Hyenas are family animals, living in female-dominated clans, but when they are challenged by another predator or are being hunted, they are a formidable force to be reckoned with. on the grassland.
Source: BBC Earth
Hyenas
Intelligent, curious and opportunistic in food matters, hyenas are in frequent contact with humans. Spotted hyenas or laughing hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are the largest species and will burn food stores, steal livestock, sometimes kill people, and consume waste — habits they are often subjected to. despised, even by the Masai, who dispose of their corpses. for hyenas. Even so, body parts of hyenas are searched for tokens and potions traditionally created to cure barrenness, bestow wisdom, and allow blind people to find their way around. Brown hyenas (Parahyaena brunnea or sometimes Hyaena brunnea) are blamed for many livestock deaths that they probably don’t cause. Similarly, from North Africa eastward to India, striped hyenas (H. hyaena) are blamed for the disappearance of young and are believed to attack small livestock and dig graves. As a result, some populations have been terrorized to near extinction. All three species are in decline outside protected areas.
Spotted hyenas live south of the Sahara except in tropical forests. They are ginger in color with distinct patterns of black spots on each individual, and females are larger than males. Weighing up to 82 kg (180 pounds), they can be nearly 2 meters (6.6 feet) long and about 1 meter tall at the shoulder. Spotted hyenas communicate using moans, screams, giggles and howls, and these sounds can travel several kilometers. The gestation period is about 110 days, and the annual litter size is usually two cubs, born in any given month.
Spotted hyenas hunt everything from baby hippos to fish, although antelopes are more common. In East and South Africa, they kill most of their food, chasing wildebeest, antelope and zebra at up to 65 kilometers (40 miles) an hour for 3 kilometers. Contrary to popular belief, the healthy as well as the weak are taken. One or two animals may initiate the chase, but dozens may be killed; An adult zebra and a two-year-old foal (total weight 370 kg) were torn apart and eaten by 35 hyenas in half an hour. The strong jaws and wide molars allow the animal to reach every part of the carcass and crush the bones, which are digested in the stomach by concentrated hydrochloric acid. Spotted hyenas sometimes go several days between meals, as the stomach can hold 14.5 kg of meat.
Living in herds of 5 to 80 individuals, spotted hyenas mark the boundaries of their territories with piles of dung (“latrines”) and scents from their anal glands. The female’s genitals are externally male-like and of social importance in genital greetings, in which animals lift their hind legs to allow for mutual examination. The sexes have a linear dominance hierarchy, with the lowest female being taller than the tallest male. Females monopolize the flesh when possible, which leads to better nutrition for her cubs. The dominant male obtains most of the mating. For 6 months, the cub’s only food is breast milk; Lactation episodes can last up to four hours. When the prey migrates, the mother “walks” 30 kilometers or more from the burrow, and it may not see her cubs for three days. After 6 months, the cubs began to eat the meat of the killed animals, but they continued to drink milk until 14 months of age. The offspring inherit the status of their mother; Young males sometimes migrate to other clans, where they are more fertile.
Smaller brown hyenas weigh about 40 kg; The coat is rough and dark with a straight white mane on the neck and shoulders and horizontal white bands on the legs. The brown hyena lives in South Africa and the western coastal deserts, where it is known as the beach, or wolf. Birds and their eggs, insects and fruit are staples, but leftovers from the killing of lions, cheetahs and spotted hyenas are seasonally important. Small mammals and reptiles are occasionally killed. After being pregnant for 3 months, tiger cubs (usually three cubs) are born at any time of the year and are weaned at 15 months of age. Like spotted hyenas, brown hyenas live in clans that mark and protect territory, but behave differently in a few important ways: adult females care for each other’s cubs; other clan members take food for the cubs; and females are not taller than males.
Five races of striped hyenas live in shrubland as well as in arid and semi-arid country from Morocco to Egypt and Tanzania, Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus and India. These small hyenas average 30–40 kg. Light gray with black throat feathers and stripes on body and legs. Long, crested feathers running from behind the ears to the tail; The crest is erected to make the animal look larger. Striped hyenas do not seem to mark scents or defend territories. Litters of one to four cubs are born at any time of the year after 3 months of gestation; They are weaned at 10-12 months. Females can stay and help raise new cubs. Striped hyenas have the same diet as brown hyenas: insects, fruits, and small vertebrates. In Israel, striped hyenas are pests of melon and date palms.
The order Carnivora branched out into the dog and cat line 50 million years ago; Hyenas arose from the group of cats. So, although hyenas look like dogs, they are actually more closely related to cats. The Hyaenidae diverged about 30 million years ago. Early hybrid babies don’t all have bone-crushing molars; which is probably a recent development as some hyenas exploit the large carcasses left by saber-toothed cats. The family Hyaenidae also includes werewolves, which resemble a striped hyena. It has a specialized diet of insects and belongs to a separate subfamily from hyenas.
