Mammals
Spotted Hyena
Crocuta crocuta · also called laughing hyena
The spotted hyena is one of the most misunderstood animals in Africa. Cast as a skulking scavenger and comic villain, it is in reality a formidable cursorial hunter, a sophisticated social animal living in large female-run clans, and — by biomass — the most abundant large carnivore on the continent.
Overview
Spotted hyenas occupy nearly every habitat in sub-Saharan Africa except deep rainforest and the most extreme desert, from the Serengeti plains to montane moorland at 4,000 metres. They live in clans — territorial groups of a few individuals up to around 130 — that share a communal den, defend a range against neighbouring clans, and are structured by a rigid, inherited dominance hierarchy.
Hunter first
Contrary to the stereotype, spotted hyenas hunt most of their food. They are built for stamina rather than ambush: a hyena can lope at 40–50 km/h for several kilometres, wearing down prey up to the size of a young buffalo, often hunting alone or in twos and threes for smaller quarry and in large groups for bigger or defended prey. Their hunting success rate frequently exceeds that of lions in the same area, and lions — not hyenas — are often the ones scavenging the kill.
The bone specialist
The spotted hyena’s skull and teeth are made for processing entire carcasses. Massive jaw muscles and conical, reinforced cheek teeth crack open the long bones and skulls that other predators abandon, and an extremely acidic gut digests bone, ligament, hide, and hooves. This lets a clan extract a full meal from a carcass that lions and vultures have already stripped, and it makes hyenas important recyclers, removing material — and disease — from the landscape.
A matriarchal society
Spotted hyena clans are among the most complex societies of any carnivore, comparable to those of some primates. They are female-dominated: females are larger, and a female’s social rank, passed down from her mother, places her above every male in the clan. Females also have heavily masculinised external genitalia, giving birth through a narrow canal that makes first births difficult and often fatal to cubs. Males typically disperse to other clans as young adults and must patiently climb the hierarchy from the bottom.
Cubs are born in a burrow, black and already with open eyes and teeth, and littermates — especially same-sex ones — may fight fiercely. They are nursed for a long time, up to 12–18 months, because clan hunting ranges can be far from the den.
Status
The spotted hyena is listed as Least Concern overall, but populations outside protected areas are shrinking through habitat loss, prey depletion, road kills, and persecution — hyenas are widely killed in retaliation for livestock losses and because of deep-rooted cultural hostility and superstition. Within large, well-managed reserves they remain abundant and ecologically dominant.
Spotted Hyena: common questions
Are spotted hyenas scavengers or hunters?
Primarily hunters. Decades of research show that across most of their range spotted hyenas kill 60–95% of what they eat, running down wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle in endurance chases, often over several kilometres. They scavenge readily when they can, and in some areas lions actually steal more food from hyenas than the reverse. The "cowardly scavenger" image is a persistent myth.
Why is a hyena's bite so powerful?
Spotted hyenas are specialised bone-eaters. They have a robust skull, a domed forehead anchoring huge jaw muscles, and premolar teeth built as bone-cracking cones, giving a bite force estimated around 1,100 pounds per square inch — among the strongest of any land mammal. Their digestive system dissolves bone, hooves, and hide, extracting nutrition from carcass parts nothing else can use, and their droppings turn white with calcium.
Is it true female hyenas are dominant?
Yes, and strikingly so. Spotted hyena society is matriarchal — a clan is led by an alpha female, rank is inherited from the mother, and every adult female outranks every adult male, including at a kill. Females are larger and more aggressive, helped by high levels of androgens, and they have highly unusual genitalia — an enlarged clitoris through which they urinate, mate, and give birth. Males usually leave their birth clan and must work their way up from the bottom of a new one.
Why do hyenas "laugh"?
The giggling "laugh" is not amusement. It is a specific call a hyena makes when it is nervous, frustrated, or under threat — typically a lower-ranking animal being harassed at a carcass, or an individual mobbed by lions or rivals. The pitch and pattern of the giggle carry information about the caller's age and status. Hyenas have a large repertoire of other sounds, most famously the far-carrying "whoop" used to locate clan members.