Hyena clearing the savannah of carrion. Hyenas are the laughing orderlies of the African expanses... Brown hyena population
The brown hyena, also called the brown hyena, lives in central Africa, mostly in the Kalahari and Namib deserts. Their range stretches from the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe to Namibia and southern Angola. In South Africa brown hyenas almost completely destroyed, with the exception of the Cape Province and the Transvaal.
Features of the appearance of the brown hyena
Brown hyenas are significantly smaller than spotted hyenas - the body length is 71-82 centimeters, plus a tail 25-30 centimeters long. Average weight varies from 25 to 35 kilograms, and the maximum body weight is 39 kilograms. Males are slightly heavier than females.
In isolated areas - the provinces of Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape - exceptionally large individuals weighing about 70 kilograms were found.
This species has the typical characteristics of the family external signs: reverse tilt of the body, large head, long and strong legs. The head is wide, the ears are narrow, the teeth are large. The front legs are much better developed than the hind legs. The claws on the fingers do not retract.
The brown hyena's mane is very long, not erect and shaggy, it runs along the back and hangs down the sides of the body. The color of the mane is much lighter than the rest of the body. Plain wool Brown, and the stripes are located only on the legs. The lower part of the body is lighter. The tail is shaggy.
The anus has odorous glands, from which a secretion is secreted. unpleasant smell That's why hyenas smell bad.
Brown Hyena Habitat
This species is endemic to the arid and barren regions of southern Africa. Although the range of brown hyenas has declined significantly in Lately, they are still quite numerous in southern Africa. They have learned to survive close to humans.
Brown hyenas mainly live in barren savannas, but they also live in deserts. Brown hyenas prefer semi-deserts, savannah and wooded areas. They hunt and hide in rocky areas.
Lifestyle of brown hyenas
These are fairly solitary animals that are active mainly at night.
Although brown hyenas excellent hearing and vision, most often they rely on an acute sense of smell, with which they detect carrion and other prey. Having sensed prey, the hyena quickly runs, covering a considerable distance in order to arrive at the place first than other scavengers.
During the dry season, brown hyenas actively search for food; they hunt for about 10 hours, while walking 30-50 kilometers per day.
Fortunately, during the rainy season there is more food, so hyenas do not have to travel as much.
Brown hyenas live in clans, but they hunt alone. Most of groups are closely related, but migrating males sometimes join the clan. Relations within the clan are more peaceful than among other hyenas, and the cubs are not as aggressive towards each other. Older pups even guard their younger counterparts and make alarming sounds when a predator approaches their den.
Females mate with migrating males. Females and some males remain with the clan even after maturation, which occurs at 2.5 years. But most often, males leave their clan and join someone else’s, or constantly migrate.
The meeting of brown hyenas takes place in the den; when the hyenas are outside the den, they are solitary. Individuals obtain food alone and can only gather in groups of several near a large carcass.
Young individuals rest near the den and play, while grabbing each other's manes with their teeth. These games are so tough that all the cubs have numerous scars on their necks.
IN conflict situations hyenas raise their manes on their backs and necks. Brown hyenas have overly developed chemical communication. There are scent marks throughout the clan's territory. Each individual has a unique smell, so other hyenas are able to identify each other. Brown hyenas have two types of odorous secretions. One has a short effect, it disappears after a few hours; with the help of this secretion, hyenas find out where the individual obtained food. The second secret has a persistent aroma that does not fade over the course of a month, with the help of which the hyena strengthens its position in the clan.
The coastal hyena is the largest land animal whose diet consists primarily of carrion. Brown hyenas, like spotted hyenas, are very vocal, but unlike their brothers they do not make laughing sounds. The brown hyena is most often heard at night. When individuals quarrel over food, they growl, whine and howl.
Listen to the voice of the brown hyena
Natural enemies brown hyenas are lions and common hyenas.
Brown hyena feeding
In the Namib and Kalahari deserts, brown hyenas feed primarily on carrion. If there is no carrion, then hyenas switch to fruits, vegetables, termites, locusts, dung beetles, small birds, rodents, and lizards. Occasionally they attack poultry. Brown hyenas can also attack more big catch, for example, on young antelopes.
During the rainy season, leftovers from the meals of cheetahs, lions and leopards form the basis of the diet of brown hyenas. During the dry season, the percentage of vegetables and fruits in the diet drops sharply, so melons become the main source of moisture for them during the 8 months of drought.
The brown hyena's jaws are not as powerful as those of the spotted hyena, but it is capable of biting through an ostrich egg. Hyenas, like foxes, stock up on food. They also bring additional food to the den by feeding the pups.
Brown hyenas can pursue small game for a short distance, but only one out of 6-10 hunting attempts is successful.
Reproduction of brown hyenas
Seasonality in mating season not observed in brown hyenas. Females mate with various nomadic males. Some males mate with females and leave the clan, while others remain after mating and take part in raising the offspring. If the female dies, then other females begin to feed her babies.
Pregnancy lasts 92-98 days. There are usually 2-4 babies in a litter. For the first 3 months, the mother comes to the cubs at sunrise and sunset, and spends about 5 hours with them. There are teenagers in the den, so the puppies do not get bored, and the mother does not need to come too often. As the babies grow, their milk diet is supplemented by meat that the mother and other clan members bring to the den.
When babies begin to eat solid food, the mother comes to them once a day, staying with them for about half an hour. Teenagers as young as 8 months can stay on their own for 2-3 nights.
At 10 months, young individuals already begin to hunt on their own, obtaining food near the den. Over time, the range of their attacks increases. Females feed their offspring with milk for 10 months, and wean them completely at 15 months. The young continue to return to the den, where they socialize, play, and sometimes receive additional food from the males. Brown hyenas begin to breed at least 2.5 years old.
Coastal hyenas are social animals that can live in clans. Brown hyena population
Brown hyenas are useful animals, as they eat carrion and clear an area of infected remains. Occasionally they harm people by attacking poultry.
The number of brown hyenas in Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia is about 5070-8020 individuals. It is also believed that about 220 brown hyenas live in Lesotho, Angola and Mozambique. As of 1995, 16 brown hyenas were registered in zoos.
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One of interesting features a hyena that is impossible to distinguish males from females: both have a phallus dangling between their hind legs. For “men” it is real, but for “women” it is false. No one has yet explained this natural quirk. Maybe this is a disguise? Or are they hermaphrodites?
Be that as it may, the ladies, having received the scepter, appropriated social primacy to themselves - they established matriarchy. They have even become physically larger (70 kg or more), which helps them with daily competitive contacts.
Constant observations of the behavior of the clan show that each of the ladies stands on a certain social rung, and at the very top is the “queen”. They receive the amount of life's benefits accordingly. High-ranking individuals are the first to prey, they get the best pieces, few people will risk standing in their way or challenging their right to own something.
It is easier for sisters to achieve success, fighting side by side for power, but still one of them will be “number one”, and someone will be “number two” and so on. It happens that a lonely matron reaches the top of the hierarchy - if she has outstanding abilities. As a rule, this is the best and merciless of fighters, who also knows how to think and lead a team. The males became subordinate in everything. Each of them spends years to infiltrate women's society and gain a foothold there. They try to be useful to the clan - they mark and protect the territory, participate in hunting, fight with other clans or with lions. Among them highest rank from those who, through long, blameless service, have earned the approval of the leading female elite. But their main role in matriarchy is reduced to participation in reproduction.
Each clan has a fairly extensive hunting territory. She is carefully guarded, marked with the smell of the anal and digital glands, and protected from neighbors. Migrating antelopes, unaware of this distribution of land, enter the possessions of one or another clan, becoming the object of attention and then hunting of the owners. Prey caught at the border can pass from paw to paw up to a dozen times until there is nothing left of it. If, during the chase, the antelope ran into someone else's territory, then the chances of enjoying its taste are slim for the original pursuers - most likely, it will have to be left to the neighboring owners under the pressure of their superior forces.
Hyenas love their little children very much, caressing and licking them constantly. The same tender relationships between young couples, between sisters and brothers. When you look at the furry animals playing and caressing, you can’t believe that these are predators - the threat of the entire savannah.
Children, who appear once a year deep underground, immediately acquire the rank of their mother and very soon begin to behave accordingly: dominants take food from others, mark everything around with their scent, and can punish anyone; The “rabble” behaves modestly, “with its tail between its legs.” Females feed only their own children - strangers will be doomed if their mother died in a skirmish. The grown puppy hurries along with everyone else to the prey.
The main inclinations absorbed with mother's milk are selfishness, individualism, and not collectivism (as, for example, in hyena dogs). The cubs are raised to be individuals who are ready to “grab everyone by the throat” for their piece.
Another feature of hyenas is their fantastic resistance to bacteria and viruses. In 1987, more than four thousand hippos died from anthrax in Luangwa. All of them were eaten by hyenas, thereby stopping the spread of infection. At the same time, it increased sharply over short period number of "fighters". I can imagine how difficult it became for them to feed later, when the hippos ended and other forces came into play, regulating the size of the packs.
Another peculiar quality of hyenas is incredible strength jaws. There are no ungnawed, uneaten bones left behind. They can even absorb horns and hooves when they are hungry. It is not for nothing that in the African savannah there are no lying skeletons or horned skulls of fallen antelopes (as, for example, in Central Asia): hyenas “sweep” everything. Their stomach can hold up to 15 kilograms of meat, bones, and any organic matter at a time. All this is perfectly digested, maximum nutrients are extracted.
Some nomadic peoples have a custom of leaving their dead in the desert, where our heroes find them. Others use hyenas as waste disposers for entire settlements and cities. Still others consider them demons of the night, the embodiment of evil, dark forces, with which sorcerers deal when magical rituals. In any case, the role of hyenas as nature's orderlies is truly priceless. They are indispensable in the savannah and desert.
Found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa.
The length of its body is 128-166 cm, its tail is 26-33 cm, its weight is from 59 to 82 kg.
Inhabits various landscapes from hot deserts to mountain forests, but prefers steppes and savannas. The mountains rise up to 4000 m above sea level.
The spotted hyena is a typical carrion eater - its main food is carrion. However, hyenas themselves often attack antelopes and other animals. The hyena's reputation as a cowardly scavenger, surviving on the remains of the prey of lions and other predators, was firmly entrenched, but when research was carried out, it turned out that spotted hyenas are excellent hunters, in some cases even superior to lions.
Active at night, in search of food it can travel up to 70 km per night. Often found during the day, resting in the shade of trees or lying in shallow water. For reproduction it uses caves, anteater burrows and other animals.
Very social view- hyenas live in a matriarchal clan, which is a territorial entity occupying up to 1,800 km 2. A separate hierarchy of submission exists among males and females, but females are dominant over all males. High-ranking females have first access to food and resting areas located near the entrance to the den. They also grow more cubs than females occupying a lower place in the hierarchy. High-ranking males have priority access to females. Males join new clans during breeding, showing constant submission to females. Neighboring clans fight among themselves to protect their habitats. Territories are patrolled by clan members, and clan areas are demarcated by anal scent gland marks and fecal piles containing large quantities white bone sediment.
A walking hyena can run tirelessly at a speed of about 10 km/h for many hours, but can gallop at a speed of 40-50 km/h for at least several kilometers if necessary. The peak of their speed running over short distances is approximately 60 km/h.
The spotted hyena is clearly a carnivore, but is extremely picky in its choice of food. Hyenas are both scavengers and hunters, feeding on corpses, killed animals, or picking up and eating any organic matter. They use every part of the body, including the bones. It is the most effective of the scavengers due to its specific digestive system and active, very acidic gastric juice. The hyena is capable of digesting nutrients from bone tissue, skin and even feces of other predators. She is able to satisfy her hunger even with the corpses of dead relatives located on last stage decomposition. Bones, horns, hooves and even teeth are completely digested within 24 hours. Hyenas also pursue young and weak animals and animals with pathological changes. Some of their usual prey includes gazelles, zebras, rhinos, impalas and other ungulates. They also take mice and other small mammals, birds, reptiles, eggs, fruits, vegetables and insects.
Pregnancy lasts 98-99 days. There are usually 2 cubs in a litter, rarely 1 or 3.
Brown hyena
Brown Hyena
(Parahyaena brunnea)
Lives in central Africa south of the Sahara Desert, mainly in the Kalahari and Namib Deserts. Its range lies south of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and southern Angola. In the territory South Africa the species is practically exterminated, except in the northernmost Transvaal and Cape Province.
Body length is up to 1.2 m, of which the tail accounts for 25-30 cm. On average, it weighs from 25 to 35 kg.
Inhabits barren savannas, but has also been found in deserts. Mainly prefers herbaceous semi-deserts with a mosaic of shrubs, typical tropical savanna and wooded areas (with a well-developed layer of cereal vegetation, under the forest layer).
It is the most carnivorous animal in the most barren parts of the Kalahari and Namib deserts. Here it feeds mainly on carrion. In the absence of carrion, it makes do with fruits, vegetables, marine organisms, insects and other invertebrates, and can also hunt small bustards and other birds, ostrich eggs, and can hunt small mammals, lizards and occasionally poultry. It also attacks larger prey up to the size of young antelope (particularly springbok).
The brown hyena is a fairly solitary animal and is mainly active at night. Although this hyena has keen eyesight and hearing, it usually relies more on its sense of smell.
Brown hyenas live in clans, but they do not hunt in groups. Most members of the clan are closely related, although sometimes immigrating males join the clan. Within the clan, its members have much more peaceful relations than other members of the hyena family, because the cubs are less aggressive towards each other. The older pups help guard the younger, younger pups by sounding an alarm if a lion or other threat approaches their den. Although clans are territorial, females breed with nomadic migrating males. Males often leave their clan and join another's clan (as do the occasional emigrant female) or become strays. Vagrants represent one third of all adult males and 8% of the population and are responsible for the reproduction of the species; resident local males rarely show sexual interest in females of their clan.
Within clans, there is no seasonality or synchrony in reproduction. Pregnancy lasts 92-98 days. Usually there are 2-4 puppies in a litter. During the first three months after birth, the mother visits the cubs at sunrise and sunset to nurse them, spending up to 5 hours a night. They reach sexual maturity at 2.5 years.
Striped hyena
Striped Hyena
(Hyaena hyaena)
Found throughout North Africa, in large parts of Asia from Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Bengal. Common in Northwestern and Central India, becomes rarer towards the south and is absent in Ceylon, as well as in all countries lying further to the east; in sub-Saharan Africa it is also common in places, but becomes rare in the south of the region.
Height at the withers is up to 80 cm, weight of males is up to 55-60 kg. Males are larger than females.
Prefers foothills with dry riverbeds, gullies, ravines, rocky gorges and labyrinths of caves. Lives in low clayey hills with desert and steppe vegetation, overgrown in some areas with pistachio and juniper. Willingly inhabits areas overgrown with dense bushes. Avoids high mountains and vast forests. Occasionally found in sandy desert, but the water source must be within 10 km. Prefers sparsely populated deserted areas, but sometimes visits gardens, vineyards and melon fields. Hyenas are not found in areas with stable snow cover and do not tolerate high humidity.
This is a predominantly nocturnal animal, although it occasionally wanders during the day. Unlike the spotted hyena, it does not form packs. It feeds mostly on carrion. Often hyenas are content with the bare skeleton of ungulates, gnawed clean by other scavengers - in this case, powerful jaws help out, thanks to which hyenas can easily chew any bones. We can say that, minus the feeding on carrion, the striped hyena is practically omnivorous - it catches any living creature that it can cope with and that it can catch up with, eats insects, and destroys the ground nests of birds. In spring Central Asia and Transcaucasia, when emerging from turtle eggs, the hyena switches almost completely to them. The shell of even a large turtle is no problem for a hyena's teeth. In addition, a hyena, like a jackal, can collect garbage. Plants form an important part of the diet. Hyenas willingly eat many types of succulent plants, but they especially love melons and watermelons, for which they raid melon trees. They eat nuts and seeds. Having eaten, hyenas often sleep near the feeding area.
In the north of the range, mating occurs in January-February, and in hotter countries it is not confined to a specific season. Pregnancy takes 90-91 days. There are 2-4 blind puppies in the litter, which gain their sight in a week or a little more. Both parents appear to be involved in their upbringing, although in captivity male hyenas may eat the litter. Young hyenas reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years of age.
Families exist for a number of years and consist of a male, a female and one or two, rarely three, grown-up young, who remain with their parents for at least a year. Such a family can live isolated from its relatives, but two or three families can also live close to each other, with each family having several of its own “towns.” In the family, hyenas show sociability and friendliness, which is not characteristic of a hyena in relationships with other animals.
Aardwolf
Aardwolf
(Proteles cristatus)
Found in Eastern and Southern Africa. Its range is broken by the tropical forests of Zambia and Southern Tanzania, where this type not found.
Body length is only 55-95 cm, tail length - 20-30 cm, shoulder height - 45-50 cm. Adults weigh from 8 to 14 kg.
It lives on open, dry plains and is found in agricultural areas. Avoids mountainous areas and deserts. Also not found in dry tropical forests. The habitat generally coincides with the distribution of termites of the family Hodotermitidae, inhabiting grassy plains and savannas. Aardwolves live alone, although they usually live in monogamous married couples. They aggressively protect their feeding territories from invasion, the size of which, depending on the availability of food, varies from 1 to 4 km 2. Active at dusk and at night, only in South Africa in winter does it become diurnal, which corresponds to the behavioral patterns of its main food, termites. During the day, the aardwolf usually hides in underground shelters, usually in old aardvark burrows (which are built near termite mounds), as well as in empty porcupine and strider burrows. Able to dig its own burrows.
Unlike true hyenas, the aardwolf does not feed on carrion, but on termites and occasionally on other insects and their larvae (in particular, carrion beetles, which it collects on animal corpses) and arachnids. Occasionally, the aardwolf catches small rodents and birds nesting on the ground or eats their eggs. Does not depend on water sources, obtaining liquid from termites.
Aardwolves form monogamous pairs. However, if the male is unable to defend his territory, the female mates with another, more dominant male, although the offspring are later guarded by her regular partner. Pregnancy lasts approximately 90 days, the female gives birth to 2-4 cubs. In South Africa, puppies are born from October to December; in warmer northern regions (Botswana, Zimbabwe) the breeding season is less pronounced. Puppies remain in the den for 3-4 weeks; lairs change approximately once a month. Until 9 weeks, puppies do not move more than 30 m from the den. 12-week-old puppies begin to accompany their parents to feeding, but still do not move more than 300-500 m from the den. By 4 months, milk feeding stops and the young animals switch to independent feeding, but remain with their parents until the next breeding season, that is, for 1 year. By 2 years old, young aardwolves reach sexual maturity.
Hyenas live throughout Africa, the Middle East and India. Although hyenas are known as scavengers, their species is one of the most skilled and advanced predators.
(Total 39 photos)
Hyenas have evolved to modern look at the end of the Miocene (9±3 million years ago). Their ancestors belonged to the civet family, and the first representatives of the hyena species were similar in appearance to civets, or civets. Already at that stage of development they had strong teeth capable of chewing bone. And today such teeth are distinctive feature one of the now existing species. During the Pleistocene, which began about 2 million years ago, there was an animal known as the cave hyena. It was twice the size of the largest living hyena.
The spotted hyena is the largest and most widespread in Africa. Its habitat is very diverse - deserts, shrubs, forests throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the far south and the Congo River basin. Two other species of hyenas also live in the same territory. The spotted hyena's fur is long and hard, khaki or light brown with dark spots. irregular shape. The tips of the paws and tail and muzzle are dark brown or even black, and there is a short, stiff mane on the neck and shoulders.
The brown hyena occupies the smallest territory but appears to be able to survive in almost any habitat. It is found in the desert, in areas covered with grass and shrubs, in forests and on the coast of South Africa. Its dark brown fur is much longer and shaggier than that of the spotted hyena. It is especially thick on the shoulders and back. Therefore, the hyena looks larger than it actually is.
The striped hyena, the smallest of the three species, lives north of its relatives. It prefers open areas in eastern and northern Africa, the Middle East, Arabia, India and the southwest of the former Soviet Union. It rarely settles further than K) km from the water. It has gray or light brown fur, duck-like and shaggy, with transverse dark brown stripes, and on its back there is a coarse mane up to 20 cm long.
All hyenas have shoulders higher than the back of the body, and the spine is not parallel to the ground, but at a significant angle. They have a bouncing, swinging gait because they are pacers. Spotted hyenas have rounded ears, while brown and striped ones have pointed ears.
Although hyenas can often be found during the day, they are more active at dusk and during dark time days, and during the day they prefer to rest in or near the den. A hyena makes its home either by expanding the burrows of other animals, or by finding a secluded place among the rocks or in the forest. Hyenas are very attached to their territory, vigilantly guard the space around the den, and also consider a larger hunting area to be theirs. The size of this area can vary significantly, depending on the amount and availability of food. Hyenas mark the boundaries of their territory with secretions from the anal glands and scent glands between the toes, as well as urine and feces. The brown hyena has the most developed anal scent glands. She secretes two types of secretion - white and black paste, which she uses mainly to mark grass.
Spotted hyenas are perhaps the most social of all hyenas. They live in large groups, or clans, which can number up to 80 individuals. Most often, a clan consists of 15 animals. The female hyena is larger than the male and occupies a dominant position, which is not often found among predators.
Here is a short series of images from Peter Hugo (born 1976 and raised in Cape Town, South Africa). He is a South African photographer specializing primarily in portraits, and his work is rooted in the cultural traditions of African communities. Hugo himself calls himself “a photographer-politician with a small P.” One of the most famous works of this photographer is the series “Hyenas and Other People”. For his portrait of a man with a hyena, Hugo won a prize in the Portraits category at the World Press Photo competition in 2005.
The greeting ceremony for both sexes and all ages is quite elaborate - each animal raises its hind paw so that the other can smell its genitals. They also maintain contact by screaming and other sounds, of which only a few are heard by the human ear. Hyenas have a loud, distinct voice and can be heard several kilometers away. Sometimes the spotted hyena is called the laughing hyena because of its cry, similar to laughter. Brown hyenas lead a more solitary lifestyle. They live in families of 4-6 individuals and hunt alone. As a sign of greeting, brown hyenas also sniff each other, head and body, while bristling their manes, but they make significantly fewer different sounds.
Nutrition
Until recently, it was believed that all hyenas are scavengers and feed on the remains of carcasses of animals killed by other predators. It turned out, however, that the spotted hyena, thanks to its acute vision, excellent sense of smell, and social image life is one of the most skillful and dangerous predators.
The spotted hyena can hunt alone, but often pursues prey in a pack. Hyenas reach speeds of up to 65 km/h so they can catch up with animals such as zebra and wildebeest. They grab the victim by the legs or sides and hold him in a death grip until he falls. Then the whole flock attacks her and literally tears her into pieces. A hyena can eat 15 kg of meat in one sitting. Most often, they chase antelopes shortly after they have given birth to their cubs, because the babies are easy prey.
The spotted hyena's jaws are one of the most powerful of all predators. With them she can scare away even a lion and a tiger and can easily gnaw the largest bones of a buffalo. Digestive system The hyena is designed in such a way that it is able to digest bones. Their feces white due to the high calcium content from the bones eaten.
The spotted hyena's diet depends on its habitat and time of year. The hyena's menu includes rhinoceros, lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and all types of antelope that live in their habitat, as well as insects, reptiles and some grass. They eat any carrion that comes their way, and sometimes rummage through garbage near human habitations. There are always many contenders for a killed victim, so the animals tear off as large a piece as possible from the corpse and run off to the side with it so that someone does not tear the meat out of their teeth.
They feed on carrion, searching for it using their keen sense of smell. They hunt alone and in pairs. Most often, their prey is small vertebrates, as well as domestic lambs and kids. Their diet also includes insects, eggs, fruits and vegetables. If a hyena finds a large tunga, it can bite off a larger piece and hide it in a secluded place to dine on next time.
Brown hyenas also feed on beached dead fish and corpses of sea animals.
The time hyenas spend hunting and searching for food depends on the availability of food. Brown hyenas spend 10 or more hours a day searching for food.
Hyenas breed at any time of the year, however greatest number babies are born between August and January. Spotted hyenas mate with members of their own clan; among brown hyenas, a male traveler mates with a female living in a group that he meets along the way. The brown hyena's pregnancy lasts 110 days. A litter most often consists of two puppies. Childbirth takes place in a burrow - a large hole in an open area overgrown with grass (part of such a landscape is visible in the photograph). Several females gather in one burrow and together produce offspring. Unlike almost all predators, dark brown puppies are born with their eyes open. In addition, they already have teeth. If necessary, puppies can run immediately after birth.
All pups remain in the hole under the care of one or two females. They come to the surface of the earth so that their mother can feed them milk, but for safety reasons they do not leave the burrow until they are about 8 months old. At this age, they go hunting or in search of food with their mother. Hyenas never bring prey into a hole, so that predators cannot determine the location of the shelter by the strong smell of carrion. Spots appear at 4 months. At the age of one to one and a half years, the puppies are “weaned”.
Brown and striped hyenas have a shorter gestation period - 90 days. The brown hyena's litter consists of two puppies, and the striped one's litter consists of five. In both species, puppies are born blind and defenseless; their eyes open after two weeks. In family groups of brown hyenas, not only the mother, but any of the females can feed the baby with milk. After the puppies are three months old, all members of the family will carry food to them in the hole.
By the end of the first year, the mother stops feeding the puppies milk, but they remain in the family for several more months.
In the first half of the 20th century. hyenas were considered pests, dangerous to the inhabitants of the reserves, and were destroyed. This species was practically exterminated in the south of South Africa. Thanks to collective hunting and social distribution of food, spotted hyenas have resisted human aggression more successfully than the other two species and have survived in greater numbers.
Brown and striped hyenas are on the verge of extinction in many regions. Man has practically exterminated them because they cause damage to him household. Another reason for the decrease in the number of the species is the active development of new lands by humans and competition with a more adapted species - spotted hyenas.
This is how Aristotle spoke about this beast: “They were treacherous and cowardly; they greedily tore at the carrion and laughed like demons, and they also knew how to change gender, becoming either female or male for no reason.” Alfred Brehm also did not have kind words for them:
"Few animals have such fantastic story, like hyenas... Do you hear how their voices resemble satanic laughter? So know that the devil really laughs in them. They have already done a lot of evil!”
Elian, the author of the works “Motley Stories” and “On the Nature of Animals,” wrote: “On a full moon, the hyena turns its back to the light, so that its shadow falls on the dogs. Bewitched by the shadow, they become numb, unable to utter a sound; the hyenas carry them away and devour them.”
Pliny was a little “kinder” to them; he considered the hyena a useful animal, in the sense that many medicinal potions could be made from it (Pliny cited a whole page of them).
Even Ernest Hemingway, who knew the habits of various animals well, knew about hyenas only that they were “hermaphrodites that desecrate the dead.”
It’s not surprising that such an unattractive animal was not of much interest to researchers. This is how unflattering information was passed from book to book, turning into facts that no one really checked.
And only in 1984, a center for the study of hyenas was opened at the University of Berkeley (this is in California). Scientists working there learned a lot of interesting things about these unusual animals.
The hyena family includes four species: spotted, brown, striped hyena and an aardwolf. The latter is very different from its relatives: smaller than other hyenas, and feeds mainly on insects, occasionally hunting chicks or small rodents. The aardwolf is very rare and is listed in the International Red Book.
Now hyenas are rightfully considered the orderlies of the African expanses. By eating the carcasses of dead animals, these animals prevent the spread of diseases in savannas and deserts. Many scientists believe that without these creatures, despised for centuries, the savannah could easily turn into a fetid wasteland.
So what is so amazing about these laughing animals? Let's start with the fact that the body of hyenas has truly fantastic resistance to microorganisms. An example is the anthrax epidemic in Luangwa in 1897, when more than four thousand hippos died from the disease. And their corpses, which contributed to the spread of the disease, were eaten by hyenas. And not just without harm to themselves: the laughing orderlies also managed to significantly increase their number by gorging on free grub.
In addition, hyenas have very powerful jaws, capable of chewing bones, horns, and hooves. That's why in African savannas There are practically no animal skeletons.
The next feature of hyenas is that at first glance, and at the second and third, it is also almost impossible to figure out where he is and where she is. The reason is that where males have a male “aggregate,” females have something strikingly similar to it, which, upon closer examination, turns out to be a hypertrophied clitoris. That's why hyenas for a long time considered hermaphrodites.
The reason for such impressive “feminine virtues” is considered to be testosterone, the level of which in the blood of pregnant females increases tens of times, while in other mammals at this time the amount of its “enemy” – estrogen – increases. Testosterone is responsible for the formation of male characteristics, scientists explain and aggressive behavior females By the way, it is the female who is at the head of the pack. In some animals, the leader can be either a male or a female. Among hyenas, only the lady can be in charge. Representatives of the fair sex among hyenas are generally larger, stronger and more aggressive than males, who lead a very subordinate lifestyle.
But despite all this, hyenas are very caring mothers. Driving the males away from the prey, they are the first to allow the cubs to approach it. By the way, a hyena feeds its babies with milk for about 20 months. However, it must be said that the mother has tender feelings only for her children. When hyenas go hunting, their cubs remain under the supervision of “guards” who will protect them, but will never feed them if something bad happens to their mother...
Hyena babies are also unusual. Let's start with the fact that experts still have not agreed on what to call them: kittens or puppies, since they have not decided which family is closer to them. But no matter what they are called, the cubs are born sighted, with fairly developed teeth and very angry. For them natural selection begins right from the moment of birth. Every kitten (or puppy) wants to be not the first among its brothers and sisters, but the only one. The reason for all this is the same testosterone, which literally goes off scale in these cute-looking babes. After some time, its level drops, and the surviving cubs begin to live more or less amicably.
Hyenas are good runners. While hunting, they can reach a speed of 65 km/h and maintain it for five kilometers. Observing these animals, experts have refuted another myth about the laughing inhabitants of Africa. It is hunting, and not searching for dead animals, that is the main way for hyenas to obtain food. They hunt primarily wildebeest, eating approximately 10% of their number each year, thereby helping to control their numbers.
Savannah orderlies eat carrion during dry periods of the year. Then the herbivores go in search of water and food, leaving behind the corpses of their less hardy relatives. But no matter how the hyenas get the food, once they get to it, the animals eat everything, including bones, horns and hooves; they can even lick the grass clean. In a fit of this gastronomic excitement, hyenas may well bite the paw or face of an inattentive dinner companion without even noticing it.
After eating, the animals indulge in an afternoon rest, lying down in the shade and covering themselves with earth. In general, they love to take different baths - water, mud, and dust. Connected with this passion is one feature that clearly does not make African orderlies attractive in the eyes of humans: hyenas really like to roll around in half-decomposed remains. It is quite understandable that after such a procedure the animal smells, to put it mildly. Moreover, as scientists have found, the more expressive this aroma is, the more respectful they are to its owner. But hyenas remained indifferent to the floral scents on the fur of their fellow tribesmen...
Here they are, laughing orderlies of the African expanses.