Hyena

The hyena is a medium-sized meat-eating mammal that lives in Africa and parts of Asia. Hyenas look a little like dogs, but they are not part of the dog family. They belong to their own small animal family called Hyaenidae. Their closest relatives are actually cats, civets, and mongooses.

There are four kinds of hyena alive today. The spotted hyena is the biggest and most famous. It can weigh up to 190 pounds, about as much as a grown man. The striped hyena and the brown hyena are smaller. The aardwolf is the smallest and the strangest, because it mostly eats termites.

Hyenas have powerful bodies built for endurance. Their front legs are longer than their back legs, which gives them a sloping back and a loping run. They can jog for miles without getting tired. Their jaws are some of the strongest of any mammal. A spotted hyena can crush the leg bone of a buffalo with one bite. Their stomachs can digest bone, hoof, and even horn.

Spotted hyenas live in groups called clans. A clan can have up to 80 members. Females run the clan, and they are usually bigger than the males. A mother hyena's daughters stay with her for life, while the sons leave to join other clans when they grow up. Inside the den, cubs drink their mother's milk for more than a year, longer than almost any other meat-eating mammal.

People often picture hyenas as cowardly scavengers that only steal food from lions. This is mostly wrong. Spotted hyenas hunt about two-thirds of what they eat. They chase down zebras, wildebeests, and antelope in long pack hunts. In many places, lions actually steal food from hyenas instead of the other way around. Scientists who study both animals have watched it happen again and again.

Hyenas make many sounds, including grunts, yells, and whoops that carry for miles across the savanna. The spotted hyena is also called the "laughing hyena" because of a high, giggling call it makes when it is excited or nervous. Each hyena's laugh sounds a little different, and other hyenas can tell who is calling.

In many old stories from Africa and the Middle East, hyenas are tricksters or bad omens. In real life, they are smart social animals. Some scientists think spotted hyenas can solve problems almost as well as chimpanzees, and clan life keeps them working together every day.