Spotted Hyaena (Crocuta crocuta)
VideoSize:
Head and body
length: 100 – 180 cm
Tail length: 25 – 36 cm
Weight: 40 – 90 kg
Breeding:
Up to four cubs
are born after a 4-month gestation. They
are born blind, but grow fast and can join in kills by about 8 months. Males play no role in raising young and are
rarely allowed near denning sites.
Description:
They look somewhat dog-like, although they are not a
canine. They are reddish-brown, with
black muzzles and tail tips. Their necks
and legs have spots when young, but these fade with age. Their front legs are
longer then their rear legs, allowing them to lope along for hours without
tiring. Their heads are quite broad to
accommodate their exceptionally strong jaw muscles. The only predator that outranks them in the
savannah is the lion.
Where to look for them:
It is not common to see
hyenas in Murchison Falls during the day, although early in the morning they
may be found returning to their dens or still feeding off a kill from the night
before. They are restricted to savannah
and mixed savannah-acacia woodlands.
Interesting things to know or notice:
- The females are
larger and are dominant in hyaena clans.
They have high levels of testosterone, which leads to male-like
external genetalia and very aggressive interactions.
- They are
one of the few carnivores able to chew and digest bone. Their powerful jaw muscles and strong
teeth are adapted for crushing bone, and they are able to digest it in a
few hours. This allows them to
derive nutritional benefit from kills that other predators have already
abandoned, and well as maximizing their use of their own kills.
- Hyenas can
run for hours without tiring and may cover 80 kms in a night of hunting.
Conservation Status:
They are currently being eliminated as a “pest”
species. They have no natural predators,
although they will turn over a kill to lions.
Detailed Information:
Order: Carnivora
Family: Hyaenidae
Genus:
Crocuta
Species:
crocuta
Habitat:
Open acacia
savannah with a sufficient population of prey (carrion). Denning sites with
rocks and caves are desirable. (Kingdon,
p. 262)
Range/Parks:
At one time the
direct ancestors of the spotted hyena, probably the size of bears, ranged from Europe to Indonesia.
(Kingdon, p. 258)
Currently in many
open areas throughout sub-saharan Africa up to
4,000 meters.
Home Range:
In the course of
a night may cover as little as one kilometer to as much as 80 km. (Kingdon, p.
263)
Territories
average about 30 sq. km. in well-stocked wildlife parks but are much larger in
sparser areas. (Kingdon, p. 263)
Food/Water:
Opportunistic. Will eat carrion left over from the kills of
other carnivores. Will take easy live
prey. Young waterbuck are one of the
main live-prey species. Will also eat
invertebrates, mudfish, and reptiles.
Nowadays they are also found feeding at garbage dumps. (Kingdon, p. 262)
May eat up to 13
kg at a time. Eating happens very
quickly as up to 50 members of a pack may converge on one kill. Carrion may be cached in bushes, scrapes or
under water. (Kingdon, p. 263)
Not water
dependent, but will drink when water is available. (Walker, p. 86)
A lone spotted
hyena can take down a bull wildebeest, but only as a last resort. Will usually take the easiest available food,
esp. carrion. (Estes, p. 339)
Breeding:
Up to four cubs
born after a 4-month gestation. Born
blind, but grow fast and can join in kills by about 8 months. Will suckle until 18-months. (Kingdon, p.
263)
Female only has 2
teats. (Safari Companion, p. 281)
Young will stay
in clan for about 2 years before dispersing, but sons of dominant female may
stay almost 4 years.
Males play no
role in raising young and are rarely allowed near denning sites. (Estes, p.
339)
Maturity at about
3 years, males generally earlier than females. (Estes, p. 343)
Social
Organization:
Forages singly
but lives and hunts in groups. May live
in groups as large as 100 in areas with abundant food. (Kingdon, p. 263)
No communal
suckling of offspring. Nearly every
interaction is competitive, including access to kills, mating opportunities,
and time of emigration. The need to
provide milk to young for so long increases need for access to protein and
calcium, possibly leading to the aggressiveness and abundance of testosterone
in females. (Estes, p. 338)
Females are
completely dominant over males, they lead marking expeditions and hunts as well
as battles with other clans. The only
exception is sons of the most dominant female, who hold rank over all but the
dominant female. (Estes, p. 338)
Communication:
More often heard than seen. Call can be heard up to 5 km away –
repetitive and reverberating “whoo-up”.
Usually made while walking with head hanging. Hyenas are famous for their “laugh”, which is
a social-appeasement call sounding like a human giggle. (Kingdon, p. 261)
Raised tail signifies aggression. (Kingdon,
p. 261)
Clans are built around related females and
their offspring. Males generally
disperse. As females are about 12%
larger, males will only approach during mating time. (Kingdon, p. 263)
Activity
Patterns:
Primarily
nocturnal. One activity peak last from
about an hour before dark to ,
starting with socializing by the den, followed by foraging. Another peak last from a bit before dawn to a
couple hours past. This is the best time
to observe hunting and foraging behaviors. (Estes, p. 339)
Can run for miles
at 10 kph, run several kilometers at 40 – 50 kph, and peak at 60 kph. (Estes,
p. 339)
Sign:
Dens may be found
by looking for mounds of excavated and trampled earth, radiating paths and an
absence of herbivores. Large dens are
often surrounded by a scatter of scrapes and shelters used by peripheral
members of the pack. (Kingdon, p. 262)
Entrance holes to
dens are ½ - 1 meter wide. The
passageways narrow down to about 15 cm within 3 meters of the entrance. (Estes,
p. 339)
Feces are green
when fresh, but turn white with age due to mineral and bone content. Can be up to 20 cm long. Conspicuous latrine areas found in open
areas. Scat often consists entirely of
hair. (Walker,
p. 88)
Predators:
They are not preyed upon by any other
animals, but they will not stand up to an adult lion or a pack of wild
dogs. Their main relationship to other
predators is competition for and stealing of kills. (Safari Companion, p. 295)
References:
Estes, R. (1991).
The Behavior Guide to African Mammals. Berkeley, CA:
The
University of California
Press.
Estes, R. (1999).
The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching
African Mammals. (Revised Edition).
White River
Junction, VT:
Chelsea Green Publishing
Company.
Kingdon, J.
(1997).
The Kingdon Field Guide to
African Mammals. Princeton,
NJ:
Princeton
University Press.
Walker, C.
(1996).
Signs of the Wild: A Field Guide
to the Spoor & Signs of the Mammals of Southern Africa.
(5
th Edition).
Cape
Town, South Africa:
Struik Publishers Ltd.
Photo by Charles Steinberg