Howling Hyenas!

Welcome!

Spotted Hyena; Tambako the Jaguar posted, Pinterest

Hyenas!

Why?

Because I know very little about them, and thought they could be interesting.

And they are!

Africa Geographical 

There are 4 main suborders of feliform Carnivora mammals belonging to the family 
Hyaenidae.

Did you understand that? ‘Cause I sure didn’t the first time I read it!

Let’s try to translate!

Feli-form: cat-like

Hyenas are biologically more like cats than dogs!

Feli-forms include cats, tigers, lions, meerkats and mongooses.

Who knew? Not me!

Photo credit: don_heyneke

Carnivora: carnivores. They eat meat.

Mammals: They give live births.

Okay!

So hyenas are more like cats, they eat meat and they give live births.

There are 4 main kinds of hyenas:

Striped hyena

Brown hyena

Spotted hyena

Aardwolf

Let’s break those down.

Striped hyena:

No photo credit given, Pinterest

Striped hyenas are the only ones where the females are larger than the males.

Cubs are born with their eyes closed, and the males help raise them, digging dens to live in. Striped hyenas are monogamous (live with only one mate for most of their life ). They are scavengers, eating any meat except vultures! They will also supplement their diet with fruit.

Hyenas are pretty silent, but will chatter, howl and even laugh! A laughing hyena is not having a good time. They laugh when they are super-stressed!

Deadfix.com

Striped hyenas are the smallest. They are considered near threatened, steadily edging toward threatened status because of loss of habitat. Another factor is plain old mis-understanding. Farmers think striped hyenas are killing their cattle, so they bait, trap and kill them. 

FALSE!

Striped Hyenas mostly eat carrion. Meat that is already dead. 

They are called members of the 

‘Clean Plate Club’

That means they eat everything- hooves, bones, the whole thing!

I think they must have stomachs of steel!

Striped hyena

Hyena poo is white because of all the calcium in the bones of the animals they eat.

OneWildAfrica.com

Fun fact:

Ancient Egyptians tamed hyenas to help them hunt; similar to hunting dogs.

Hyenas can become affectionate and form bonds with both humans and dogs.

Problem:

The smell! Hyenas smell really bad!

Next:

Brown hyenas

Pinterest

Brown hyenas are not known to prey on humans. They are primarily nocturnal (move around at night) and are slightly larger than their brothers, Striped hyenas. They are considered to be shy and elusive, and will pretend to be dead to survive! 

They live in family groups, called clans. They are very social.

Brown hyena family, Greg Hartman

Brown hyenas, like all hyenas, have scraggly fur, large ears and have manes. They all have more ribs than dogs, and rough tongues like cats.

Males help feed the cubs with insects, eggs, rodents, fruit and fungi (mushrooms).

Photo credit: Christophe JOBIC

Brown hyenas are probably the least understood of all hyenas because they are so shy. It’s difficult to study their habits.

Next:

Spotted Hyenas

Photo credit: Pairi Daizi

Spotted Hyenas are the largest of the 4 groups of hyenas.  They are very social and live in groups of up to 100. They are pack hunters and kill most of their food. Some of their prey are giraffes, wildebeests, sheep and cattle.

Found on Pinterest 

A Spotted hyena can eat 32 pounds in one meal! When they howl, it can be heard for up to 3 miles away.

That’s a lot of stress…

Artist: W.R. Leigh

Spotted Hyenas are more aggressive, and defend their kills and clan ferociously. They can travel at 37 miles per hour, and can hear things up to 6 miles away!

Zoo Borns, Pinterest

Living in burrows, caves and crevices, Spotted Hyena cubs are born with eyes open, fully developed and ready to go. They even have teeth! The males however do not help raise their cubs.

Pinterest

Idrawgirls.com

Spotted hyena mothers are great. They give protein rich milk to their cubs for up to 6 months, even up to 1 year.

Spotted hyenas are also smart, curious and inquisitive. Each clan has a matriarch who leads; with her daughter next in line.

Unknown

Next:

Aardwolf

Pinterest

Aardwolves have to be the strangest member of the hyena family.

At least the strangest looking!

Photo credit: Hennie van Heerden

Aardwolves are also called “earth wolves” (in Afrikaans and Dutch) even though they are not wolves at all!

Credit: Meredith Seidel

Aardwolves cannot kill livestock, although many people believe they kill lambs.

They are actually insectivores.

A what?

A carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects.

Remember what carnivore means.

Now add on insectivore.

Hyenas, like dogs, have pointed snouts and blunt, non-retractable claws. They catch their prey with their mouths (not claws).

Idrawgirls.com

Except the Aardwolf.

The Bored Panda

The Aardwolf has a long, sticky tongue perfect for gathering it’s favorite food -

Termites!

These hyenas can eat 200,000 - 300,000 termites in one evening. They are ‘conscientious eaters’. They will never wipe out a termite hill, always leaving enough termites for the hill to produce more termites - for future mealtimes. Cool!

Pinterest

Aardwolves main threat is insecticides used by farmers on termite hills.

Interestingly, hyenas do not die from the rabies virus. It is one of the few mammals that can survive this virus.

Can you guess another one?

Very little is known about 

the immune system of hyenas.

Pinterest

Interesting fact:

Hyenas have one of the strongest bite factors in the animal kingdom. Their bite can crush bone, and comes in just a little less than the bite of a polar bear. It is even greater than a lion’s.

(But not the Aardwolf, in case you wondered.)

Joke Bosch, Pinterest 

Remember another mammal that is immune to the rabies virus?

It is a bat!

Pinterest 

Well, that about wraps things up for the hyena.

I hope you have learned a few fun things about this often misunderstood, fascinating member of  Planet Earth.

I know I did!

‘Til next time,

inkspired

You can find me on Pinterest under

K. Kloberdans

You can always leave me a message right here!

A few websites I checked out for this blog:

a-z-animals.com

Wikipedia 

Facts.net

Factanimal.com

Wildtomorrow.org

My-zoetrope.blogspot.com

Wordpress.com