Hyenas can rightly be called omnivorous animals. They are not selective in food (except for the earthwolf who prefers to eat insects) and eat anything that smells of flesh. These animals deserve the reputation of unsurpassed scavengers, able to cleanly swallow any corpse. But, despite these qualities, hyenas are also excellent hunters. Contrary to the prevailing opinion, hyenas prefer to hunt independently, and carrion is selected only if there is no suitable prey.
Spotted hyenas are one of the most formidable predators in Africa, on hunting they combine speed (up to 60 km / h), unsurpassed strength of their jaws, collective actions and special impudence. Life in the group allows hyenas to hunt even on such large ungulates as zebras, wildebeest, buffaloes and giraffes. But they are not limited to herbivorous victims – hyenas on occasion destroy all predators they can cope with: young, wounded or elderly lions, leopards, cheetahs. Large cats have mutual dislike towards hyenas and kill single hyenas caught in their way. Complementing this unpleasant picture is that hyenas do not die their victim, but simply eat it alive.
Hyenas do not have a specific breeding season. Pregnancy lasts about 100 days, the female gives birth to 1-3 young. To do this, she arranges a special lair in an independently dug hole, less often takes the burrows of other animals. All female flocks equip shelters nearby, forming a kind of “town”. Young hyenas are born monochrome black. Completely older, young hyenas become 3 years old.
