Found in Namibia, Botswana, western and southern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and South Africa. Most rare view hyenas.

Size:

The brown hyena can reach 86 to 140 cm (34 to 55 in) in body length, although they average 110 to 125 cm (43 to 49 in). The height at the withers is 70 to 80 cm (28 to 31 in), and the tail is 25 to 35 cm (9.8 to 14 in) long. Unlike the greater spotted hyena, there are no significant differences between the sexes, although males may be slightly larger than females. On average, an adult male weighs 40.2 to 43.7 kg (89 to 96 lb), while the average female weighs 37.7 to 40.2 kg (83 to 89 lb). The normal upper weight limit for this species is 55 kg (120 lb), although it sometimes reaches up to 67.6 to 72.6 kg (149,160 lb).

Description:

The fur is long and shaggy, especially on the tail and back. The general fur color is dark brown, while the head is gray, the upper body is rufous and the legs are gray with dark transverse stripes. Erectile hair 305 mm (12 inches) long cover the neck and back. Brown hyenas have powerful jaws: young animals can crack leg bones within five minutes of birth, although this ability deteriorates with age as their teeth gradually wear out. The skulls of brown hyenas are larger than those of the more northern striped hyenas, and their teeth are more robust, indicating less generalized dietary adaptations. The brown hyena has anal glands below the base of the tail.

Character:

The brown hyena has a social hierarchy comparable to that of wolves, with an alpha male and an alpha female. They are social animals that can live in clans consisting of one adult of each sex, although there are reports of clans consisting of four males and six females. It is believed that in the latter case there is at least one dominant male. The brown hyena maintains a stable clan hierarchy through ritualized aggressive displays of combat. They generally forage alone, and do not maintain a territory, rather than using normal hunting routes.

Feeding:

The brown hyena feeds mainly on carrion, the bulk of their diet consisting of the carcasses of dead large predators, although they may supplement their diet with rodents, insects, eggs, fruits and mushrooms (Kalaharituber pfeilii truffle). Nevertheless, brown hyenas aggressive. In the Kalahari Desert, brown hyenas are often dominant predators.

The brown hyena will store excess food in bushes or holes and recover it within 24 hours. The brown hyena is a poor hunter, and live prey makes up only a small part of their diet: in the southern Kalahari, species such as the springhare, gazelle, bat-eared fox, and korhaan species make up only 4.2% of their total diet, while on the Namib coast, sealing cape fur cubs make up 2.9% of brown hyena food. In the Kalahari, brown hyenas are active 80% of the time at night foraging in an area covering 31.1 km (19.3 mi), with 54.4 km (33.8 mi) recorded. Their powerful sense of smell allows them to track even old carcasses 2 km (1.2 miles) downwind.

Reproduction:

The females are brown hyenas and usually produce their first litter. They mate mainly from May to August, with a gestation period of 97 days. Female brown hyenas mate with nomadic females and a dominant male member of their own clan. The males of the clan are not resistant and will help the females in raising the cubs. Females give birth in dens that are hidden in remote sand dunes near the territory of spotted hyenas and lions. Mothers typically produce one litter every 20 months. Usually only the head females of the clan, but if two litters are born in the same clan, the mothers will feed each other's cubs, albeit for the benefit of their own. Litters usually consist of 1-5 cubs that weigh 1 kg (2.2 kg) at birth. Unlike spotted hyenas, brown hyenas are born with their eyes closed, and open them after eight days. The cubs leave their burrows after four months. Also unlike spotted hyenas, all adult members of the clan will carry food for the pups. They do not fully wean and do not leave the vicinity of their den until they are 14 months of age.

Additional Information:

Synonyms:

Brown hyena, Parahyaena brunnea, brown hyena

Subspecies:

A hyena is a wild mammal that belongs to the placental infraclass, the predatory order, the feline suborder, the hyena family (lat. Hyaenidae).

The Latin name of the family was formed from two words ancient Greek"ὕαινα" and "ὗς", meaning or wild boar. This is probably due to the unpleasant smell emanating from the hyena, and its bristly back, resembling the withers of a wild boar. The word "hyena" entered the Russian language as a free reading of the international name of the family. It is noteworthy that the same name is applied to both male and female specimens, referring to singular female.

Hyena - description, structure, characteristics. What does a hyena look like?

Despite the fact that hyenas belong to the cat-like suborder, according to appearance they are more like . These are rather large animals, the body length of which, together with the tail, can reach 190 cm. The maximum weight of a hyena does not exceed 80 kg. The body of the predator is powerful and muscular, significantly expanded in the thoracic region and more narrowed in the sacral part. Due to the fact that the hind, slightly curved limbs are somewhat shorter than the front ones, the back of the hyenas is sloping, descending from the scapular region to the sacral part. The hind legs look thin and rather weak, especially in the thigh area. Almost all species (except the earthwolf) have 4 fingers on the front and hind legs with blunt, long, non-retractable claws. The front limbs of earthen wolves are five-fingered. Under the fingers of hyenas are convex finger pads, which the animal steps on when walking. The fingers themselves are connected by a dense, thick and elastic membrane that reaches to the pads.

In addition to the sloping back, hallmark hyena is a massive, thick head with a short thickened muzzle. The neck of the animals is quite short and wide.

Powerful jaws allow crushing the thickest bones of the victim due to the special structure of the hyena's skull and large teeth of a special shape.

The hyena's body is covered with shaggy coarse hair, dyed yellowish-gray or brown. The undercoat is poorly developed or absent. On the neck and on the ridge, almost along the entire back, the hair is longer and looks like a mane.

The color of the fur is heterogeneous: often the skin of a hyena is covered with blurry spots or fairly clear dark stripes, both throughout the body and only on the paws. The hyena's tail is quite short and shaggy.

Animals communicate with each other using squealing, barking, growling or "laughing" sounds.

By the way, hyenas laugh very unusually: their laughter, or laughter, is very similar to human. Basically, laughing sounds are characteristic of spotted hyenas.

hyena lifespan

In nature, the hyena lives for about 12-15 years, the life expectancy in the zoo is about 24 years.

Where do hyenas live?

All hyenas live in savannas, desert, semi-desert regions and foothill regions of the African continent. The distribution range of species sometimes overlaps, so they often coexist in the same area. The exception is the striped hyena, which is found in Northwest India, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Turkey and Iran. Populations of these hyenas are noted in the territory of the countries of the former Soviet Union: Armenia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. The rest of the hyenas live in Sudan and Kenya, Namibia and Botswana, South Africa, as well as in other countries of East, Northeast and South Africa.

What do hyenas eat?

brown and striped hyenas usually hunt alone and are primarily scavengers, occasionally feeding on eggs, invertebrates, or small vertebrates. Spotted hyenas often go out in search of prey in small groups and take prey from,. Often they themselves arrange hunting for rodents, birds, young, and even. In addition, these predators are not averse to eating pets (for example,). Sometimes spotted hyenas attack buffaloes, and having strayed into a large flock, they are able to kill this large animal. In the hungry season, spotted hyenas can be content with carrion: the corpses of small and large animals, including marine ones, as well as food waste. In addition, the menu of all members of the family, except for earthen wolves, also includes plant foods. Hyenas willingly eat nuts and seeds of plants, as well as gourds - watermelons, melons, fruits from the pumpkin family.

Unlike other species, the earthwolf never feeds on the corpses of dead animals. The basis of its diet is termites, dead-eating beetles, insect larvae. When the opportunity arises, he catches small rodents, destroys bird nests and eats not only eggs, but also the birds themselves.

How do hyenas hunt?

Not so long ago, hyenas were considered exclusively scavengers, but, as it turned out, erroneously. As a result of numerous observations of these animals, it was found that in almost 90% of cases, predators kill their prey. This is especially true for spotted hyenas, which drive the selected prey in a flock, reaching speeds of up to 65 kilometers per hour and keeping this figure at a distance of up to 5 kilometers. Such sprinting abilities make hyenas very dexterous and successful hunters, so almost all chases end successfully. A flock of hyenas can easily catch any animal - from a small wildebeest to a large buffalo and a young giraffe. For comparison: maximum speed the lion reaches 80 kilometers per hour, but he develops it very rarely, with great difficulty and not for long. On average, the running speed of a lion is 50 km / h.

Contrary to popular belief, very often not only hyenas try to take prey from lions, but the lions themselves are not averse to feasting on an already defeated and caught victim. True, in a lone lion, such attempts usually end in complete failure, especially if there are a lot of hyenas. They boldly attack the lion when he tries to take possession of their prey. By the way, among all predators, only a flock of hyenas can give a worthy rebuff to the formidable king of beasts. Old or sick lions often become victims of hyenas: in a matter of minutes, a dozen hyenas tear the lion apart, eating it along with the skin and bones. However, there are times when several lionesses or a large male lion drive away a whole clan of hyenas from prey, and sometimes kill them or helpless cubs.

Hyena classification, list and names

Today, from the once large species diversity of the hyena family, only 4 species remain, the differences between which made it possible to divide the family into 3 genera. Two of them were combined into the Hyaeninae subfamily of striped hyenas, and the earthen wolves were identified into the Protelinae subfamily.

The hyena family (lat. Hyaenidae) includes:

  1. Genus Hyaena (Brisson, 1762)
    • View Hyaena brunnea(Thunberg, 1820) – Brown hyena
    • View Hyaena hyaena(Linnaeus, 1758) - Striped hyena
  2. Genus Crocuta (Kaup, 1828)
    • View Crocuta crocuta(Erxleben, 1777) - Spotted hyena
  3. Genus Proteles (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1824)
    • View Proteles cristata(Sparrman, 1783) - Dirtwolf

Types of hyenas, photos and names

Below is a brief description of the varieties of hyenas.

  • striped hyena ( Hyaena hyaena)

A rather large animal with a body length of 0.9 to 1.2-1.5 meters and a height at the withers up to 0.8 m. The tail is about 30 cm long. Males are much larger than females, therefore, depending on gender, the hyena weighs from 27 to 54 (sometimes 60) kg. Thanks to a special mane of coarse hair, the length of which sometimes reaches 30 cm, the height of the scapular region becomes more pronounced. The coat is about 7 cm long, dirty gray or brown-yellow in color with black or brown stripes running across the body. The characteristic structure of the paws of the striped hyena becomes especially noticeable while walking, which makes it seem that the animal is dragging the back of the body. The fingers on the front and hind limbs are tightly connected. The head of the striped hyena is large, with a slightly elongated muzzle and wide pointed ears of large size. 34 teeth, which are located in wide jaws, driven by powerful muscles, allow you to tear meat and bones into pieces. The striped hyena lives in clay deserts or rocky foothills. It comes out in search of prey at night and twilight hours, and during the day it sits in crevices, abandoned burrows or caves. Striped hyenas are the only members of the family that can live in areas that are not on the African continent. The habitat of this species includes the countries of North Africa, as well as spaces located south of the Sahara. These animals are found in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, India and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

  • Brown hyena ( Hyaena brunnea)

This species differs from the striped hyena in its more modest size. The body length of these animals rarely exceeds 1.1 - 1.25 m (according to some sources, the maximum length reaches 1.6 m). The height at the withers is 70–88 cm. The sizes of males and females are practically the same, although the weight of males is slightly larger and can exceed 48 kg, while the body weight of females barely reaches 40 kg. A light mane up to 30 cm long, hanging from the neck along the entire spine of these hyenas, looks in contrast to the shaggy, monophonic, brown-brown coat, which is slightly longer than that of the striped relatives. characteristic feature of this species is the gray color of the head and legs, and horizontal stripes of a whitish color are clearly visible on the legs. The neck and shoulders are painted white. The size of the skull of brown hyenas is larger than the skull of striped hyenas, and the teeth are more durable. Below the base of the tail in these animals is the anal gland, which produces secretions of black and white color. With its help, the animal marks the boundaries of its territory. Brown hyenas live in desert and semi-desert areas, are found in savannahs and forests, but most of the populations are tied to coastal areas. The habitat of the brown hyena includes Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique, Tanzania and Somalia, as well as other African countries located south of the current the Zambezi River along the coasts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. These animals come out in search of food after dark.

  • spotted hyena ( Crocuta crocuta)

Wild animal of the genus Crocuta. Spotted hyenas are the most typical representatives of the whole family. This is expressed in the characteristic structure of the body of the animal and its habits. The body length with a tail can reach 1.6 m (according to some sources, 1.85 m), the height at the withers is up to 80 cm. The weight of female hyenas ranges from 44.5 kg to 82 kg, males are much lighter and weigh from 40 kg to 62 kg. Yellowish-gray or sandy coat, decorated with rounded dark brown or black spots on the sides, back and limbs, shorter than that of relatives. Depending on the habitat, the color of the body can change from lighter to darker tones. The coat on the head is brown, with a reddish tinge on the cheeks and nape. On pretty short tail with a dark tip, brown rings are clearly visible. On the front and hind limbs of a mammal there may be light "socks". Unlike representatives of other species, spotted hyenas have shorter ears and their tips are rounded. These hyenas have the largest "repertoire" of vocal communication, allowing them to express various emotions. Spotted hyenas live in the savannahs and on the elevated plateaus of Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana and other countries of South or East Africa. Spotted hyenas are most active at night, although they can prowl in search of prey during the day. social organization clans in spotted hyenas is based on the dominance of females, so even high-ranking males obey low-ranking females.

  • Earthwolf (Proteles cristatus )

The smallest species of the hyena family. Unlike spotted and striped hyenas, earthwolves have a more delicate physique. The body length of these animals reaches 55-100 cm with a height at the withers of up to 50 cm, and the weight of individuals is 8-14 kg. Like all hyenas, the hind limbs of the earthen wolves are shorter than the front ones, but the slope of the back is not so pronounced. The head of these animals is slightly elongated and resembles a dog in appearance. On the coat, which is colored yellowish-gray or reddish, black transverse stripes. The same stripes are visible on the legs of the animal. A long hanging mane, running along the entire ridge, at the moment of danger takes a vertical position and visually increases the size of this small predator. The jaws of earthwolves are much weaker than those of other species, which is due to the diet of the wolf, which feeds on termites and other insects and their larvae, such as dead beetles. In these representatives of the hyenas, the only ones from the whole family, the forelimbs have five fingers. Earthwolves live in most countries of East, Northeast and South Africa, absent only in tropical forests Tanzania and Zambia, which makes the distribution area of ​​this species broken. These predators prefer to settle in places where there are open sandy plains and thickets of bushes. In search of food, they go at twilight and night hours, and during the day they sit out in abandoned burrows, although they are able to dig their own shelters.

An extinct species of hyena

Pachycrocuta brevirostris is an extinct species of hyena. Judging by the fossil bones found in Eurasia, eastern and southern Africa, these hyenas were real giants. The average weight of the predator was about 110 kg, and the size of the animal can be compared with the size of a modern lioness. Perhaps the representatives of the species were scavengers, since with such impressive dimensions it was not easy to develop high speed for hunting.

Hyena breeding

Depending on the species, there are some differences in the reproduction of hyenas.

At striped hyenas living in the northern part of the range and on the Eurasian continent, the mating season lasts from January to the end of February, and in populations living in Africa, it has no seasonal reference. Hyenas form stable pairs that can exist for quite a long time. The hyena's gestation period lasts 3 months, after which from 1 to 4 blind and toothless cubs are born. Babies' eyes open on the seventh or eighth day of life. Not only the mother, but also the father is engaged in the upbringing of the younger generation. The family usually consists of a pair of adults and grown offspring, which remain with their parents until the age of one. Such families live both in isolation from relatives and form communities of several groups. Striped hyenas reach puberty by 2-3, and sometimes only by the 4th year of life.

females brown hyenas able to produce offspring already in the 2nd or 3rd year of life. Their mating season begins in May and ends at the end of July. Due to the peculiarities of the clan structure, only dominant females mate with the leader of the clan or with lone males in the pack, however, if several females become pregnant in the pack, they will help each other in nursing offspring. Around the ninetieth day of pregnancy, females are allowed to litter. It can have from 1 to 5 puppies, whose weight reaches 1 kg. Their fur is gray in color with dark stripes. In the first few days, newborn hyenas are blind and open their eyes only after a week. The mother is mainly engaged in the upbringing of the growing offspring, although all members of the flock bring food to the babies. Breastfeeding lasts up to 12 months.

Unlike other species, the device of the tribal clan in spotted hyenas based on the dominance of the dominant female. Males act as guards of the flock boundaries, serve for fertilization and food production. Females are able to breed throughout the year. After 14-15 weeks of pregnancy, the female hyena brings offspring, which can be from 1-3 to 7 babies. The weight of puppies sometimes exceeds 1.5 kilograms. It is noteworthy that newborn spotted hyenas are born fully sighted and with rather sharp teeth. The fur cover of babies is monophonic, devoid of characteristic spots. Mother's milk is very nutritious, so after one feeding, the cubs do not feel hunger for a week. Unlike brown hyenas, this species supplies food only to its offspring.

earth wolves, like striped hyenas, create stable monogamous pairs. In rare cases, when the male is not able to defend the territory in which the family lives, the female earthwolf may mate with a stronger individual, although the offspring will be raised by the main partner. The mating season lasts from late June to early July. Pregnancy lasts about 90 days, after which the female is allowed 2-4 puppies.

Baby earthwolves are born sighted but toothless. For the first three months, the father of the family carefully guards his territory from predators. Puppies, whose age has reached 12 weeks, begin to accompany their parents in search of food. Upon reaching the age of four months, the cubs are weaned from breastfeeding and switch to self-catering, although they continue to stay with their parents throughout the year. These animals reach puberty in the second year of life.

Regardless of the species, the birth of a hyena is quite difficult, which is due to the peculiarities anatomical structure their genitals, and last about 12 hours. There are frequent cases of the death of a mother weakened by childbirth, which can be attacked. Most cubs die immediately after birth. The fact is that due to the increase in testosterone in pregnant females, the cubs receive a very large dose of this male hormone and become extremely aggressive immediately after birth. They fight, bite and very often kill each other. After a while, the puppies' testosterone levels decrease and they become more peaceful.

By the way, hyenas are extremely caring mothers who feed their cubs with milk from 4 months (in earthen wolves) to 12-16 months (in other species). Moreover, unlike lion prides, in clans and families of hyenas, females make sure that babies are fed up with prey first, and only then they let adult males approach it. Scientists believe that it is for this reason that females are more aggressive than males, because they have to take care of their offspring.

Brown or coastal hyena shorter than its closest relative spotted hyena, and is also distinguished by the presence of a long, coarse mane, painted brown without spots, which hangs from the back to the sides. The species is distributed in the deserts of southern Africa, and prefers to live in areas close to the coastline. It feeds on carrion and marine debris. This is the largest land animal, which is characterized by such a diet. The females and males of the species look the same. Brown hyenas live in groups of 4 to 15 individuals, led by males.


In length, brown hyenas reach from 86 to 150 cm, the average body length of the species is 110-125 cm. Height is 71-88 cm, tail is 25 to 35 cm long. Sexual dimorphism is generally not pronounced, sometimes males can exceed females in size . The weight of adult males is in the range of 40-44 kg, females weigh a little less - from 37 to 41 kg. Brown hyenas have long and shaggy hair, especially in the tail and back. It is painted mainly in a dark brown color of the body with a gray head. Paws are gray in color, decorated with dark horizontal stripes. The neck and back of the animal are covered with hair up to 30 cm long. The brown hyena has very powerful jaws: a young animal is able to crush the bones of the legs, but with age, the teeth noticeably wear out and this ability is lost. In addition, animals have a special anal gland, which is located at the base of their tails and secretes black and white secret. These hyena secretions are applied to the grass to mark the boundaries of the areas on which they live.


The brown hyena in its diet is a typical scavenger. The diet of the animal includes mainly the corpses of animals that were killed by large predators, and this food is supplemented by rodents, insects, eggs and fruits. As a scavenger, the brown hyena behaves very aggressively, it often appropriates the corpses of the victims of such predators as the black-backed jackal, cheetah and leopard. This animal is recognized as the most carnivorous in the barren desert regions of the Namib and Kalahari. In the absence of a sufficient amount of carrion, the brown hyena turns to vegetables, fruits, marine organisms, ostrich eggs, insects, if necessary, it is also able to hunt birds, lizards, small mammals and even poultry. Occasionally able to attack such big booty like a young antelope. During the rainy season, when zebras and antelopes roam the deserts, the main source of food for the brown hyena is the remains of the prey of the leopard, lion and cheetah. During the dry season, brown hyenas get the necessary moisture from cucumbers and melons, the rest of the time they drink rainwater, which accumulates in temporary reservoirs.


The species is widespread in the Namib and Kalahari deserts, in the central regions of the African continent south of the Sahara, in countries such as Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and southern Angola.


In general, sexual dimorphism in this species is not manifested in any way. Sometimes males are larger than females.


For life, the brown hyena prefers clay deserts, where there are ravines, desert foothill areas with caves and gorges, and shores. major rivers. The animal arranges its lairs in the depths of caves under sheds, among stones, sometimes in shallow burrows of other animal species.

The brown hyena is characterized by a pronounced social hierarchy, which resembles the state of affairs among wolves. In general, it is a social animal that lives in groups that consist of adults (male and female) and young animals related to them, although sometimes there are families in which there are several adults of both sexes. In such cases, there is always one dominant male leader. Young males, upon reaching puberty, move from their native family to other clans. The brown hyena maintains the stability of such a hierarchy by various fights and shows of force.

Brown hyenas feed mostly alone, but the hunting paths of the group are always common. In general, family groups stay together inside. Older hyenas help in guarding the younger hyenas, emitting alarms when predators approach or any other threats. Males easily leave their group and move to another. Approximately one third of all adult males lead a solitary wandering lifestyle.


At the age of about 2 years, female brown hyenas reach puberty and after the first estrus they give birth to cubs. Mating occurs mainly from May to August, and the gestation lasts about 100 days. Female brown hyenas mate either with stray lone males or with the leaders of their family groups. If there are other adult males in the clan, except for the leader, they do not take part in mating, but help to raise offspring.

Females give birth in burrows that are hidden in the sand dunes, and are far from the habitats of the spotted hyena and lion. Every 20 months, females breed offspring. If two broods are born in one group at the same time, then the mothers raise each other's cubs. There are usually 1 to 5 babies in a litter, which weigh about 1 kg. They are born, unlike the cubs of the spotted hyena, with their eyes closed, which open after 8 days. Aged three months the young come out of the burrows. Until this time, babies are fed by all members of the flock. Up to 14 months, young individuals remain close to their mother in their group, after which they can leave her.


The brown hyena population is currently stable. Its main natural enemies are the lion and the common hyena. And the main threat is persecution by people, as farmers often classify the species as a pest due to attacks on livestock and destroy it for this reason, although in fact such hunting is not typical for hyenas. They contain and preserve the species in many reserves and reserves.


  • The brown hyena leads a rather secluded lifestyle, the period of animal activity falls at night. Despite having very keen vision and hearing, the animal is much more inclined to navigate in the environment by smell.
  • Brown hyenas make a wide variety of sounds. Most often their voices are heard in the deserts at dusk and at night. When hyenas quarrel with each other, for example, over food, you can hear how they whine, growl and howl.

brown hyaena

Prague Zoo (Zoological Garden Prague)
Berlin Tierpark Friedrichsfelde (Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde)


Getting acquainted with the Prague Zoo, one cannot but pay attention to a couple of new enclosures in its northern part. The area of ​​the forest, bounded by a dry moat, is intended for keeping and exhibiting brown hyenas. Animals settled here in 2008. Thus, then the conditions for keeping a group of brown hyenas in Prague were improved, where there were cases of breeding of unique animals. But I arrived at the zoo at the beginning of April, to my great regret the enclosures were still empty, since the animals were in the winter room. In vain I peered into the hidden corners of the enclosures for several days, there were no hyenas here. Brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea), Prague Zoo

brown hyaena

And yet I was lucky! On the morning of the last, sixth day, I found several keepers on duty around the perimeter of the enclosures - the hyenas were released into the fresh air for the first time after wintering, and the zoo workers monitored the behavior of the animals. But the secretive, unusually shy hyenas, leading a nocturnal lifestyle in nature, did not at all strive to show themselves to others. One of the hyenas was very close - hiding in a dark lair, sometimes looking around, for which it cautiously looked out of its shelter. This is her in the first picture. Several times during the day I approached the enclosures, asked the keepers where the animals were now, whether they had been seen for a long time. And only at the very end of the day I was rewarded - one of the hyenas left her hole and trotted along the path to another. Sometimes the animal would stop and look back, and at that time I was in a hurry to photograph it.


Two days earlier, in the zoo Dvur-Králové, I also met a brown hyena - the animal was sleeping in the center of a spacious enclosure, fenced with high windows. Sometimes the hyena raised its head, but nothing but a pair of ears then got into the frame for me. Brown hyenas have been living in Dvura for more than ten years, but there have been no cases of breeding here.
For the first time, I saw a brown hyena in one of the cages of the Brema House in the Berlin Tierpark back in 2007. And already in next year I was glad that the hyenas were moved to one of the enclosures opposite the elephant house. During the day, this enclosure is always empty, but early in the morning or late in the evening, its resident can be found here. True, the brown hyena, at my approach, tried to quickly disappear into the shelter. She is in the last picture in this post.
Brown hyenas have lived in Tierpark since 1998, until they bred.


If I'm not mistaken, brown hyenas are now kept in only seven zoos in Europe, in addition, they are in the San Diego Zoo. Unlike their close relatives, striped hyenas, and even spotted ones, these take root more difficult in captivity. Breeding cases are rare. It was all the more pleasant for me to see now that a pair of hyenas, brought from Prague to the British Wild Animal Park in Kent, this year brought three babies for the first time in the UK.
The situation with the number of brown hyenas in nature is also bad. They are distributed in the southern and southwestern regions of Africa, in many parts of their range they are practically exterminated. Animals suffer from farmers because of notoriety, although in reality, brown hyenas are scavengers.
These hyenas are also called coastal wolves - exploring the sea coasts, animals collect a variety of animal food, which is thrown out by the waves. It can be the carcass of a pinniped, and fish, and shellfish. In the desert regions of Africa, hyenas eat up the prey of lions, they themselves find the corpses of ungulates. In addition, hyenas sometimes catch small live prey and destroy bird nests. Very fond of juicy sweet fruits. Can go longer than other predators without fresh water.

Brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea), Berlin Tierpark

People have always disliked hyenas, considering them ugly, cowardly and sinister creatures. However, these accusations are unfair. In fact, hyenas are unusually interesting and intelligent animals with an amazing social organization.

Hyenas (Huaenidae) are a predator family of mammals. They are distributed in the semi-deserts, steppes and savannas of Africa, Arabia, India and Western Asia.

The family unites only 4 species of hyenas in 4 genera. Let's get to know them better.

Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena)

This species is found in North Africa, on the Arabian Peninsula and in the border regions of Asia.

The hair of the striped hyena is long, from light gray to beige. On the body there are from 5 to 9 vertical stripes, on the throat there is a black spot.

Brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea)

Brown (coastal) hyena is common in South Africa and in southern Angola. Most often it can be found along west coast Namibia. Inhabits semi-deserts and open savannahs. It avoids those places where its brothers hunt - spotted hyenas, since the latter are much larger and stronger.

The coat is shaggy, black-brown in color, while the neck and shoulders are lighter. The limbs have white horizontal stripes.

Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

Found in sub-Saharan Africa except in the rainforests of the Congo Basin and the extreme south.

The coat is short, sandy, red or brown. There are dark spots on the back, sides, sacrum and limbs.

In this species, the external genitalia of males and females are difficult to distinguish, hence the myth that these animals are hermaphrodites.

Earthwolf (Proteles cristatus)

The earthen wolf, classified as a hyena, lives in South and East Africa.

It feeds exclusively on insects, licking them from the ground with a long, wide tongue. More information about this species can be found in the article.

External Features

Outwardly, hyenas resemble dogs with a large head and a powerful body. Distinctive features are long forelimbs, a relatively long neck and a hanging back.

The body length of animals, depending on the species, is 0.9-1.8 meters, weight - 8-60 kg. The smallest species is the earth wolf, the largest is the spotted hyena.

The structure of the body eloquently speaks of adaptability to feeding on carrion. The front of the body is more powerful than the back, which is why the hyena has a characteristic sloping back. With elongated forelimbs, the beast tightly presses the carcass to the ground. Strong jaws and teeth, as well as powerful chewing and neck muscles, help the animal, like a secateurs, cut meat and crush bones, extracting a nutritious brain from them.

Lifestyle

Hyenas are active mainly at dusk and at night. Very strong jaws and teeth, an efficient digestive system, and the ability to travel long distances all make hyenas successful scavengers.

Food and hunting

The carcasses of dead animals form the basis of the diet of brown and striped hyenas. They supplement their menu with invertebrates, wild fruits, eggs, and occasionally small animals that they manage to kill.

Spotted hyenas are not only effective scavengers, but also good hunters. They are capable of chasing prey at a speed of 60 km/h, while covering a distance of up to 3 km. They usually hunt young large antelopes (oryx, wildebeest). They can cope with an adult zebra, and often with a buffalo.

Spotted hyenas often hide food in silty water bodies. If they are hungry, they return to their hiding places.

Hyenas have an unusually well-developed sense of smell: they can smell the smell of decaying meat located a few kilometers away.

Earthwolves in terms of nutrition are fundamentally different from their relatives. The basis of their diet is termites and insect larvae.

Interestingly, termites try to defend themselves by splashing with a burning substance, but there is no control over the earthen wolf. Its bare nose is so dense that insects cannot bite through it.

Brown hyenas prefer to hunt alone; their spotted relatives often form groups.

Since carrion is easy to find by smell, brown hyenas do not need to search for food in common. In addition, the amount of food that they get is usually only enough for one individual, so the collective search for food would lead to competition between individuals.

The collective hunting strategy of spotted hyenas can be explained by the greater likelihood of success when the efforts of group members are combined. In addition, a large victim, which they can get together, allows you to feed many animals at the same time.

In the photo: spotted hyenas gathered near the carcass of an antelope. Group eating is often accompanied by very loud noise, but rarely by serious contractions. Each animal can eat up to 15 kg of meat in one sitting!

Family life

All types of hyenas, except for the earthen wolf, live in groups (clans). Clan members occupy a common territory and jointly protect it from neighbors.

The spotted hyena clan is dominated by females, and even the highest-ranking males are subordinate to the lowest-ranking females. Males leave their native clan, being on the threshold of maturity. They join a new group and gradually rise up the hierarchical ladder in order to gain the right to participate in reproduction. Females tend to remain in the maternal clan and inherit their mother's rank.

In brown hyenas, clans are built somewhat differently. Some males and females leave their home group during adolescence, others remain in it for a long time, sometimes for life. Males who have left their native family join another clan or lead a wandering lifestyle.

Clan sizes vary different types, and within the same species, depending on environmental conditions. The most numerous families are usually in spotted hyenas: they sometimes have more than 80 individuals.

In brown hyenas, a clan can only consist of a female and her cubs of the last litter.

The size of the territory occupied by the clan also varies considerably, but it is usually determined by the abundance of food resources. For example, in the Ngorongoro Crater, wildebeest and zebra population density allows a large clan to exist in a small area. And in the arid climate of the Kalahari, where hyenas often have to cover a distance of 50 km in search of prey, the territory occupied by the group is much larger.

Communication

The social systems of hyenas are extremely complex.

First, animals have an effective system of communication at a distance using smells. Distinctive feature of all hyenas is the presence of an anal sac, which they use for a unique type of scent marking. It's called "smearing". Striped and spotted hyenas produce a thick sticky secret of one species, their brown relatives produce a fat white secret and a secret in the form of a black sticky mass. The animal touches the grass stalk with its anal gland and passes it along the stalk, moving forward, leaving a mark. There can be up to 15 thousand marked points on one site, so border violators immediately understand that the owner is in place.

Secondly, hyenas perform elaborate greeting ceremonies. During such a ritual, in brown and striped species, the hair on the back stands on end, the animals sniff each other's head, body and anal sac. Then there is a ritual fight, during which the dominant individual often bites, holds and shakes the neck and throat of the animal that occupies a subordinate position. In spotted hyenas, the ceremony involves mutual sniffing and licking of the genital area.

What sounds do hyenas make?

Hyenas hoot, shrill screams and strange giggling sounds. Signals perceived by a person as hooting are transmitted over several kilometers. With the help of them, hyenas communicate over a long distance. Animals repeat such signals several times, which helps to establish their location, and the signal of each individual has individual characteristics.

Some of the acoustic signals emitted by hyenas can only be heard by a person with the help of an amplifier and headphones.

Procreation and raising offspring

There is no specific breeding season for hyenas. Females do not mate with related males, which avoids degeneration. Numerous males roam the deserts and savannahs alone. Having met the female during her short estrus, the male fertilizes her, and she returns to her family. Pregnancy lasts approximately 90 days, after which 1 to 5 babies are born.

Unlike other predatory mammals, in spotted hyenas, cubs are born sighted and with teeth already erupted. Babies of the same litter are involved in aggressive interactions almost from birth, as a result, a clear hierarchy quickly develops between them, and this allows the dominant cub to control access to mother's milk. Sometimes aggression leads to the death of his weaker counterpart.

Hyenas of all kinds keep their cubs in shelters, which are a system of underground burrows. Here, young individuals can stay up to 18 months. Females of the same clan usually keep their young in a large common burrow.

Different types of hyenas raise their children in different ways. Spotted ones begin to feed them with meat only from the age of nine months, when the younger generation is already able to accompany their mother on the hunt. Up to this point, they are completely dependent on mother's milk.

Brown hyenas also feed their offspring with milk for more than a year, but from the age of three months the diet of the cubs is supplemented with food brought to the shelter by parents and other members of the clan.

Pictured is a spotted hyena with a cub.

All members of the family union take part in the upbringing of the younger generation.

hyena and man

There are no endangered species among hyenas, however, several populations are threatened. And the fault of everything is persecution by a person caused by prejudice and negative attitude to these animals. In North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, striped hyenas are considered grave defilers. The disgust of people towards them reaches such an extent that they are poisoned with poisons and caught in traps.

The fact that hyenas eat carrion also pushes people away from them. However, do not forget that brown and striped hyenas are actually a natural waste processing system.

The fate of brown hyenas is not as sad as striped hyenas, because in the southern part of their African habitat, farmers are gradually changing their attitude towards them. This species is also protected in a number of reserves and national parks.

The spotted hyena often comes into conflict with the local population, as it attacks livestock. The status of this species is defined by the IUCN as "Low Threat: Needs Protection". However, this species is fairly common in many large national parks and other protected areas in East and South Africa.

The status of other species is “Low Threat: Not of Concern”.

In contact with