A Spotted Hyaena / Hyena, Crocuta crocuta, walking in Etosha National Park, Namibia, in warm, early evening light. It was one of a small group seen as we were going back to our lodge in the park for dinner.
Spotted Hyaenas have the reputation of being craven scavengers, but they are fierce predators in their own right too, with very strong jaws. Hans Kruuk, a zoologist working in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, discovered that Lions scavenged from Spotted Hyaenas more than Hyaenas scavenged from Lions. But somehow the image of the Hyaena as no more than a scavenger, a slur which dates back at least to Pliny the elder, remains.
This clip from the BBC’s Dynasites series shows what happens when Lions and Spotted Hyaenas clash.
Their clans operate in a matriarchal system, the females being larger and stronger than the males. The dominant female passes down her position to her offspring. Among other misapprehansions, Pliny the Elder also wrote that “Hyenas are believed to become male and female in alternate years.” The truth, of course, is far more complex.
This image is copyright © Liz Leyden, all rights reserved.
It is for sale as wall art or as various home or personal accessories at Pixels.com.
