Hyena clearing the savanna from carrion. Brown or brown hyena - African predator

Hyena- the only animal that can eat only bones. These animals serve as an important link in food chain, clearing natural environment from carrion and preventing the spread of dangerous diseases.

HABITAT

The spotted hyena is distributed throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, except for the southern tip of the continent. This beast settles in a variety of places, avoiding only tropical rainforests and deserts. Hyenas can be found both in the valleys at sea level and in the mountains at an altitude of up to 4000 m, but their favorite habitat is the endless grassy savannas, where there is a great variety of herbivorous ungulates. Hyenas easily adapt to any living conditions and, in search of garbage, visit even the outskirts of cities.

SECURITY

Although not a protected species, the spotted hyena is not threatened with extinction. And yet, the territories of wild savannas are steadily shrinking, and herds of herbivores are thinning out, depriving large predators of their usual prey - and, as a result, reducing hyena populations. In the past, these animals were distributed up to the Cape of Good Hope, but the colonization and industrial development of South Africa drove the steppe predators north. Now in South Africa, spotted hyenas are preserved only in reserves.

LIFESTYLE

In order to successfully hunt and defend their territory, spotted hyenas unite into clans of several dozen individuals. The hunting grounds of the clan occupy 10-40 km2; the owners mark their borders with the secret of the anal glands and dig the ground with their paws, leaving secretions of the interdigital glands on it. In some places, hyenas live alone or in pairs. Hyenas of different sexes, when meeting, greet each other by sniffing each other's genitals, raising them for greater convenience. back paw, and the male allows himself to be sniffed first. In a married couple, the female is in charge, which is on average 6 kg heavier than the male. The partner is inferior to her in everything, shows submission and even gives the last piece of meat. The number of males and females in the flock is the same, but here the females dominate, although their dominance is not so noticeable. Members of the pack recognize each other by voice and smell. Powerful jaws and good digestion allow hyenas to devour even the bones and skins of animals. They usually feed on carrion, not disdaining the remains of their relatives, but quite often and successfully hunt zebras, gazelles, wildebeest, rodents, sick lions, buffaloes and elephants, and sometimes the whole flock pursues a female rhinoceros, trying to recapture a defenseless cub. A hyena can single-handedly kill a victim weighing twice as much as itself. As a rule, hyenas hunt at night, hunting alone and in packs. In running, they are fast, hardy and can run for 15 minutes at a speed of 40-50 km / h, due to which every third hunt brings them success. Mostly females hunt. Having caught up with the victim, they sink their teeth into its belly, neck and legs, and when the animal falls, the whole flock instantly attacks it and tears it to pieces. A bloody meal is accompanied by greedy rumbling, screeching and laughter, the sounds of which often converge lions and leopards. Predatory cats often take prey from hyenas, but a sufficiently large clan is able to give them a proper rebuff.

BREEDING

In the female spotted hyena ovulations occur throughout the year at two-week intervals, and during each cycle she becomes fertile for several hours. A whole flock of males converges on a female in estrus, who desperately fight among themselves for the right to mate with her. The cavaliers, who emerged victorious from the tournament fights, cautiously approach the female, expressing obsequious submission with their whole appearance: the head is lowered low, the tail is drawn to the belly. Of these, the female chooses one single partner who has the highest status in the group. After a pregnancy lasting 110 days, the female brings from one to three cubs, which are born sighted, toothy, weigh about 1.5 kg and can walk. Childbirth takes place in a hole prepared by the mother. Often, puppies of several females live in the same den, but each responds only to the call of his mother. Newborns are covered with a uniform dark brown coat, but after six weeks it brightens and becomes covered with the first spots.

At 4 months old, puppies are already adult in color, and only their paws are black at the bottom. Puppies suckle milk for 12-16 months, but gradually get used to meat food, which the mother brings to the hole. The female vigilantly guards her offspring, primarily from adult males who can devour them. Having caught up with the growth of adult animals, juveniles are weaned from milk feeding. The male becomes sexually mature at 2 years, and the female at 3 years.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The spotted hyena needs 1.5-1.8 kg of food per day, but it is able to eat up to 14 kg of meat in one sitting. Having devoured the animal whole, the hyena then regurgitates the undigested fur and hooves.
• The main competitors of spotted hyenas are lions, which often take their prey from them; in turn, hyenas love to profit from lion scraps. On occasion, the lions kill the hyenas and leave the corpses to the scavengers. If the hyenas happen to attack a wounded, sick or old lion, they kill it and devour it.
• The terrible voice of the hyena, strikingly similar to the laughter of a madman, terrifies many inhabitants of the savannah. This carnivorous laugh is usually emitted by animals in the midst of a hunt or a fight. Each hyena has its own voice, by which members of the pack recognize it.
• Residents of some regions of Africa allow hyenas to roam freely at night through the streets of cities and villages and devour garbage.
• The extremely acute instinct of a hyena allows her, after a few hours, to determine by one drop of urine which animal left her.

RELATED SPECIES

The hyena family includes four species of animals that live in Africa: spotted, brown and striped hyenas, as well as an earthen wolf. The striped hyena is also found in the Middle East. Earthwolves lead a solitary lifestyle, while spotted and brown hyenas live in pairs. All hyenas are predators.

Aardwolf( Proteles cristatus ) feeds exclusively on termites. Regularly making rounds of his territory, he licks insects from the ground with a sticky tongue.

brown hyena( Hyaena brunn ea) is almost omnivorous. It can often be seen on the coast of Namibia, where the animal is looking for dead fish, birds, eared seals and whales thrown ashore by the waves.

striped hyena(Hyaena hyaena ) — its extremely varied diet includes insects, small animals, reptiles, fruits, and carrion.

Hyenas live throughout Africa, the Middle East and India. Although hyenas are known as scavengers, one of the most skilled and accomplished predators belongs to their species.
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Hyenas evolved to modern look at the end of the Miocene (9±3 million years ago). Their ancestors belonged to the civet family, and the first representatives of the hyena species looked like civet, or civet. At that stage of development, they had strong teeth capable of chewing through bone. And today such teeth are hallmark one of the currently existing species. In the Pleistocene, which began about 2 million years ago, there was an animal known as the cave hyena. It was twice the size of the largest living hyena.

The spotted hyena is the largest and most widespread in Africa. Its habitat is very diverse - deserts, bushes, forests throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the extreme south and the Congo Basin. Two other types of hyenas live in the same territory. The fur of the spotted hyena is long and hard, khaki or light brown with dark spots. irregular shape. The tips of the paws and tail and muzzle are dark brown or even black, and on the neck and shoulders there is a short stiff mane.

The brown hyena occupies the smallest territory, but seems to be able to survive in almost any habitat. It is found in the desert, in areas overgrown with grass and shrubs, in the forest and on the coast of South Africa. Its dark brown fur is much longer and shaggy than that of the spotted hyena. It is especially thick on the shoulders and on the back. Therefore, the hyena looks larger than it really is.

The striped hyena - the smallest of the three species - lives north of its relatives. It prefers open areas in east and north Africa, the Middle East, Arabia, India and the southwest of the former Soviet Union. It rarely settles further than K) km from the water. She has gray or light brown fur, duck and shaggy, with transverse dark brown stripes, and on her back is a stiff mane up to 20 cm long.

In all hyenas, the shoulders are higher than the back of the body, and the spine is not parallel to the ground, but at a significant angle. They have a bouncing, rocking gait because they are pacers. Spotted hyenas have rounded ears, while brown and striped hyenas have pointed ones.

Although hyenas can often be found during the day, they are more active at dusk and at night, and during the day they prefer to rest in or near the den. The hyena's house is equipped either by expanding the holes of other animals, or by finding a secluded place among the rocks or in the forest. Hyenas are very attached to their territory, they vigilantly guard the space around the lair, and also consider a larger hunting area as their own. The size of this area can vary considerably, depending on the amount and availability of food. Hyenas mark their territory with secretions from their anal glands and scent glands between their toes, as well as urine and feces. The most developed anal scent glands are found in the brown hyena. She distinguishes two types of secret - white and black paste, with which she marks mainly grass.

Spotted hyenas are perhaps the most social of all hyenas. They live large groups, or clans, in which there can be up to 80 individuals. Most often, the clan consists of 15 animals. The female hyena is larger than the male and occupies a dominant position, which is not often found among predators.

Here is a small series of shots from Peter Hugo (born 1976 and raised in Cape Town, South Africa). He is a South African photographer who specializes mainly in portraits and his work is related to the cultural traditions of African communities. Hugo himself calls himself "a politician-photographer with a small p." One of the most famous works of this photographer is the Hyenas and other people series. For his portrait of a man with a hyena, Hugo won a prize in the Portraits category at the 2005 World Press Photo competition.

The greeting ceremony for both sexes and all ages is quite elaborate - each animal raises its hind leg so that the other can sniff its genitals. They also maintain contact with screams and other sounds, of which few are heard by the human ear. Hyenas have a loud, distinct voice and can be heard from miles away. Sometimes the spotted hyena is called laughing because of its cry, similar to laughter. Brown hyenas lead a more solitary lifestyle. They live in families of 4-6 individuals, and hunt alone. As a sign of greeting, brown hyenas also sniff each other, head and body, while bristling their mane, but they produce much less different sounds.
Nutrition

Until recently, it was believed that all hyenas are scavengers and feed on the remains of carcasses of animals killed by other predators. It turned out, however, that the spotted hyena, thanks to its sharp eyesight, excellent sense of smell, and social lifestyle, is one of the most skillful and dangerous predators.

The spotted hyena can hunt alone, but often pursues prey in packs. Hyenas reach speeds of up to 65 km / h, so they can catch up with animals such as zebra and wildebeest. They grab the prey by the legs or sides and hold it in a stranglehold until it falls. Then the whole flock pounces on her and literally tears her to pieces. A hyena can eat 15 kg of meat in one sitting. Most often, they chase antelopes shortly after their cubs are born, because the babies are easy prey.

The jaws of the spotted hyena are one of the most powerful of all predators. With them, she can even scare away a lion and a tiger and easily gnaw through the largest bones of a buffalo. The digestive system of hyenas is designed in such a way that it is able to digest bones. Their stool white color due to the high content of calcium from the bones eaten.

The nutrition of the spotted hyena depends on its habitat and season. The hyena's menu includes rhinoceros, lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and all kinds of antelopes that live in their habitat, as well as insects, reptiles and some grass. They eat any carrion that comes their way, and sometimes rummage through the garbage near a human dwelling. There are always many contenders for a killed victim, so the animals tear off as large a piece as possible from the corpse and run away with it so that someone does not tear the meat out of their teeth.

They feed on carrion, looking for it with the help of a keen sense of smell. They hunt alone and in pairs. Most often, small vertebrates, as well as domestic lambs and kids, become their prey. Their diet also includes insects, eggs, fruits and vegetables. If the hyena finds a large tunga, it can chew off a larger piece and hide it in a secluded place to dine on next time.

Brown hyenas also feed on dead fish thrown ashore and the corpses of marine animals.

The time that hyenas spend hunting and looking for food depends on the availability of food. Brown hyenas spend 10 or more hours a day searching for food.

Hyenas breed at any time of the year, however the largest number babies are born between August and January. Spotted hyenas mate with members of their own clan, among brown hyenas, a male traveler mates with a female living in a group that he met on the way. Pregnancy lasts for a brown hyena for 110 days. A litter most often consists of two puppies. Childbirth takes place in a hole - a large hole in an open area overgrown with grass (part of such a landscape is visible in the photograph). Several females gather in one hole and together produce offspring. Unlike almost all predators, dark brown puppies are born with their eyes open. In addition, they already have teeth. If necessary, puppies can run immediately after birth.

All puppies remain in the hole under the supervision of one or two females. They come to the surface of the earth so that their mother can feed them with milk, but for safety reasons they do not leave the hole until they are about 8 months old. At this age, they go hunting or looking for food with their mother. Hyenas never bring prey into the burrow, so that predators cannot locate the shelter by the strong smell of carrion. Spots appear at 4 months. In a year and a half, puppies are “weaned”.

In brown and striped hyenas, the gestation period is shorter - 90 days. The litter of the brown hyena consists of two puppies, the striped hyena - of five. In both species, puppies are born blind and defenseless, their eyes open after two weeks. In family groups of brown hyenas, not only the mother, but any of the females can feed the baby with milk. After the puppies are three months old, all members of the family will bring them food to the hole.
By the end of the first year, the mother stops feeding the puppies with milk, but they remain in the family for a few more months.

In the first half of the XX century. hyenas were considered pests, dangerous for the inhabitants of the reserves, and destroyed. This species has been practically exterminated in the south of South Africa. Thanks to collective hunting and social distribution of food, spotted hyenas have more successfully resisted human aggression than the other two species, and have survived in greater numbers.

Brown and striped hyenas are on the verge of extinction in many regions. Man practically exterminated them because they damage him household. Another reason for the decrease in the number of species is the active development of new lands by humans and competition with a more adapted species - spotted hyenas.

This is how Aristotle spoke about this beast: “They were treacherous and cowardly; they greedily tormented carrion and laughed like demons, and they also knew how to change sex, becoming either females or males for no reason. Alfred Brehm also did not find kind words for them:

“Few animals have such a fantastic story as hyenas… Do you hear how their voices resemble satanic laughter? So know that the devil really laughs in them. They have already done a lot of evil!”

Elian, the author of Motley Tales and On the Nature of Animals, wrote: “On a full moon, the hyena turns its back to the light, so that its shadow falls on the dogs. Bewitched by the shadow, they become numb, unable to utter a sound; the hyenas carry them off and devour them.”

Pliny was a little “kinder” to them, he considered the hyena a useful animal, in the sense that many medicinal potions could be made from it (Pliny cited a whole page of them).

Even Ernest Hemingway, who was well aware of the habits of various animals, knew only that hyenas are "hermaphrodites that defile the dead."

It is not surprising that such an unattractive animal did not interest the researchers very much. This is the unflattering information that was passed from book to book, turning into facts that no one really checked.

And only in 1984 at the University of Berkeley (this is in California) a center for the study of hyenas was opened. Scientists working there have learned a lot about these unusual animals.

The hyena family includes four species: spotted, brown, striped hyena and earthen wolf. The latter is very different from its relatives: smaller than other hyenas, and feeds mainly on insects, occasionally preys on chicks or small rodents. The earthen wolf is very rare, it is listed in the International Red Book.

Now hyenas are rightfully considered the orderlies of African expanses. Eating the corpses of dead animals, these animals prevent the spread of diseases in the savannas and deserts. Many scientists believe that without these creatures despised for centuries, the savannah could well turn into a fetid wasteland.

So why are these laughing animals amazing? Let's start with the fact that the body of hyenas has a really fantastic resistance to microorganisms. An example is the anthrax epidemic in Luangwe in 1897, when more than four thousand hippos died from this disease. And their corpses, which contributed to the spread of the disease, were eaten by hyenas. And not just without harm to themselves: the laughing orderlies also managed to significantly increase their number, having gorged themselves on gratuitous grubs.

In addition, hyenas have very powerful jaws that can gnaw through bones, horns, and hooves. That is why there are practically no animal skeletons in the African savannas.

The next feature of hyenas is that at first glance, and from the second, and from the third, it is also almost impossible to figure out where he is and where she is. The reason is that where males have a male “aggregate”, females have something strikingly similar to it, which, upon closer examination, turned out to be a hypertrophied clitoris. That is why hyenas have long been considered hermaphrodites.

The reason for such impressive "female virtues" is testosterone, the level of which in the blood of pregnant females increases tenfold, while in other mammals at this time the amount of its "enemy" - estrogen - increases. Testosterone is responsible for the formation of male traits, scientists explain to them and aggressive behavior females. By the way, the head of the pack is the female. In some animals, the leader may be either a male or a female. For hyenas, only a lady can be the main one. The fair sex in hyenas is generally larger, stronger and more aggressive than males, who lead a very submissive lifestyle.

But, despite all this, hyenas are very caring mothers. Driving off the males from the prey, they are the first to let the cubs near it. By the way, the hyena feeds its babies with milk for about 20 months. However, it must be said that a mother has tender feelings only for her children. When hyenas go hunting, their cubs remain under the supervision of "guards" who will protect them, but they will never feed them, if something happens to their mother...

Hyena babies are also unusual. Let's start with the fact that experts have not yet agreed on what to call them: kittens or puppies, since they have not decided which of the families is closer. But no matter how they are called, the cubs are born sighted, with sufficiently developed teeth and very angry. For them, natural selection begins right from the moment they are born. Every kitten (or puppy) wants to be not the first among his siblings, but the only one. The reason for all this is the same testosterone, which literally rolls over in these pretty-looking crumbs. After a while, its level drops, and the surviving cubs begin to live more or less amicably.

Hyenas are good runners. While hunting, they can reach a speed of 65 km / h and keep it for five kilometers. Watching these animals, experts disproved another myth about the laughing inhabitants of Africa. It is hunting, and not the search for dead animals, that is the main way for hyenas to get food. They prey mainly on wildebeest, eating approximately 10% of their number each year, thereby helping to control their numbers.

And carrion orderlies of the savannah eat in the dry periods of the year. Then herbivorous animals leave in search of water and food, leaving behind the corpses of less hardy relatives. But no matter how the hyenas get food, when they get to it, the animals eat everything, including bones, horns and hooves, they can even lick the grass clean. In a fit of this gastronomic passion, hyenas may well bite the paw or muzzle of an inattentive companion without even noticing it.

After eating, the animals indulge in an afternoon rest, lying down in the shade and sprinkling themselves with earth. In general, they like to take different baths - water, mud, and dust. There is one feature connected with this passion of theirs, which obviously does not give African orderlies attractiveness in the eyes of man: hyenas really like to wallow in half-decomposed remains. It is quite clear that after such a procedure, the animal smells, to put it mildly. Moreover, as scientists have found out, the more expressive this fragrance is, the more respectfully they treat its owner. But the hyenas remained indifferent to the floral aromas on the wool of their fellow tribesmen ...

Here they are, laughing orderlies of African expanses.

Alas, we often build our attitude towards someone based on appearance, often accept the opinion imposed by the TV. And this happens with early childhood. We watch cartoons in which there are kind, brave and smart characters, but there are stupid, mean and evil ones. Good heroes we love, but evil, of course, no. Remember the cartoon "The Lion King"? Here the authors of this cartoon easily inspired all the children that the lion is good, and the hyena is bad.

Lions have historically good reputation. They have long been depicted on coats of arms. Lions symbolized courage, strength, beauty and intelligence. I do not want to destroy your ideas about the king of beasts, especially since this is not about them. But the erroneous idea about hyenas, which has stuck to them completely undeservedly, I would like to change.

So, to start with, most of you think that hyenas are scavengers. This is not entirely true. Yes, they eat carrion, but carrion makes up no more than 30% of their diet. In most cases, the hyena hunts on its own. The hyena is not a very fast animal, but incredibly hardy. She is capable of chasing her prey for hours.

The hyena is often shown as a cowardly animal that can only attack in packs. This is not true either. In the struggle for food, one or two hyenas are able to fight even with lions.

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And hyenas are very intelligent creatures. They learn quickly, are able to transfer knowledge to other hyenas in the pack, instantly adapt to new conditions.

But the main purpose of hyenas, no matter how strange it may sound, is to take care of the health of animals in the savannah. Yes, hyenas, along with the African vulture (vulture), clean the savannah. By feeding on carrion, they prevent the possible spread of disease. Hyenas and vultures clean up carcasses abandoned by other predators. Birds gnaw on the smallest pieces of meat, and powerful jaws and sharp teeth allow hyenas to gnaw even bones, thereby leaving no traces of a dead animal.

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IN last years the number of scavenger birds (mainly vultures) has sharply decreased, which has affected the growth of diseases of ungulates, which are food for all predators. If the hyena population begins to decline, this may lead to irreversible processes and, having lost some, we will lose dozens of other species ...