Informational

Spotted Hyena

by Kyle Rowe

According to National Geographic, the spotted hyena is the largest of the four species of hyena, including the brown hyena, the striped hyena and the aardwolf. If you are wondering if the Hyena is a canine or a feline it is actually part of the hyaenidae family tree! The Hyena’s diet consists of animals like wildebeest, antelope, lizards, snakes and insects. They hunt in packs which can be as large as 38-80 members!

Another interesting fact is that hyenas have a matriarchy, meaning that the females are dominant. The quality of life for a male hyena isn’t the best. For their first two years, while they’re puppies their life is good. They have the same rank in the pecking order as the female puppies. This changes when they are no longer puppies. They are kicked out of the clan and they then have to find a new clan. When they do, they are not treated to well and are put at the bottom of the pecking order. They are also considerably smaller than the females and don't live as long them.

Contrary to popular belief, hyenas are NOT pure scavengers. 95% of their food comes from hunting, which is quite easy to do with their whopping speed of 37 MPH. In reality instead of hyenas feasting on lions hunts it's the exact opposite! They also possess the ability to crush and eat bone, skin, teeth, and even hooves! Although they can't digest horns, they still eat them. Maybe they have some hyena-pepto-bismol.