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Spotted hyenas interacting aggressively in the Masai Mara Spotted hyenas greeting one another in Kruger National Park. Spotted hyenas have a complex set of postures in communication. When afraid, the ears are folded flat, and are often combined with baring of the teeth and a flattening of the mane.
Spotted hyenas have also been found to catch fish, tortoises, humans, black rhino, hippo calves, young African elephants, pangolins and pythons. [7] There is at least one record of four hyenas killing an adult or subadult hippopotamus in Kruger National Park. [8] Spotted hyenas may consume leather articles such as boots and belts around campsites.
Crocuta is a genus of hyena containing the largest extant member of the family, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). Several fossil species are also known, with the Pleistocene Eurasian cave hyenas either being regarded as distinct species or subspecies of the spotted hyena.
The mammalian pseudo-penis appears to be simply for display, though the spotted hyena is an exception: the female spotted hyena urinates, copulates, and gives birth through her pseudo-penis. This prevents males from mating without the full co-operation of females, which means that mating preferences of the female are predominant. [6]
Spotted hyena attacks on humans are underreported. During 1960 coup and the Red Terror, [10] hyenas were reported extensively fed on human corpses. In El Kere and Bare of south-eastern Ethiopia, 50 people were attacked by hyena in the year 1998/1999, of which of majority of them (35 out of 55) were children.
Spotted hyenas vary in their folkloric and mythological depictions, depending on the ethnic group from which the tales originate. It is often difficult to know whether spotted hyenas are the specific hyena species featured in such stories, particularly in West Africa, as both spotted and striped hyenas are often given the same names.
Spotted hyenas feature prominently in the rituals of certain African cultures. In the Gelede cult of the Yoruba people of Benin and Southwest Nigeria, a spotted hyena mask is used at dawn to signal the end of the èfè ceremony. As the spotted hyena usually finishes the meals of other carnivores, the animal is associated with the conclusion of ...
One of the "hyena men" feeding a spotted hyena. Written records indicate that spotted hyenas have been present in the walled Ethiopian city of Harar for at least 500 years, where they sanitise the city by feeding on its organic refuse. [1] The practice of regularly feeding them did not begin until the 1960s.