Hyenas are one of the most famous wild animals in the African savannah and currently have four breeds, divided into spotted hyenas, striped hyenas, brown hyenas and coyotes. Hyenas are also one of the seven beasts of the African savannah, known as the "second brother of the savannah" in Africa, and also known as the director of the wild proctology department on the grassland. Hyenas are actually an interesting animal, and many people have a lot of misunderstandings about it.
Hyena species
First, hyenas are not dogs, not canines, but one of the general cats, and are more closely related to felines.
Although there is a dog word in the name of the hyena, it is not actually a canine, but its appearance and behavior are similar to those of canines, so there are some misunderstandings in the naming. Hyenas belong to the hyena family in the general type of felines in the taxonomy and are more closely related to felines in terms of belonging.
This naming misunderstanding is actually related to the living environment of hyenas, which is not uncommon. We all know that cats are good at hiding themselves, like to walk alone and ambush prey, while in the African savannah, the lack of obvious hidden environment, carnivores are more difficult to hunt, compared to other cats, cats living on the African savanna, their lifestyle is closer to that of canines.
Hyena classification
Lions, for example, have been suggested in some studies to classify lions as canines because lions are rare social cats and behave in a manner similar to canines. The situation of hyenas is similar, except that they also have obvious canine characteristics in their appearance characteristics, so people once classified hyenas as canines.
Second, hyena bite force is strong, eat meat without spitting bones, love scavenger, known as the "scavenger" on the grassland.
The largest of the hyenas is the spotted hyena, and its bite force is very amazing, can reach about a thousand pounds, this bite force is more powerful than the lion, the lion's bite force is about six hundred pounds.
Hyena scavenging
Hyenas have a strong bite force, but do not rely on this advantage to hunt, hyenas are not good at hunting, but love scavenging, and strong bite force gives them a more advantage in scavenging, they can crush the bones of their prey and swallow them into the abdomen.
Hyenas are indispensable animals on the grassland, which also answers a question for many people, that is, thousands of life and death games are staged on the grassland every day, but a large number of white bones are rarely found, thanks to hyenas. Even bones, hairs, hooves and other debris left over from being eaten by lions, leopards and other beasts of prey will be eaten clean by hyenas, which is the "scavenger" on the grassland and has a great effect on maintaining the ecological environment on the grassland.
Third, he likes to hide food, does not love hunting but likes to rob prey, and is the "steppe robber" in Africa.
Hyenas not only like to eat scavenger, but also like to hide food, which makes their lives more relaxed. Hyenas do not run fast, it is difficult to actively catch prey, in order to get enough food, hyenas prefer to rob the prey of other beasts, whether lions, leopards or wild dogs, etc., are often ransacked by hyenas, is the "steppe bandits" in Africa.
Hyenas take prey
The strength of the hyenas that appear in groups cannot be underestimated, in the lion group without the protection of the male lion, the prey it captures is also easy to be robbed by the hyena, and once the hyena group exceeds the lion group in number, it will continue to impact the female lion in a dense formation, and the female lion is difficult to defeat with two fists and four hands, and the abdomen and back are subject to the enemy and have to give up the prey. Over time, the conflict between lions and hyenas is difficult to reconcile, and male lions can often be seen attacking hyenas, and hyena groups will seize every opportunity to weaken the lions.
In addition to lions, leopards, cheetahs, and wild dogs and other beasts of prey are even less dominant in front of hyenas, even if they are single-handed, powerful leopards are not opponents of adult hyenas, and hyenas have thus sat firmly in the "second chair" of the African grassland. Hyenas often follow other beasts of prey, and once the other party catches food, they sit back and enjoy it.
Fourth, the cruel and despicable attack method, with one hand pulling out the skill to crown the grassland, is known as the director of the proctology department on the grassland.
Hyenas and elephants
Although the main food source of hyenas comes from scavenging, this does not affect the status of hyenas in the grassland, on the contrary, in the African grassland, animals are no less afraid of hyenas than lions, or even more so, why? The answer lies in the hyena's brutal and almost despicable form of attack.
Hyenas are good at attacking the buttocks of prey, and the one-handed pulling skill makes the animals on the grassland avoid it, and the herbivores naturally do not need to say that they are not willing to approach the hyenas. Even the male lion, who is the king of the steppe, has to crouch on the ground in the face of the siege of hyenas to avoid attacking his hips.
Hyenas and lions
In the grassland, this kind of attack on the anorectal aspect is not exclusive to hyenas, and wild dogs have similar skills, but in comparison, wild dogs are not used in a proper way, and hyenas are more skilled, and even have a little "one trick to eat all over the sky", so it is a well-deserved "director of proctology" on the grassland.
Fifth, not afraid of lions and leopards, only afraid of small donkeys, hyenas have never hurt people?
Hyenas are not low in the African savannah, with strong bite force and unique attack methods that make their lives easy. Not afraid of tiredness and hunger, lions and leopards are made for them, they are not afraid of the challenge of lions and leopards, and they are more comfortable beasts living in the African savannah.
Hyenas and small children
But this beast has a little-known characteristic, that is, it is afraid of donkeys, and there is never a record of hurting people. Hyenas often move around human tribes, picking up some human food waste, compared with other feline beasts that are very aggressive, hyenas are very friendly to humans, forming a stable reciprocal relationship with local tribes, and their presence can also form a deterrent to other beasts, inadvertently forming a protection for local tribes.
After all, hyenas are beasts, and sometimes they will sneak attack human domestic animals, but soldiers will block, water will cover the soil, and humans also have a way to deal with it, that is, to raise a few small donkeys in the livestock herd, and the role of these donkeys is very obvious. I don't know why, the mighty hyena on the grassland, facing the little donkey, is very afraid, it is simply no countermeasure.
Hyenas and donkeys
Of course, this is all due to the intelligence and agility of the donkey, although the donkey has no sharp teeth, but the mouth is large, and the neck of the mouth is very strong, and the hyena can be easily lifted from the ground. More importantly, the donkey is good at using the advantage of height and length, using the body to suppress the hyena, always suppressing the hyena on a horizontal line, just like the top of the mountain, so that the hyena can not show its "professional knowledge", there is no way to check the "anorectum" of the donkey.
In front of the little donkey, the majestic grassland "director of proctology" for the first time doubted his professional skills, which may be its nemesis.