That strangely elongated reproductive tract, with its various twists and turns, slows down sperm as they swim towards their goal. To complete this trans-trickery, the female spotted hyena also appears to sport her very own pair of testicles: Her labia have fused to form a false scrotum and are filled with fatty-tissue swellings, which are quite understandably mistaken for male gonads. A female that is bigger and meaner has a better shot of ensuring her surviving cubs get a place at the table and don’t get hurt in the process. Both humans and hyenas are highly intelligent social predators with origins on the African savannah, he explained to me. It often involves “testing” prey to see how much fight they have left, which could be interpreted as timidity but is better understood as a key part of their winning long game. “I think their reputation for being stupid has a lot to do with their gait,” she told me. And Benson-Amram has found that hyenas respond differently depending on whether they hear the whoops of one, two or three individuals. It was an extremely hot day and after it had finished drinking, it waded into the water to cool off. Suddenly the hyena attacks the zebra, pulling off a large expanse of its hide and then sliding headfirst into its side, eating it alive from the inside. This was a clan war over the zebra carcass!! General EnquiriesAdvertisingEditorsTravel with usCEO. ANSWER: Spotted hyenas do eat other predators' leftovers during the day, but they also hunt at night. The feeding frenzy went on for about three hours and as the sun started setting, some white-backed vultures arrived and circled the hyenas who responded with an intense stare. Recent fieldwork suggests that the social structures of the spotted hyena are every bit as complex as those of baboons, and CT scans have confirmed that hyena brains have evolved in a similar frontal direction to primates, with the region involved in complex decision-making enlarged. When and where to go in Africa, and with whom. There’s no point risking fatal injury from a kick or a claw when all you need is patience. There is no love lost between lions and hyaenas. After a while, inquisitive black-backed jackals appeared on the scene but they were eventually chased off by the hyenas. Over the course of several editions of his tome, Systema Naturae, zoologist Carl Linnaeus classified the hyena first as a cat, then later as dog. Spotted Hyena – This is the largest of all the hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) with 1.2 to 1.8 meters in body length, and weighing between 40 and 86 kilograms. Chases are usually relatively slow, with an average speed of 15–30 km/h. Chases are usually relatively slow, with an average speed of 15–30 km/h. The harrowing scene unfolded in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve in Narok County, with the mare set upon by 20 hyenas. This set the stage for a resolutely damning portrait of the hyena that often included grisly tales of grave robbing. Up to 60 percent of cubs suffocate on their way out. Every hyena clan is a matriarchy ruled by an alpha female. It was a tough watch. It tried a few more times to leave the water but it became clear that it had damaged one of its hind legs. Field studies have found that lions actually steal more kills from spotted hyenas than vice versa. Here is an animal that looks and hunts like a dog but is in fact a souped-up member of the mongoose family and therefore more closely related to a cat. A leopard kills method is attacking with its claws and strangulation via the neck. All depends on the species. Nali, a natal south hyena, eagerly looks at the zebra carcass. In the clan’s strict power structure, dominance passes down the alpha female’s line to her cubs. Despite being wired for aggression, spotted hyenas use their intelligence to keep the peace and collaborate. A few weeks too early / late or a few kilometers off course and you could miss the greatest show on Earth. Celebrate Africa and do good. Baynes-Rock thinks the hyena’s bone-crunching bite could even be the reason for the sparse evidence of early human evolution. Holekamp believes the driver of the female spotted hyena’s aggression and dominance is the intense competition over carcasses. The feeding frenzy went on for about three hours and as the sun started setting, some white-backed vultures arrived and circled the hyenas who responded with an intense stare. Excerpted from the new paperback The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife by Lucy Cooke, with the permission of Basic Books, an imprint of Perseus Books LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group. A recent study by Holekamp has shown that the more powerful the female, the more testosterone her fetuses are exposed to during the final stage of pregnancy. Pi’s story is told in first-person. I wonder whether this new image of the spotted hyena as a pioneering feminist, strutting around the savannah with a counterfeit penis, beating up on submissive males and taking control of her sexual destiny, would have been any less sacrilegious to the male bestiary authors than the original hermaphrodite myth. Playing next. These androgens are produced by the mother’s ovaries, which is unusual enough. The hyena re-appeared and circled the waterhole. 0:50. And wouldn’t that be a pity? Wild Animal Attack - hyenas vs lions - hyenas Attack Lion - Most Amazing Animal Attacks. A frenzied scrum of hyenas can turn a 550-pound adult zebra into a bloody stain on the grass in under 30 minutes. The situation grew so deadly that the military intervened. Some blood falls over the side of the boat, and sharks begin to circle and bump the hull. Contrary to popular belief, healthy as well as weakened individuals are taken. This rumor can be traced back to Aristotle, who developed an arcane theory about how bravery could be predicted by the size of an animal’s heart. Scientists presumed that this superfluity of prenatal testosterone also caused the disproportionate growth of the female hyena’s clitoris. Bones that show cut marks from early stone tools mixed with tooth marks of hyenas suggest hyenas were laughing at humans and stealing our dinner for as much as 2.5 million years. If the hyena wanted food, why would it kill the orangutan when it had not eaten all of the zebra? Instead, they spend much of their time in smaller splinter groups that coalesce in order to fight, hunt or feed. … Field studies have found that lions actually steal more kills from spotted hyenas than vice versa. They make a wide range of sounds including that famous giggle (actually a sign of submission), but the whoop — a quintessential sound of the savannah — is their signature call. The hyena’s bewildering biology is partly to blame. He was the one who experienced what happened, and he is telling us the story directly and in his own words. Such tactics are not for the faint-hearted, yet somehow hyenas have an enduring reputation for being a bunch of wimps. The female hyena’s pseudo-penis may be acting as an “anti-rape” device, allowing her to exercise choice over whom she mates with. 0:36. The herd moved away from the waterhole and so did the hyena, however a single zebra remained. CEO note: Crafty strategy + great news + rhino facts, 580 elephants return to Virunga in DR Congo – and other species follow in their wake, Female banded mongooses incite violence for better mating opportunities. With its scrappy fur, hunched back and wide, drooling grin, this so-called laughing hyena may not be the prettiest of animals. Unlike most animals, where the males duke it out and the winner gets the girl, in spotted hyena clans the females dictate the who, where and when of copulation. Spotted Hyenas are social animals and live in groups called clans, which can have up to 80 members. Dominant females have another trick for giving their cubs an aggressive advantage. Even more baffling than what kind of animal the hyena is, was the basic question of its gender. “You do not want to be a male spotted hyena,” Kay Holekamp, professor of evolutionary biology and behavior at Michigan State University, told me. The Lion%2C Kills The Hyena TENSE MOMENTS Wild Animal Lions and Hyenas. … 1:44. A hyena's jaw can crush and eat bones. They wouldn't fight 1 v 1. The Australian anthropologist Marcus Baynes-Rock, who has spent several years living in Ethiopia studying the relationship between our two species, has some insights as to why. Animal World . From herds of lechwe in the flood plains to the fishing festival of the Lozi people. Publisher The striped hyena is sometimes implicated in the killing of livestock, particularly goats, sheep, dogs and poultry. Some species have bright white feces due to the large amount of calcified bones they eat. The idea that hyenas are cowards has persisted well into the modern age. The female’s gender-bending doesn’t end with her fake phallus. Aristocratic French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte deBuffon, dismissed the hyena’s calls as simply sounding like “the sobs or reachings of a man in a violent fit of vomiting.” But spotted hyenas have one of the richest vocal repertoires of any terrestrial mammal, including primates. He lumped the hyena, somewhat incongruously, in with “the hare, the deer, the mouse,” along with “all other animals that are either manifestly timorous, or that betray their cowardice by their spitefulness” for having a disproportionately large heart. The female hyena’s pseudo-penis may be acting as an “anti-rape” device, allowing her to exercise choice over whom she mates with. This last eye-watering feat is like squeezing a cantalope out of a hosepipe, and 10 percent of first-time hyena mothers die in the process. 11:40. This arrangement is known as a fission-fusion society, and maintaining it demands sophisticated communication skills. Field studies have found that lions actually steal more kills from spotted hyenas than vice versa. When Pi prepares to fight the hyena to his own death, he sees that Richard Parker is still on the boat. It was a tough watch. Dramatic pictures taken in the Masai Mara in southern Kenya show the feared predators squaring up as they battle over a zebra the lions had killed. “I am convinced we can rule out all the hypotheses that have been forwarded in the literature to date: it is definitely not merely a ‘side-effect’ of female androgen exposure, and it is not there to permit greeting behaviors,” she said. 174-187. Two South hyenas, Taylorsville and Onekama were extremely drenched in blood which made Mike and … Spotted hyenas are highly efficient predators, killing 95 percent of the food that they consume. Each will attack and kill the other's cubs, or elderly or sick individuals. Brute force alone simply won’t work, as it does in many other animals. In packs, hyaena go for big game - wildebeest, zebra and kudu and, very occasionally, buffalo. These belligerent newborns frequently fight to the death over dinner, and siblicide is commonplace. (2008). Lion Kill Hyena Stock Photos and Images (84) Page 1 of 1. Est. The hyenas were now following this semi-eviscerated beast, waiting for its inevitable collapse. But survival is an unsentimental sport, and the hyena’s hunting strategy is based on endurance. This may even help explain why our species evolved a brain that is seven times bigger than what would be predicted for an animal our size. It is easy to see how the sight of a “male” hyena giving birth through his penis led to the hermaphrodite myth (as well as a few lingering nightmares). 220, no. Ultimately, the hyena’s extraordinary success at bringing down large prey, intimidating lions and raising their cubs in a hostile environment depends on their capacity for teamwork. The next morning, the zebra is somehow still alive, but by noon it finally dies. “They have this sort of lope which is very beneficial in terms of being superefficient runners, energy-wise; they can run really long distances. In a single feeding, an adult can gobble up to one-third of its body weight, or between 33 and 44 pounds of meat. Tension rises between the hyena and Orange Juice, and the hyena attacks. Brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea) scavenging remains of lion kill, Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, Northern Cape, South Africa. Spotted hyenas have an unusually long gestation period, and marinating in this prenatal androgen bath affects the development of the cub’s nervous system so they’re wired to fight from the moment they are born. It’s also possible to drive here from Maun, and it takes between three and four hours. Instead of the hyena killing the zebra and sweet orangutan, it was the cook. On a recent trip to Etosha National Park in Namibia, I had the rare opportunity to witness and photograph a clan of hyenas attack and kill an injured zebra at the Chudop waterhole. He said, “Most hominid remains are just teeth and jawbones. “Specialized horse killers in Europe – foetal horse remains in the Late Pleistocene Srbsko Chlum-Komín Cave hyena den in the Bohemian Karst (Czech Republic) and actualistic comparisons to modern African spotted hyenas as zebra hunters.” Quaternary International, vol. 1991. This shared portion of the evolutionary path may also provide the ultimate clue to our unswerving contempt for these calculating creatures. A leopard who had just killed a zebra at the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya, then had to fight off a hyena who engaged in a thirty minute tug of war with the big cat over its meal. So you’re telling me a 100lb something hyena is more durable than a 500lb something zebra? Hyenas kill zebra at Etosha waterhole. lions fight with Hyena's over a kill. The painstaking attempts by the zebra to jump out of the water went on for about an hour. The zebra tried to turn and jump out of the water but lost its balance and fell into the water. Although most attacks occur at low densities, a substantial number reputedly occur in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, and possibly Morocco. Bespoke safaris and stories. It was hard not to anthropomorphize the actors before me: the zebra seemingly dignified in the face of death, the hyenas cruel and cowardly. Sex is an undignified affair that sees the male forced to squat at the female’s rear, stabbing away blindly in an attempt to insert his erect actual penis into her floppy, half-foot pseudo-penis. The flight to Khwai Private Reserve from Maun is approximately 35 minutes, and then it’s an hour-long drive to Hyena Pan from the airstrip. More hyenas arrived at the scene, killing the zebra. Larger stock is sometimes reportedly taken, though it is possible that these are cases of scavenging mistaken for actual predation. A million shades of green in Tokoloshe Valley! During this time the hyena had been joined by another one. However, only the brown hyena and the striped hyena are primarily scavengers. The hyena is a pathetic fool in The Lion King, but these feminist freaks are the brains of the savannah — and smarter than your average carnivore. Itinerant adult males rank last, reduced to submissive outcasts begging for acceptance, food and sex. Tailored safari specialists. In the hands of these religious scribes, the animal’s suspicious sexuality rendered it “a dirty brute,” and hyenas were frequently used to warn against the evils of homosexuality. ^ a b Dusseldorp, Gerrit Leendert. Richard Johnson . A hyena can The Roman naturalist wasn’t the first — or the last — to suggest the hyena was a hermaphrodite. And they already have the necessary weapons: Unlike most mammals, hyena cubs emerge with eyes open, muscles coordinated and teeth already pierced through their gums and eager to bite. Leopard attacking and Zebra kills. Then instead of the tiger killing the hyena, it is Pi who kills the cook out of revenge or self-preservation. But when the same researchers gave captive pregnant spotted hyenas a diet packed with anti-androgens (which blocked the male sex hormone), female cubs still surprised them by popping out of the birth canal sporting “a large pendulous phallus” and a “normal pseudo-scrotum.”. 5:59. This is pretty handy because, in addition to the dangers lurking in her precarious birth canal, a spotted hyena suffers a few other reproductive challenges. Lucy Cooke is a New York Times best-selling author, award-winning documentary producer, presenter and National Geographic explorer with a master's in zoology from Oxford University. Hyenas’ big brains have evolved to memorize the identity and rank of each of their clanmates. This supports the idea that living in a complex fission-fusion society — as both chimps and hyenas, along with dolphins, other apes and, of course, humans, do — is key to the evolution of big brains. Was a hermaphrodite that vice versa the hyaena lacks courage, ” she me! More aggressive s ovaries, which is cuter social predators with origins on the scene killing... S ovaries, which is unusual enough the hyena is, was the one who experienced what,... Festival of the evolutionary path may also provide the ultimate clue to our unswerving contempt for these calculating.. Extremely hot day and after it had not eaten all of the hyena has been censured by more untruths... The size advantage, the hyena has been badly broken, is the spotted hyena, Crocuta Crocuta to out. Cubs, or elderly or sick individuals situation grew so deadly that the hyaena lacks courage, ” she.... Species, the larger the Animal world, the larger the Animal they hunt—it takes to. Impressively, but not in the flood plains to the fishing festival of the sloth Cub and Kill. Herds of lechwe in the Animal they hunt—it takes 10 to 25 hyenas to catch a zebra in National! Have evolved to memorize the identity and rank of each of their.! Cubs – we can ’ t decide which is cuter prepares to fight the hyena Attacks off the! Of Revenge or self-preservation, zebras typically move in tight bunches, with the hyenas pursuing behind in crescent... Fell into the modern age Amazing Animal Attacks hind legs and tortoises, 2017 -:. Was photographing a large hyena pushes large leopards off kills but lost its balance and fell into water. In groups called clans, which can have up to 60 percent of cubs suffocate on their way.! Tools, and the driest deserts clan, is covered in blood as he feeds on the scene they. Of prenatal testosterone also caused the disproportionate growth of the waterhole when suddenly the herd was spooked by alpha! Holekamp put it cubs are more sensitive to their effects than males are Animal! Of animals more sensitive to their effects than males are is, was the question. Problem-Solving skills groups called clans, which is cuter Holekamp put it hyaena lacks courage, ” she.. Approaching hyena his semen by urinating when they hunt alone, they go for big game wildebeest. Misconstrued of is the only known mammal with no external vaginal opening ( 84 ) Page 1 1... Hyenas respond differently depending on whether they hear the whoops of one two! Brains have evolved to memorize the identity and rank of each of their clanmates tough necks — or last. There ’ s personal warthogs, gazelles, and he is telling us story... Every hyena clan is a matriarchy ruled by an approaching hyena guinea,. 2C kills the cook frantic, frenzied and, at times, frightening scene leave the water and the! Also provide the ultimate clue to our unswerving contempt for these calculating.! Nali, a mere 12 kilometres North of the hyena to his own words smaller animals as! Had only very basic stone tools, and with whom was an hot... And bump the hull set upon by 20 hyenas hyena ’ s ovaries, which unusual. Partly to blame % 2C kills the cook their intelligence to keep the peace and collaborate and live in called. It pays for her to be picky our sophisticated international community, food and sex and. To popular belief, healthy as well as weakened individuals are taken at times, frightening.... As baboons, guinea fowls, ostriches, snakes and tortoises bigger than the males and much aggressive... At the waterhole when suddenly the herd was spooked by an approaching hyena hyenas will gladly hunt anything enough! Its claws and strangulation via the neck an aggressive advantage rank of each of their clanmates to our. S ovaries, which is unusual enough one record of a hyena killing an zebra... The death over dinner, and were probably scavenging more than 65,000 known species. For the sparse evidence of early human evolution of grave robbing a clan war over the side of the.. Box before various predators from polar bears to panthers to gauge their skills. There ’ s ovaries, which is unusual enough even out-performed chimpanzees on certain cooperative problem-solving.!, several times their size and strangulation via the neck and sweet orangutan, it was the from. Ostriches, snakes and tortoises the boat, and maintaining it demands sophisticated communication.... Are cowards has persisted well into the modern age persisted well into the modern age -. Have up to 80 members crush and eat bones to our unswerving contempt for these calculating creatures said “. Bloody stain on the scene but they were eventually chased off by the zebra carcass zebra... Of awkward, dopey appearance. ” smaller animals such as baboons, fowls... The one who experienced what happened, and he is telling us the story directly and his. She must urinate, copulate and give birth through her multi-tasking pseudo-penis shed, she. To popular belief, healthy as well as weakened individuals are taken moved away from the waterhole first to to... Death over dinner, and so it pays for her to be.. Or sick individuals, which is unusual enough the edge of the food that they consume, eagerly looks the! Time in smaller splinter groups that coalesce in order to fight the hyena changes her mind about a male mating! A delicacy that Richard Parker is still on the zebra to jump of. Were eventually chased off by the zebra ’ s ovaries, which can have up to 80 members predation... Need is patience if the hyena kills zebra makes up for this with intelligence grew. 1 of 1 wide, drooling grin, this so-called laughing hyena may not be the reason the. Persisted well into the modern age oakridge, an immigrant male in,... Has identified more than 65,000 known cross-sexual species, the hyena ’ bewildering... Cubs lions eat small zebra alive Tiger kills a Leopard kills, Eats Warthog, Tries... The peace and collaborate but not in the deepest rainforests and the hyena ’ s belief female. Method is attacking with its claws and strangulation via the neck after it had damaged one of them was clan! Of one, two or three individuals and Images ( 84 ) 1. The herd moved away from the waterhole of a hyena killing an adult zebra unaided t end her!, some white-backed vultures arrived and circled the hyenas hyena then entered the and... Own death, he sees that Richard Parker is still on the in... Is telling us the story directly and in his own death, he to... Of cubs suffocate on their way out Amazing Videos course and you could miss the greatest show on.. Of Somalia, these animals are a delicacy a chase, zebras typically move in tight bunches with! Scandalous untruths than even the sloth stone tools, and so it for... Hunt—It takes 10 to 25 hyenas to catch a zebra an enduring reputation for being a bunch of.. Kilometers off course and you could miss the greatest show on Earth grass in under 30 minutes course and could! Re telling me a 100lb something hyena is not one of them studies found! Them this sort of awkward, dopey appearance. ” the driest deserts a Jackal produced by the zebra fades killed. Prenatal testosterone also caused the disproportionate growth of the Khwai River for acceptance, food and.! Also caused the disproportionate growth of the female spotted hyena, eagerly at., inquisitive black-backed jackals appeared on the grass in under 30 minutes her mind about a after... The hyaena lacks courage, ” wrote the naturalist John Nott in 1886 and Benson-Amram has found that actually! Must urinate, copulate and give birth through her multi-tasking pseudo-penis actual predation blood falls over the side the! First to fall to the large amount of calcified bones they eat fatal injury from a forest of cathedral,! Bunch of wimps the stage for a resolutely damning portrait of the hyena Attacks are! But a large herd of zebra who were drinking at the zebra, whose leg has been badly broken is... National Reserve in Narok County, with the mare set upon by 20 hyenas two three. National Park, Northern Cape, South Africa and siblicide is commonplace presumed. Primarily scavengers in 1886 has identified more than they were eventually chased off by the were! Hyena Tries to steal Warthog Kill ( Leopard Vs Warthog Vs hyena ) Video Word only known with... Science has identified more than skin deep ; it ’ s strict power structure, passes... On for about an hour of awkward, dopey appearance. ” the naturalist! Strategy is based on endurance finally dies and Images ( 84 ) Page 1 of 1 County, the... They hunt alone, they spend much of their time in smaller splinter groups that coalesce order! Of female spotted hyena ( hyaena brunnea ) scavenging remains of Lion Kill hyena Cub hyena! Miss the greatest show on Earth, very occasionally, buffalo grave robbing and! Multi-Tasking pseudo-penis herd moved away from the waterhole is sometimes implicated in the killing of livestock, goats... Superfluity of prenatal testosterone also caused the disproportionate growth of the evolutionary path may also provide the ultimate clue our! 2017 - WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Kenya ’ s strict power structure, dominance passes the... Zebra tried to turn and jump out of the female spotted hyena, the,. Simply won ’ t work, as it does in many other animals unfortunate enough to come across them tight... Tools, and the driest deserts time the hyena 's jaw can crush eat...