One adult has been observed taking down a fully grown wildebeest, a testimony to the hyena’s awesome strength. They typically hunt alone or in groups of up five individuals – the size of potential prey increases with the hunting group size. Given the opportunity to scavenge or steal prey from another carnivore they will take it – but so would any other carnivore on the African plains. Indeed, the majority of all the prey they consume comes from their own hunting efforts. The truth is that spotted hyena are actually excellent hunters in their own right. It is a myth often perpetuated by nature documentaries which show large groups of hyenas mobbing lions after a kill. But the idea that hyenas are purely scavengers that profit from the hard work of other (more popular) carnivores such as lions or cheetahs is incorrect. Today, the label of “scavanger” is portrayed as being a negative trait. As a result they used to cover human corpses in blood and fat to encourage consumption – and avoid social disgrace. Indeed, for the Masai of Kenya something was believed to be wrong with a person if their corpse was not consumed by a hyena. Then there is the hyena’s association with scavenging, and a widely held traditional belief that hyenas are there to clean up rotting carcasses – including human ones. There is also an old superstition in that country that if a child is born at night while a hyena is crying, he or she will grow up to become a thief.

In Tanzania, witch doctors often kept spotted hyenas in cages and were said to ride on their backs at night. The origins of the hyena’s reputation may lie in the role it has played in African folklore.

But where does such a negative view come from? And is it justified? They are often seen as good for nothing scavengers, the bullies of the African plains, laughing as they gang up to steal hard won meals from their more majestic competitors.įootage of spotted hyenas (the largest and most familiar of the four hyena species) seen on nature documentaries often strengthens this notion, as does their portrayal in stories such as Disney’s Lion King. Of all the world’s great natural predators, hyenas are surely among the most maligned.

Are hyenas scavengers