revealed that female hyenas are dominant over males and are responsible for defending group territories.
In undisturbed ecosystems, the Spotted Hyena typically lives in social groups known as clans, which contain around 30 or 40 individuals. Female hyenas remain in the clan in which they were born, but the males leave the group when they are between two and three years of age. The communal den, often excavated at the base of a termite mound or drainage gully, is the social centre of the clan, with cubs of all ages belonging to several different mothers. Female cubs typically gain a rank immediately below that of their mother. One female is the matriarch, or clan leader.
Spotted Hyenas are most active after dark but are more often seen during the day than any other large carnivore; they kill by running down their prey until it becomes exhausted, usually choosing lame or young antelope and zebra. The victim is then pulled apart and devoured, a messy but often quicker death than the slow strangulation employed by lion and leopard.
Much food is obtained through scavenging and they easily rob cheetah of their prey; hyenas have been seen to follow the movements of vultures descending from the sky to carrion. Powerful canines and molars allow hyenas to consume just about all of an animal, from hide and flesh to hooves and bones.
The characteristic white droppings reflect the high calcium content of their diet. Meat and bones are only rarely brought back to the nursing den. (www.wildwatch.com)