The Insane Biology of: The Spotted Hyena

Images Courtesy of Getty Images

Thanks to our Patreon Supporters:
Eric Ypsilantis
Robert Thompson
Keith Skipper

Credits:
Narrator: Stephanie Sammann
Writer: Ashleen Knutsen
Illustrator: Jacek Ambrożewski

REFERENCES

[sllizarrd]

Hyenas are also very excellent planners! They can decide what type of animal they are going to hunt beforehand, and will only send as many hyenas to hunt as are necessary to take that animal down! And when they are hunting this way, they will ignore other prey, and only go after the type they've already decided on. For them to be able to PLAN this is a major sign of intelligence, and that they can communicate this - what animal they will be going for, and how many/which hyenas to send - across such a large group of conspecifics is pretty amazing!

[lackofsins]

The first researcher having witnessed the birth of a hyena must have had quite the shock at the time.

[blondbraid]

It's fascinating how many completely different mammals naturally default to being led by an elderly matriarch, like orcas, elephants, mole rats, hyenas and englishmen.

[dljprogun]

Fun fact:
In the mid 1990's a hyena research facility tried to sue The Walt Disney Company for portraying hyenas as morons. The court ruled in favor of Walt Disney under the grounds of "you can't sue someone for making fun of your favorite animal."

[Sunflowersarepretty]

I am amazed at how complex their hierarchy is. Life as a hyena is not easy whether you're a female, a cub or even worse a male.

[terramater]

Hyenas are so cool! As you guys mentioned, brown hyenas are scavengers, but our crew got footage of them on Namibia's coast, and they aren't just that. There, they actually hunt seals!

[MrAtlantafalcon]

My spotted hyena story. January 2019. I’m in Limpopo Provence, on the veranda of my Rondoval at 3AM, alone. Manyeleti Game Reserve (fenceless border to Kruger NP). My friend (native South African) and his wife had gone to bed in the Rondoval next door. Before he retired to bed, he placed a foldable camp chair on it’s side in the “entranceway” to the narrow veranda. We had seen hyena coming near camp the last two evenings, always near the edge of darkness.

I laughed as he was placing this shoddy blockade, and said, “What is that for? That’s not going to stop a leopard or a hyena.”

Dead serious, he said, “It might give you time to scream for help.”

I laughed it off, because I’m a stupid American in Africa. He heads to bed. 3 AM rolls around and I’m sitting there on the veranda. I catch something out of the corner of my eye, just beyond the “barricade chair”, 10’ away. I see the silhouette of hair over powerful shoulder blades creeping confidently past the entrance, and my blood goes cold. Deadly silent. She comes around the corner and stands broadside 10’ in front of me, with a 2’ tiny wall separating us. Looks me dead in my eyes like, “Hmm. What should I do with you?”

I’ve been charged by a bull elephant in musth, which is a rush of a lifetime, but I have never felt smaller and more subject to a deadly animal’s decision than when that 180 lbs. female hyena locked eyes with me, and considered her options. I flew back to the states with a much greater respect, and interest in, hyenas. She made me recognize, with stealth and authority, and allowed me to keep living.

[cleverusername]

I like that The Lion King accurately depicted the female hyena Shenzi as being the one in charge

[plops]

I remember my first impression of hyenas was at a particular zoo that had some. I was there right at the fence as they were being fed and my two takeaways were: 1. Wow they are a LOT bigger than I thought, and 2. That laugh is so much louder and more ominous in person. If I was in Africa and that noise was surrounding me at night I would be shitting bricks

[errhka]

What an incredible animal - and a wonderful example of how 'fit' traits that evolve are selected for through a variety of factors. And that these traits aren't necessarily the 'best' - just that they were 'good enough' for their niche. I had the pleasure (or displeasure depending on how you see it) of getting up close and personal with some hyenas at Out of Africa Park in Arizona (highly recommend btw) and them following you along the fence line cackling to themselves is one of the eeriest things I've ever experienced. I admire them greatly from afar!

[GeteMachine]

The bite and way Hyena's can crush bones and eat if not most of the animals they hunt, makes Scar's death a lot worse than you'd think. They pretty much crushed him up and ate everything.

[Dave....]

Wow my whole perspective on hyenas has changed completely. Really great story and research!

[koalasquare]

What about the Hyena's that we haven't spotted yet?

[doktorhyena]

So there's a few issues right off the bat:
1. When hunting solo, they actually go after animals 3X their mass very often (wildebeest and topi in particular) and do 75% of their hunting alone.
2. Brown hyenas aren't obligate scavengers and are capable of hunting smaller prey.
3. Females aren't always above all males. Males that stay with their natal clan are above any female their mother is above. About 15% do choose to stay, so this isn't a negligible figure.
4. Spotted hyenas lack any notable sexual dimorphism, female and male hyenas overlap a ton in size.
5. Males don't always leave, and it is their choice to leave or stay. Females don't kick them out.
6. Siblicide is very rare among hyena cubs.

While I do appreciate your attempt to make an educational video, you've used the same myths that we've known are false for over three decades now. The Ngorongoro Hyena Project would be another great group to chat with, Zambia Carnivore Programme too.

[Bitchslapper]

I read a lot of research on hyenas when I was younger. After the reading I've never seen them as cowardly or any of that. They are the most terrifying land animal in my opinion.

[BTKZH]

Being a hyena is like being a member of the mafia - they can be hard on each other, even kill each other, but they wouldn't have it any other way. They love it.

[k-dog]

Very cool as usual! I’d love to hear about African Hunting Dogs. From what I know they have possibly the most advanced hunting methods of any pack animal with individuals acting in different positions over great distances, and they are intelligent enough that they even take a community vote every day on whether or not to hunt.

[Jayson_Tatum]

Just to correct one point: the Hyena isn't necessarily "larger" than wolves, just heavier. Wolves are longer and taller, but much more lean, so they don't weigh as much. General size wise, they're pretty much equal.

[DracowolfieDen]

It's so fascinating to hear this and then think about how our species might be described in terms of brutality. We can be absolutely insanely brutal in many ways, but we also care the most about other species.

[TheBritishGuy]

Hyena Myths: Females don't dominate males. They dominate other females. Males and females have their own separate hierarchies. The male hierarchy is a queue and therefore a lot more peaceful. That's why male hyenas are typically less aggressive. Female hyenas are a lot more aggressive as their hierarchy is based on dominance, strength, and power. Now yes, it is true that when you are a cub you inherit your mother's rank (due to male hyenas being absent fathers). However, this rank isn't fixed. When males reach sexual maturity, they can either decide to stay in their birth clan, become a scout, join the male hierarchy in their birth clan, and choose to not mate (or mate with the lower ranking unrelated females). Although, most males decide to leave so that they can mate with high ranking unrelated females. When they join a new clan, they join the male hierarchy there and become the lowest ranked there. They'll have to wait until males higher up die in order to gain rank. Or, in very rare occasions, they could decide to just try and dominate higher ranking males. However, that would most likely lead to them getting teamed on and killer by every other male. It's also a big misconception that hyenas do everything together like a wolf pack. Hyenas are only in clans because of male lions and lion prides. If lions were solitary and male lions didn't exist (or were the same power as a lioness), hyenas would have no need to be in clans and they would become the most dominant predator (they kinda already are). Hyenas are more than capable of hunting large prey alone (such as impala, oryx, zebra, buffalo, elephant calves, giraffe calves, rhino claves, wildebeest, topi, hartebeest, etc). Lone hyenas are more than capable of defending their kills from wild dog packs, leopards, lionesses (if they're alone), cheetahs, etc. Lone hyenas are also more than capable of stealing kills from those other predators as well. Male lions and the fact that lions live in prides are the sole reason as to why hyenas are group animals. Yes some other benefits come with it as well like making it easier to raise your cubs and not having to worry about other hyenas as much but those are the main reasons. One other misconception about hyenas is that a females pseudopenis has anything to do with mating. It doesn't (no females do not peg males lol). The pseudopenis looks a bit different from a normal male penis (specifically in the head as a pseuodpenis has a much larger opening in the head than a normal male penis). The pseudopenis is used to urinate and to give birth. That's it. Another myth about hyenas is that females are much larger and stronger than male hyenas. Again, that's completely false. While it is technically true that females are larger than males. That size difference is only 10%. And that 10% is ALL FAT. That extra fat is used for their milk (which is why hyena milk is some of the richest and best milk and also why hyenas grow so fast). That's why lots of female hyenas look "fatter" and "bigger" at the belly than males. Everything else like length, height, etc is all the exact same between genders. Weight only has a slight 10% difference. In terms of strength, it's entirely based on the individual but overall they're the exact same. A healthy female vs a healthy male are the exact same strength, height, length, and the female has a 10% extra fat weight advantage. Those are the size/strenght differences (practically none). Overall, don't spread lies about hyenas.