Brown Hyena
This is a double image of the same young male Brown Hyena standing in the dry grass at night. It is a brown furred, shaggy-looking, mostly nocturnal, creature. It is smaller and much less aggressive than its cousin, the spotted hyena. It is very furtive and prefers a solitary existence, avoiding areas inhabited by spotted hyenas and other large carnivores, often choosing a desert or savannah where it can feed on carrion of other animals' kills, ostrich eggs, and melons. To photograph them, it is very helpful that they be somewhat acculturated to humans, vehicles, etc. Thus, I was fortunate to be able to visit and photograph an area of a study group. [ Jack's Camp, nr the Central Kalahari, Botswana].