Hyena - Spotted Hyena
Read MoreSpotted Hyena sitting in water
Spotted Hyena sitting in water A characteristic behaviour of spotted hyenas to cool themselves off.[Ngorogora, Tanzania].
A Spotted Hyena female (?alpha female) steals carrion from a young male. L image: female approaches the young male with his bone; 2 center images: the female chases and nips the backside of the male, causing him to drop the carrion; R image: the male watches as she runs off with his meal. This female could have been the clan's alpha female or a high ranking female. In a clan, the males are subservient to the adult females, who are largerand stronger. The males, except for the mate or male progeny of the alpha female, have no authority in a clan. Males do not play with the cubs, and have no role in their upbringing, nor do they sleep in the same burrow with the females. The alpha female is the head of the clan and makes all the decisions; her progeny are automatically high-ranked. If she is killed, her progeny then lose their rank. [Kuando, Botswana].
Spotted Hyenas at the wildebeest migration: The hyenas are waiting for the foaling to begin. After the wildbeests began birthing, the hyenas will make a feast of hundreds of the young. I remember seeing a large field strewn with at least 30 partially eaten newborn wildebeest carcasses. In this photo. The huge one in the left-foreground may well be a head-of-clan female. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Spotted Hyena with vultures-1st image: While the young hyena chases the whitebacked vultures on his right, the vultures behind him feed on the carcass. The vultures are emboldened because the hyena is a lone youngster. This zebra was probably killed by lions who fed well and left the remains. [Serengeti, Tan].
Spotted Hyena chasing vultures-3rd image: We watched this performance for about an hour. As you can see, the hyena has left the area of the kill. There is very little left except the stain, skin, rib-cage, and some bones. It was a zebra (image 2) that was probably killed and well-eaten by lions, who are off somewhere digesting their meal. The white-spotted vulture on the right is a Ruppell's vulture, the second largest vulture in East Africa. {Serengeti, Tanzania].
Two Juvenile Hyenae w/ Carrion
Two 6-month cubs with their mother (center). [Botswana].