Spotted hyena

It is the largest of all hyena species: it reaches a length of up to 1.3 m, with a height of 80 cm at the shoulders, a skull length of up to 30 cm. The fur is shorter than in other species, grayish in color with brown spots on the sides and upper legs . Wool coarse, bristly. The head is brown, on the cheeks and nape with a reddish tinge, the tail with brown rings and a black tip; the ends of the legs are whitish. Coloring is subject to variations, it is lighter and darker, the ears are rounded. The body is massive. So the weight of adults living in the Serengeti Valley is 40.5–55.0 kg in males and 44.5–63.9 kg in females. Due to the fact that hyenas have front legs longer than their hind legs, an impression of slowness and slowness is created, but this is not so - thanks to this hyena it is easier to overcome long distances at maximum speed. Due to a higher level of testosterone than that of the males, feverish organs are formed in females.

The spotted hyena lives in southern and eastern Africa , from the Cape of Good Hope to around 17 °. sh., displacing in those places where it is often found, striped hyena . In Abyssinia and eastern Sudan, it meets with the latter in the same places, but to the south it becomes more numerous, and the striped hyena gradually disappears. In Abyssinia, the spotted hyena rises in the mountains to an altitude of 4000 m.

More recently, hyenas were considered scavengers, but in the course of many observations it was established that in 90% of cases hyenas kill the intended victim. During the hunt, hyenas reach speeds of up to 60 km / h. They are also able to keep a high speed of up to 5 km, this makes them one of the most successful hunters in Africa, unlike lions, of which only 5 out of 10 hunts are successful. Hyenas are able to catch and eat almost any animal - from small antelopes to buffaloes and young giraffes.

Spotted hyenas in 4 cases out of 5 hunt themselves, rarely eat carrion. Prey is found with the help of sight and hearing. The jaws create a strong pressure of 70 kg / cm ² , allowing the bone to crack. Dumping the prey, spotted hyenas immediately begin to eat it. The digestive tract is longer than that of other predators of this size - the food is completely digested, and the litter almost does not rot, looks like chalk and consists mainly of calcium phosphate .

Rough tongue, like cats , helped their ancestors with less strong jaws to scrape meat from bones.

In the reserve of Luangwa due to the nutrition of hippos who died in 1987, hyenas have multiplied and retain their numbers thanks to regular hunting.

The hyena alone is capable of dumping an antelope 3 times larger than itself, but more often they hunt in pairs. A flock of hyenas can kill a buffalo, young giraffe or elephant.

By way of life, it is similar to other hyenas, but its magnitude and strength is more dangerous than them. The howl of a spotted hyena is like laughter. The tail shows the social status: the tail pulled up means a high social position, the lowered one means low. The smell of hyenas is caused mainly by the secretion of glands that serve to communicate. The demonstration of the genitalia serves to reduce aggressiveness.

Spotted hyenas live in family groups - clans. There is a strict hierarchy in the clans. Females with even the lowest position and cubs are higher than males. Daughters, growing up, usually occupy the position following the mother. Grown males go to another clan.

The struggle for power in female hyenas begins in childhood. Then they arrange fights, but not comic, but fatal. The weaker female dies, and the strong one has the opportunity for a further life. Newborn males, in turn, are never persecuted by females.

Births occur 14 weeks after conception. The female brings up to 7 cubs, in central Africa to the beginning of the rainy period, in the north - in the spring; cubs are placed in caves or in dug burrows. Cubs are born sighted and with teeth. Mother protects the offspring until his adulthood. Cubs are covered with short monochrome fur; no stains. Milk is so nutritious that cubs can go without food for up to a week. Hyenas feed only their own offspring.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not hyenas who try to master the prey of lions, but lions often take their prey from hyenas. If a lioness is one, and there are many hyenas, then they may try to drive her away, but several lionesses or even a single male lion can drive the entire clan of hyenas away from the prey. Lions also often kill hyenas and their cubs. On the other hand, old lions often find their death in the teeth of hyenas.

Leopards eat a part of the caught victim, and the rest, in order to protect them from robbers, is dragged into the trees. Often, prey hangs slightly higher than a hyena can reach. In the vicinity of Luangwa, where there are too many hyenas, leopards prefer to kill small prey in order to immediately pull up a tree and eat there. Leopard cubs should also be wary of hyenas.

Hyenoid dogs hunt in the same place as spotted hyenas, and on the same prey, but hunt a little more organized. On the other hand, hyenas have fallen more in their diets, and they are less susceptible to the rabies virus . These two predators often kill each other and cubs of competitors.

Other predators of the hyena are often robbed of their prey if it is included in their menu, and prey on their cubs, and sometimes on themselves. In foxes, hyenas can take a hole and use it as a nursery.

If a clan of spotted hyenas near the carrion meets a brown hyena , a fight may break out between both species, in which larger and stronger spotted hyenas will win. In such clashes, they are guided by collective efforts and rare intrusiveness. But, taking possession of the prey, each of the hyen “winners” tries to eat much more meat and as quickly as possible, while the other members of the clan are not ahead of it.

• The cave hyena is an extinct subspecies of the spotted hyena.

• Wilson DE & Reeder DM (eds). Mammal Species of the World . - 3rd ed. - , 2005. - Vol. 1. - P. 743. - ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 . OCLC 62265494 .