They share a communal den and can occupy a home range of between 15 and square miles, although not all clans will defend a home range. Females usually give birth to two cubs — once they are two-six weeks old the mother will move them to a communal den with other females and their cubs. Predominantly carnivorous — large and medium size prey such as wildebeest, zebra and antelopes, but also birds, lizards and plants. Found across a broad range of habitats, including grasslands, savannah, woodland and sub-deserts, but also present in urban and periurban areas.
See 14 incredible photos of African predators in action. Sledgehammer-like jaws shatter bones, while highly acidic stomachs break down the shards. In the meager deserts of southern Namibia, brown hyenas maintain home ranges of up to 1, square miles. An animal will walk an average of 15 miles a night in search of a meal, often baby seals, according to Wiesel. Such endurance is due in part to their streamlined body shape.
Stubby hind legs increase energy efficiency, allowing the animals to lope easily across the ground. Hyena also have big, strong lungs and hearts as well as wide nostrils that facilitate oxygen exchange.
The Kaguru people of Tanzania believe hyenas dig up the graves of the dead, which, according to their beliefs, is why they smell bad. Female hyenas are stellar mothers, investing more time in their cubs than most carnivores. Not only do they nurse cubs on extremely calcium-rich milk for two years, moms wrestle and play with their offspring for hours at a time—another sophisticated, primate-like behavior. See more pictures of animal moms and babies.
However, spotted hyena females are often mistaken for males. Females also urinate, mate, and give birth through this pseudopenis. In Physiologus , a Christian text from the second century A. Because of habitat loss and widespread hunting, striped and brown hyenas are classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the body that sets the conservation status of species.
Spotted hyenas are locally extinct throughout much of South Africa, as well as West and central Africa. They are well known for their cackling laugh-like screams. It is believed hyenas use this laughter to alert other hyenas of food sources. Hyenas can hear this call up to three miles away. The hyena has exceptionally strong jaws in relation to its body size.
The female spotted hyena is more dominant and larger than the male hyena. Female spotted hyenas always rank higher than males in the clan. Brown hyenas, striped hyenas and aardwolves have male-dominated clans. Most hyenas form packs, communities of up to 80 members. The hyena den is the center of their pack territory.
Hyena packs hunt for food as a group. Aardwolves, however, are solitary hyenas and usually only gather during the mating season. Mothers in a clan share the responsibility of nursing each others' babies. Meanwhile, only 5, to 8, Brown hyenas today roam parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
The brown hyena is relatively safe in protected areas, but clashes with humans elsewhere have taken their toll. The IUCN reports that negative attitudes toward brown hyenas prevail across South Africa and elsewhere, with many ranchers and farmers shooting, poisoning, trapping and hunting them with dogs. The UK-based Predator Conservation Trust has established the Brown Hyena Research Project to help form strategies to promote the long-term survival of the species and its southern Africa habitat.
As many as 47, spotted hyenas live in sub-Saharan Africa. They suffer similar forms of persecution as other hyenas but have fared better due to their ability to adapt to life in proximity to humans. Conservationists underscore the importance of preserving hyenas because, if for no other reason, we can learn much from them.
For one, hyenas possess unique immune systems that allow them to withstand diseases that kill other animals. Box , Westport, CT ; earthtalk emagazine.
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