Mysterious Hyenas

 

Hyenas are paradoxes of nature. They are at once intimidating and aggressive predators, but have a reputation as cowardly scavengers. Their high-pitched laughing contrasts with a bite force comparable to a Nile crocodile. They have lived among people for tens of thousands of years with surprisingly few dangerous encounters. But they command respect. These are potential maneaters.

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South Africa's Kruger National Park is home to between 2,000 and 3,000 hyenas. There are as many hyenas here as lions. During my last visit, I saw hyenas every day while looking for lions.

Kruger has a bonanza of prey animals such as these impala to support so many predators. Hyenas are just as likely to hunt their own breakfast as scavenge it from others. But they are effective scavengers because their powerful jaws allow them to crunch through bones left behind by lions, leopards and cheetahs.

One dark, moonless night, our safari truck suddenly was surrounded by a dozen hyenas. I couldn't see them all but I could hear them calling, their eerie birdlike whoops rising in pitch and carrying far on the humid night air. It was chilling to be surrounded by so many of them. The impala couldn't see them either and were terrified, bolting in all directions in chaos that only served to help the predators. They fed well that night.

Hyenas are all about family. The next generation is precious. These two nearly grown pups waited for breakfast outside their den one morning. They would not have to wait long. Their dad brought back a francolin hen.

The babies are objectively adorable. Look at that face! She will be a killer soon enough.

Hyena tracks cross a dry riverbed in Kruger.

The camper next to me fires up his grill at the Malelane rest camp, drawing attention from a curious hyena. "Does that electric fence work?" I asked. "Yeah, mate, that's not an electric fence," he replied. That wasn't very reassuring late at night in my ultralight tent. This is the campsite where I woke to an angry leopard snarling and roaring in the nearby scrub and bolted out of my tent for my car in the pre-dawn dark.

Hyena cubs stay quiet while waiting along a park road for the rest of their clan. The babies are still too young to join the evening hunts and must be careful to avoid lions.

Lions and hyenas do not get along. Hyenas will try to kill nomadic lions like this one who does not have the protection of a pride. For lions and hyenas both, there is safety in numbers.

Bigger than males, the females rule the clan. They have a bizarre physiology. This old female slowly got up from her nap when she saw her mate bringing food back to the den.

A baby hyena curls up like a dog. Hyenas are neither dogs nor cats but are in their own family, which includes the brown hyena, striped hyena and aardwolf. I captured an aardwolf on my trail camera in Kenya as it walked past our bush camp one night.

The mother hyena picked an old warthog burrow under a bush for her den. Two to four cubs is typical for spotted hyenas. 

Like most predators, hyenas are almost always on the move. They cover vast distances each day in search of prey. 

Hyenas are smart and resilient survivors. I was happy to get to spend so much time with them.