In the African savannah, there are many hordes of carnivores, the spotted hyena. The spotted hyena looks like a dog, but in fact it is not a close relative of the dog, but is closer to the blood relationship of the cat. Spotted hyenas belong to the same hyena family as striped hyenas, brown hyenas, and coyotes, and although they are all hyenas that look very similar, the four of them have reproductive isolation.
Of the four hyenas, the only one notorious for pulling out anus is the African spotted hyena. Because the prey caught by the spotted hyena with its anus often does not die immediately, but is eaten directly alive by the hyena, the spotted hyena is also called an "ominous creature" by the outside world.
But I tell you, "cruel", "obscene", "ugly", "unlucky" are all human stereotypes of hyenas!
There are two major misconceptions about spotted hyenas:
The first misconception: Hyenas are keen on pulling out their anus and like to eat them alive!
Second misconception: hyenas are more cruel than lions and tigers!
The first misunderstanding, many people say that spotted hyenas like to dig their anus, in fact, this is a fallacy!
Why do hyenas choose to attack with their anals instead of biting their necks like lions and tigers?
You have to figure out first, why can lions and tigers easily bite the neck of their prey?
The reason is that the front paws of the lion tiger are sharp, and the muscular joints of the forefoot are flexible and can be curled up at will. This is why lions and tigers can easily grasp their prey and take their mouths from anywhere.
In contrast, the hyena has very short and blunt paws, the flat joints of the four paw muscles are inflexible and cannot be curled up at will, and the hyena's paws are difficult to use to attack prey, but they are suitable for endurance running.
In other words, the claws of the lion and tiger are fierce, but they are not suitable for long-distance running, so the lion and tiger must fight quickly to attack the deadly points of the prey; the hyena claws are not sharp, but they are suitable for long-distance running, so the hyena can only attack the weakest buttocks of the prey to slowly drag the prey to death.
Hyenas don't actually want to attack their hips.
The reason is that the risk of death is much greater than that of a lion tiger attacking the neck of a prey!
Herbivores have amazing kicking power in their hind legs, and hyenas are small in size, and once they are kicked by "big legs" such as buffalo and giraffes, they will often die of serious injuries.
The individual mortality rate of hyena predation is several times that of tigers and lions, but fortunately hyenas have strong reproductive ability to avoid extinction.
The second misunderstanding, the world says that spotted hyenas are cruel by nature, that is also a fallacy!
First of all, I don't think it's cruel for spotted hyenas to attack the anus.
While it may seem cruel for hyenas to attack their anus without causing their prey to die right away, so do other carnivores!
Lions and tigers often attack the buttocks of their prey and eat it alive, but everyone selectively ignores it.
The hyena's main offensive means is to dig out the anus, which is determined by its body structure, not that it is cruel by nature, it is just to survive!
Secondly, spotted hyenas have a much gentler temperament than tigers and lions.
If you go to Africa, you can find that although hyenas are not as good as tigers, lions, and domestic dogs, the temperament of hyenas is more tame than many fierce dogs such as horse dogs and pit bulls, which is why many Africans raise hyenas as "pets" for family hunting.
Because the world has demonized hyenas, many tourists to Africa like to interfere with hyena predation and even shoot hyenas with guns and bows, which has caused a sharp decline in the population of hyenas and seriously damaged the ecological balance of the African grasslands. In 2015, the African spotted hyena was included in the IUCN List of Threatened Red Species, which is more endangered than the giant panda.
You know now how hard it is for hyenas, right?