Hyena Facts
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- Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
- Brown Hyena (Hyaena brunnea)
- Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena)
- Aardwolf (Proteles cristata)
share more physiological features with mongooses and cats, and therefore fit into the Feliforma suborder of carnivores.
All four species are native to the African continent and/or the Middle East. The largest, and most well known species, the Spotted Hyena, is a predator that, contrary to most carnivores, hunts in packs.
Hyena habitat preferences differ from species to species, but generally they adapt to all sorts of habitats except for dense tropical rain forests.
With the exception of the Aardwolf, whose diet consists solely of termites, the Hyena diet varies. Because it has a taste for livestock, it has also been classified as a pest.
The 1919 edition of Encyclopedia America reveals the age old facts and human biases against the Hyena that live with use today. They say,
"Hyenas are nocturnal animals which pass the day in solitude in caves or other hiding places, which they quit at night in order to seek their prey in bands.
Carrion is a favorite food, and the stench attracts the hyena by night as it does the vulture by day. In some cases they dig up dead bodies and devour them. They also prey on living animals, and flocks of sheep and goats suffer severely from their ravages in some localities."
© 2010. Patricia A. Michaels