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In East Africa, Tabwa mythology portrays the spotted hyena as a solar animal that first brought the sun to warm the cold earth. [4] In the culture of the Mbugwe in Tanzania, the spotted hyena is linked to witchcraft. According to Mbugwe folklore, every witch possesses one or more hyenas, which are referred to as "night cattle" and are branded ...
The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), also known as the laughing hyena, [3] is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus Crocuta, native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUCN due to its widespread range and large numbers estimated between 27,000 and 47,000 individuals. [ 1 ]
The spotted hyena is very vocal, producing a number of different sounds consisting of whoops, grunts, groans, lows, giggles, yells, growls, laughs and whines. [47] The striped hyena is comparatively silent, its vocalizations being limited to a chattering laugh and howling. [48] Whoop of a spotted hyena in Umfolosi Game Park, South Africa.
Hyenas roam the streets of the ancient walled city of Harar in eastern Ethiopia every night, seeking scraps of meat to drag to the nearby caves. Hyenas spark admiration, not fear, in Ethiopia's ...
The brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea), also called strandwolf, [4] is a species of hyena found in Namibia, Botswana, western and southern Zimbabwe, [5] southern Mozambique and South Africa. [6] It is the only extant species in the genus Parahyaena .
The hyena men feed the hyenas by mouth, using pieces of raw meat provided by spectators. [3] Tourists usually organise to watch the spectacle through a guide for a negotiable rate. [4] As of 2002, the practice was on the decline, with only two practicing hyena men left in Harar. [3]
It is still unclear whether the genus evolved in Africa or Asia, although the oldest known fossils are from Africa and dated to about 3.8 mya. [1] The earliest remains from Asia currently attributed to the genus is Crocuta honanensis from the Early Pleistocene of China dating to around 2.5-2.2 million years ago, but its relationship to the living spotted hyena is ambiguous.
A hyena as depicted in a medieval bestiary. Werehyena is a neologism coined in analogy to werewolf for therianthropy involving hyenas. It is common in the folklore of the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Near East as well as some adjacent territories. Unlike werewolves and other therianthropes, which are ...