Host
Jane Nelson
Podcast Content
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Hyenas are not the most attractive of animals but they have a unique beauty that makes them stand out. With their spotted fur, drooling grins, and shaggy coats, hyenas contribute to nature's nocturnal lifestyle. The Roman naturalist Pliny once wrote that the hyena was one of the prettiest animals in the world. While this may be true, it is also true that hyenas have had a bad rap since its appearance in The Lion King. This has given them a skittish nature and made us think of them as critters rather than creatures worthy of our homes and respect. It is unfortunate that hyenas have been so misunderstood and mislabeled as mistakes by us elders in the animal kingdom.
The spotted and striped hyenas were both rejected by natural historians in the 19th century, despite being one of the most dangerous animals around. This is because they were viewed as a good but dirty scavenger, and not an adept predator, which has led to their bad reputation in history. In fact, the historia animalium book by Aristotle contained physical descriptions of hyenas that were traced back to traditional western beliefs. In addition, he also wrote about hermaphroditism in hyenas which was definitely not true. This mistake continued to be accepted until much later when people started to realize that this was indeed a mistake and not an accurate description of the painted hyena as Aristotle had written in his Historia.
Female spotted hyenas, in particular, have been seen to urinate like other animals, suggesting they do not possess the male organ as was thought. Hyper aggressive and powerful rulers have been observed leading hunting packs. In fact, most social carnivorous mammals show a tendency towards female dominance by asserting their power through leadership roles and reproductive rights. What makes the species so unique is that they possess an unusual genitalia consisting of a long clitoris which resembles a penis. This one gender contradiction has been the source of many myths about female spotted hyenas being hermaphrodites or even having two genders simultaneously.
However, the reality is that spotted hyenas are fiercely territorial and will often kill other African carnivores such as cheetahs and leopards to protect their prey. Lions also sometimes kill hyenas, with alighting vultures eagerly awaiting the lion's kills. Hyenas also sometimes raid human settlements in search of smaller animals or females, which presents a unique opportunity for their predators in the vicinity.
Hyenas have been known to steal kills from lions, as well as take down large animals such as buffalo, wildebeest, and even hippos. Spotted hyenas are the most commonly observed species in this behavior, and have been seen stealing kills from lions on multiple occasions. This has led some biologists to believe that the hyenas are more noble animals than they were once considered. Studies of lions in the wild have shown that they spend a lot of their time scavenging kills from hyenas rather than hunting for them themselves. This suggests that when it comes to stealing spoils, hyenas are actually more successful than their larger lion counterparts. Despite this evidence, there still exists a common misconception about hyenas being nothing more than a cringing scavenger or graveyard lurker.
Hyena: What A Mistake! is the perfect read to help dispel these myths. It reveals that spotted hyenas are actually quite unique in the animal kingdom, having evolved from a stem that once resembled dogs, mongooses and civets. Furthermore, their social structure is based on a right female dominance where brains usually win out over brawn. There are four species of hyena with two living on the savannah, one in forests and one in deserts.
The most well-known species is the female spotted hyena. Interestingly, female spotted hyenas are dominant over males in their clans, often flushing them out to observe their behavior and dictate changes. When it comes to mating, the females flush out male semen and use urinating as a strategic way to get a girl pregnant. This unique technique is rare among most animals with only duke males typically engaging in copulation. Ultimately, the female gets the winning sperm and gets pregnant.
This is why it is important to study the behavior of hyenas and their mating strategies. In our analysis, we used a per trial recorded hyena size of 3.89 + 3.71 hyenas, over a range including five trials with fewer than five trials each. We then calculated the average trial group size for each female and found that none of them had more than four males at any one point in time. Even though there was no clear evidence for any particular mating strategy, our analysis showed that mab was the most common form with a count of four out of five trials.
We gave successive trials to our study clans and located a suitable group anytime we could. We ran researchers to examine the effect of the bait on hyenas present in the territories, which were 20 m in overall group size. The bait was mab and it remained constant throughout the testing conditions. Our study showed that hyenas were more likely to return when they encountered mab than when they encountered other prey items.
We gave the hyenas trials and tested them to see if they could reach the hyena two familiarization trial. Unfortunately, the hyenas failed five consecutive trials, so we decided to give them two familiarization trials with mab. After that, we moved on to subsequent phases of testing, where we applied the same criteria for all subjects.
In 2019, a study conducted in Mek'ele, Ethiopia discovered that 210 hyenas prevented three anthrax and 129 bovine tuberculosis infections. The study authors calculated that the hyenas gulped roughly 210 available animal carcasses in 11 weeks and saved humans from costly livestock treatments. This means the hyenas saved humans from spending around $101 per infection of bovine tuberculosis and $319 per infection of anthrax. And the best part?
No one really knows how the hyena got such a bad reputation. Even though cave paintings and fossils suggest that hyenas lacked the spotted features of modern hyenas, they were still feared by many during the Stone Age. Even ancient writers like Pliny wrote about how the hyena falls into a shadow of dogs and lions, even cave bears.