Distribution:  Formerly most of non-forested sub-Sahara Africa.   Exterminated in South Africa and rapidly being eradicated over large areas of Africa.

Habitat:  Savannah, acacia woodland, grasslands, dry plains and semi-desert.

Food:  Wide range from insects and reptiles to large mammals.  Will scavenge anything from carnivores to human garbage.  Powerful jaws and teeth allow them to consume large bones (which is why their droppings turn white).  Eat virtually all of prey except stomach contents and horns of biggest antelope.

Hunting Behavior:  Both predator and scavenger, will scavenge whenever possible and always select most easily captured prey.  Hunts mostly at night, either foraging alone or in pairs.  Several hyenas may join forces to hunt difficult prey such as buffalo or zebra, but it is lone hyenas or pairs that usually hunt the more common prey, such as wildebeest and gazelles.  When hunting, hyena will make prey run by loping toward a herd and selecting stragglers to run down.   Most cooperative hunting is spontaneous when chase initiated by lone hyena attracts other clan members, which join in pulling down, killing and eating prey, but hyenas also deliberately stage pack hunts.  Staying power allows hyenas to run prey to exhaustion within 1 to 3 miles.  Sloping body stance, enormous heart and efficient heat-loss mechanism contribute to spotted hyena’s ability to outlast fleeing prey.  Feeding competition is intense and hyenas feed so rapidly that several can devour a 450-lb. antelope in just 15 minutes.

Social Behavior:  Gregarious, matriarchal, polygamous, territorial.  Highly social animals living in territorial clans of up to 100.  Clans are built around a hierarchy of related females and their offspring led by matriarch or alpha female.  Females are larger than and dominant over males, who leave natal clan when mature at 2 years. Unrelated males are peripheral to clan and only when mating, do they overcome their fear of females.  Hyenas have an openly competitive system where access to kills, mating opportunities and time of male emigration depend on ability to dominate other clan members.  Highest ranking or alpha female claims largest share of any kill and her offspring tend to be dominant when adults.  A female’s social rank affects her reproductive success: high-ranking females have litters more frequently due to better access to food.  Highest ranking male monopolizes mating with clan females.  Territories are small (about 20 sq miles) where prey is abundant in game parks, but ranges are much larger where prey is scarce, such as semi-desert areas.  Territories are marked by common latrines on boundaries and by marking of grass stems with anal glands. 

Because they live in large fluid social groups, hyenas have evolved various ways to communicate with one another vocally, visually and through scent.  Focus of activity is communal den used by up to 10 females for generations.  Members of a clan socialize in the evening before setting off on a hunt or foraging expedition, uttering a wide range of whines, chatters, groans and squeals.  Greeting ceremony also consists of mutual sniffing of genitals.  One of the noisiest African animals, their repetitive ‘whoop’ call carries for up to 3 ½ miles and their famous ‘laugh’, a shrill social appeasement call indicating anxiety or fear, sounds like a nervous human giggle.

Reproduction:  After gestation of 4 months, 1 to 2 cubs, rarely 3, are born in a litter.  Cubs reside in isolated natal den, typically an abandoned aardvark burrow, for first 3 to 5 weeks, before joining the clan’s communal den, where as many as 20 cubs live together until they are 8 or 9 months old. Cubs are born with eyes open and with fully erupted canines and incisors.  Immediately after birth, siblings engage in fighting to establish dominance relationship between littermates.  Despite use of communal dens, each female provides for her own cubs, suckling up to 1 ½ years.  Cubs are ready to eat meat at 2 ½ months but usually don’t get the chance until 7 or 8 months, when they leave the communal den.  Cubs tag along on hunts at 1 year but don’t hunt on own until at least 1 ½ years.  Males reach sexual maturity at 2 years, females at about 3 years.  Hyenas can live for over 20 years in the wild.

Status:  Still widespread throughout non-forested Africa but rapidly declining outside protected areas, where people see hyenas as pests or vermin, and actively trap and poison them.  Spotted hyenas are successful because they are very adaptable in comparison to other large carnivores, but they are not immune to threats facing all African wildlife, especially predators.  Normally don’t pose threat to man.

Adaptations:  High levels of testosterone in females result in female mimicry of male genital organs, increased size and aggressiveness, which fuel their dominant role.  Alpha female has 6 times more testosterone than other females and males. 

Massive teeth can cut through bone and skin of all animals, including elephants and rhinos. 

Head/Body Length:     3 ¼ - 5 ¾ ft.                               Tail Length:    10 - 14 in.
Shoulder Height:              2 - 3     ft.    
Weight:                             88 - 200 lbs. (male avg. 130 lbs., female avg. 157 lbs.)

Why the Hyena Laughs

Long ago there lived the mischievous hyena. Other animals of the Great Plain dreaded his presence due to his mean spirited tricks.

One day the hyena spotted the vain vulture admiring the golden plumes on top of his head with help of reflecting water. The vain vulture proclaimed, "Surely there is no other animal who has a headdress that is more beautiful than mine!"

The hyena quickly retorted, "Ha! My neighbor the honey badger has a fur coat much more golden and more beautiful than your plain yellow headdress." The vulture desperately inquired the hyena, "Tell me hyena my friend. How did the honey badger get his coat more golden then my headdress?"

The hyena replied, "The honey badger colors his coat with honey he steals from the busy bees." The hyena added, "Surely if you color your yellow headdress with honey, it will be more magnificent than the Sun itself!"

Realizing that their precious honey was stolen, the bees swarmed the vulture and stung his honey covered head. The vulture squawked in pain and cried out, "Hyena my friend! My eyes are being stung out of my head! Please help me!"

At this time the cleaver hyena was clutching his belly and cackling in amusement. The hyena laughed out loud, "Silly vulture, you must cover your head! Quick! Hide your head in the large burrow in the ground!"

In desperation the vulture followed the hyena's advice. Unfortunately for the poor vain vulture the burrow belonged to the honey badger.

The honey badger was fast asleep in his burrow at the time, and when the sharp beak of the vulture jabbed the honey badger he became furious. The badger demanded, "Who dares to disturb the badger's sleep! A-Ha! It is the silly vulture!" The badger continued, "I must teach you a lessen you silly vulture! What is this! You are covered with my favorite food, the honey!" With delight the honey badger plucked all of the vulture's beautiful golden plume and deliciously devoured them.

The vulture pleaded and begged the honey badger to stop, but the badger did not listen to the vulture's plea.

When the vulture removed his head out of the cranky honey badger's burrow, it was too late. His beautiful golden headdress was but a memory. Now he was completely bald!

The vain vulture cried out, "Woes is me! My beautiful headdress is no more!" The vulture was ashamed of his bald head and quickly retreated to the sky.

The hyena was delighted by the trick he played on the vain vulture. He cackled and laughed till he spotted his next unfortunate victim.

At this time the elegant giraffe crossed the cleaver hyena's path. The giraffe asked, "Tell me hyena my friend, why are you laughing so heartily?"

The clever hyena replied with laughter, "I laugh at your silly appearance my dear friend giraffe." The elegant giraffe was confused, he always thought himself as the most elegant of the animals. "What ever do you mean hyena my friend? The Great Being of the plain created me to be the most elegant among all the animals," the giraffe replied back in anger, "I am perfect!"

With a yawn the hyena responded, "Sure you are ALMOST perfect, BUT the Great Being of the plain forgot to give you elegant horns like the impala."

"I do have horns," the giraffe replied back, "ELEGANT horns!"

The hyena peaked closer and said, "Oh. My mistake giraffe, your horns are so small I did not notice them. On the other hand, if your horn were large as the water buffalo then you will truly be elegant."

The giraffe asked hyena, "Tell me my friend, how can I make my horns bigger so I can be the most elegant animal around?"

"Simple," the hyena replied with a wicked smile, "you must ask you friend the baboon to grab your horns and ask you neighbor the elephant to grab your tail and pull to stretch your horns."

"Thank you my friend hyena. I will follow you advice and once more be the most elegant of animal!" The giraffe quickly gathered the elephant and the baboon.

The baboon grabbed the giraffe's horn with his tail and the elephant grabbed the giraffe's tail with this nose.

"Now pull!" The hyena commanded.

The baboon pulled and pulled with all his might. The elephant pulled and pulled with all his strength. "Yes! Yes! You are almost there! Just a little more!" The hyena urged the foolish animals on. Slowly the giraffe started to stretch. In fact, all three animals stretched! The three animals collapsed with exhaustion. Suddenly they heard the hyena cackle from a distance. "Ha! You silly fools! Look at you! You are all hideous!"

It was true. They were hideous. The elegant neck the giraffe once had now stretched as long as the tree! The dignified short tail the baboon sported was now long as the desert snake! The regal nose of the elephant now resembled a river crocodile!

The three animals called out to the hyena, "Curse you hyena! You are a malicious trickster and you are not a friend!"

The animals of the plains never forgave the hyena for his mischievous tricks and they continue to avoid him till this day. The hyena must now live a lonely life of solitude, but you can still hear him cackle at his former friends whenever he is near.

Hyena in Duma Dam

One morning around 10:00, a lone spotted hyena suddenly appeared out of the bush below our house and ran with purpose along the dam wall and then down into the water, where it jumped in and dived under the water, taking a quick bath.  In an instant, it was off again, running into the bushes and up the valley behind our house.  It must have been at a kill some distance away and was very late getting back to its den.  It was on such a mission that it reminded me of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, ‘late for a very important date!’

Hyenas Visit Our House

When Alayne from the Laikipia Predator Project came over to Sosian to try and collar a lion, we found a zebra carcass to use as bait.  Alayne butchered the zebra on our dam wall and just took the rump and hind legs, leaving the rest for the scavengers.  After unsuccessfully trying to call lions in at Acacia Dam, we returned to the house about 9:00 pm.  As we ate a late dinner on the verandah, spotted and striped hyenas as well as jackals moved in to the area, attracted by the remains of the zebra on the dam wall.  The cacophony of whining, cackling and whooping continued all night and some spotted hyenas came up to the house to try and get into the back of Alayne’s truck where the zebra rump and a camel leg were securely stored.  Hyenas, worked up into a frenzy from the smell of meat, paced back and forth from the house to the truck parked in the drive.  When one of them stopped outside our bedroom window and started giggling loudly, it was too much for our cats, who bolted under the bed and refused to come out.  At least we now knew there were plenty of hyenas on the ranch.

Hyenas at Kill

I woke up at 3:00 in the morning when I suddenly heard a loud screeching sound, like an animal being killed.  Within a minute, hyenas started whooping.  Mike and I jumped out of bed and took the spotlight out to the rock ledge.  We could hear hyenas from a distance answering the hyenas already at the dam, but we couldn't see anything.  As we walked back in the house, a hyena started whooping loudly as he ran down the path from our water tanks to the house and through the garden on his way to the kill.  Again we could see nothing but the frenzy continued to grow as the excited hyenas competed for the kill.  Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep during the remainder of the night!  We now think that our local chui possibly made the kill as it was done so quickly, and the hyenas were probably following him on his nightly rounds and took the opportunity to steal it away.