Snapshot Serengeti Talk

Gazelle v hyena?

  • Mufti by Mufti

    Will a #Hyena chase down a #Gazelle?

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  • tillydad by tillydad moderator

    Yes, the Spotted Hyena is capable of taking gazelles, and other ungulates . The Hyena may hunt singly ( although this is rare), in pairs or as part of a clan and they tend to prey upon the smaller or weaker members of a herd of ungulates . The modus operandi is to approach the target species at walking pace, which does not signal danger to them, and then charge at running pace when the hyenas have come quite close . Once the hyenas and the quarry have burst into a run the hyenas will spot a target animal and will concentrate upon that one . The target animal is usually a young or weakened member of the herd . They will run the target to the point of exhaustion and then move in for the kill.

    A kill is achieved by disembowelment, the hyenas do not have a "kill" bite such as that used by the cats (lions,leopards,cheetah) and it may take a few minutes for the prey to die . The hyenas will consume virtually all of the dead animal, the only exceptions being the rumen and the large horn bosses of wildebeest and buffalo . Other predators leave as much as 30 to 40 % of the prey unconsumed .

    Hyenas will, wherever possible, scavenge but are formidable hunters . Their reputation as skulking, craven scavengers that steal food from other animals is not justified . Although they lack the social cohesion of lions or wild dogs they are apex predators that co-operate in hunting very successfully.

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  • DZM by DZM admin in response to tillydad's comment.

    A kill is achieved by disembowelment, the hyenas do not have a "kill" bite such as that used by the cats (lions,leopards,cheetah) and it may take a few minutes for the prey to die .

    Eek. Combine this with the "laugh," the female psuedopenis thing, the bone-crushing bite force... It's not wholly surprising that hyenas have never had the best reputation in human cultures. (Or have they? Are there any African cultures that venerated the hyena?)

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  • tillydad by tillydad moderator in response to DZM's comment.

    I think that the reputation of the hyena is completely undeserved. They have suffered from an antipathy from we humans which is unwarranted . I am not aware of the cultural reputation of the hyena amongst African peoples, but in Western culture it is always portrayed in an extremely unflattering way.

    Let's all try to see the hyena in a positive light. I feel a campaign coming on !! LOL

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