Hyenas: the most misunderstood animal

Hyenas: the most misunderstood animal

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  1. Title is pretty stupid. Sure, they look cute in this video but come across a pack of hungry hyenas in the wild and they eat you without a second thought. They are not misunderstood.

  2. Cute video, but just as understood as lions or any other large predator. Yes, they’re friendly towards the people that work most closely to them, like this fellow, but those hyena’s were probably brought up by this fellow…

    Better to treat them as terrifying, much like you would a lion.

  3. Fun, Weird and Creepy Facts about Hyena

    – Although hyenas appear similar to dogs, they are actually more closely related to cats.

    – One of the most characteristic sounds that hyena produce is laughter. This sound alerts other hyenas that new food source is located. The pitch of their laugh can indicate their status in the pack.

    – Hyena are cannibals and will attack and eat other hyena, including their young.

    – Hyenas can survive several days without water.

    – Hyena are primarily nocturnal. They can live in a wide range of habitats, including savannah, forest, riverine bush, desert and mountain terrain.

    – Ancient Egyptians domesticated hyenas and raised them for food.

    – Hyenas have extremely strong jaws capable of biting through bones.

    – Females are larger and more dominant than males.

    – Females have a ‘penis’, which is an elongated clitoris, though they are not hermaphrodite.

    – Males have the lowest status in the pack and are forced to leave their family when they reach sexual maturity. Their fight to enter a new pack is often deadly and the dominant female will determine their fate.

    – Hyena have ‘creepy greeting ceremonies’ where both females and males have erections.

    – Hyena are believed to be even more intelligent than chimpanzees, and studies by Duke University show a large frontal cortex of the brain, with a wily problem-solving ability. The study found that hyena achieved uncanny cooperation, all in eerie silence, without any apparent outward communication.

    – The reputation of the hyena as a coward is unfounded and hyena are aggressive competitors in the bush, not only scavenging on the kills of other animals as it is often believed. They kill and eat baby lion, leopard and other predators. About 95% of their diet comes from their own kills, which take place in packs of up to 80 hyena.

    – Hyenas live 10-12 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity.

    – The four species of Hyenas are spotted, stripe, brown, and aardwolf.

    – Aardwolf mainly eats termites.

    > Ernest Hemingway did little to contribute towards the reputation of the hyena and in Green Hills of Africa, he wrote:

    >> “Fisi, the hyena, hermaphroditic self-eating devourer of the dead, trailer of calving cows, ham-stringer, potential biter-off of your face at night while you slept, sad yowler, camp-follower, stinking, foul, with jaws that crack the bones the lion leaves, belly dragging, loping away on the brown plain …”

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