HYENA THE AFRICAN THIEF

THE INTRODUCTION:

Let me introduce you with the two species of hyena found in Southern Africa. The spotted hyena and the smaller brown hyena. The spotted hyena is the most common species. Brown hyenas are only found in extremely arid areas like Kalahari, and are an endangered species. Here we discuss the spotted hyena.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hyenas looks like a large, powerfully-built dog, the spotted hyena has a large broad head, short pale brown-grey wiry coat scattered with dark spots, rounded ears, and its slanting back is a result of its extremely powerful forequarters.They are one of the noisiest animals and they have distinctive whooping,they whoop especially at night.Their eerie call begins with low pitch,rising sharply to a high pitched scream.

SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT HYENA

African tribes people are highly superstitious about spotted hyenas.Some people believes that they are associated with witches,who ride on a hyena at night.Others believes that their tail,whiskers and ears have special properties,so they are highly valued by witch-doctors.

BREEDING IN HYENAS:

Cubs are born throughout the year,and the normal litter size is 2. The female will give birth in a disused den (mines they made to give birth their offsprings), where the cubs stay for the first 2 weeks,before being moved to the communal den (where the whole clan lives)
Cubs are almost black in colour when young, and develop their spots later by the passage of time their colour fades and their spots became prominant.
The females in the clan have to protect the young cubs from the males, who eat the cubs if the cubs are left
unprotected.
Males disperse before reaching maturity,males do not stays with the clan for lifetime but female offspring will stay with the clan for the whole life.

SPECIALITIES OF HYENAS

They prefer to feed on the remains of carcasses rather than catch a fresh kill,they hunt only as a last resort when
desperate for food.
Hyenas run very fast,they can reach the speed of up to 50kilometers when they are chasing a prey, and they can maintain this speed for a distance of up to 5kilometers.

Amazingly, they have learnt to follow vehicles, mostly watched in private game reserves,as they associate the vehicles with larger
predators such as lion and leopard, which represent possible food resource.

DIET OF HYENAS:

Their have powerful jaws and teeth mean that they can eat the bones, pieces of horn and even hooves left by other
carnivores, although later on undigested food (mainly hair, horn and hooves) is regorged.
Their wastes are normally pure white, as a result of the amount of calcium that they consumed in their diet.
If they do some action and catch a fresh kill,the clan will waste little time in devouring the carcass.
They will also eat birds, small mammals, insects, fish, reptiles and fruit, and scavenge from human settlements.

CLAN OF HYENAS:

They are highly sociable animals,they live in communal dens in territorial clans of aproximately of 12 members, although their
clans can reach up to 80 in size.

As the female is the larger of the species, the clan is matriarchal, and the adult males are dominated by the adult females.

WAY OF HUNTING

They are commonly found around wide savanna habitat,they prefers to rest in the den or shade during the hotter hours of the day.

They have excellent developed senses of smell and hearing,and amazing night vision.During a night time hunt, they
can travel up to 80kilometers, moving at a steady walk or easy jog.