This is a new theme and there will be a new animal showcased once a month. I hope to provide you with some of the more interesting points in behaviour that all these animals portray beyond the normal understanding of the animal.
The hyaena, commonly seen as one of the less fortunate creatures when it comes to the beauty department, is true to nature and its form follows function. From its large head which allows for more space for bigger jaw muscles and even a ridge along the top of the skull for the jaw muscles to attach to. This makes sure the hyaena has one of the most powerful bites in the bush and allows for the crushing power needed to consume bones. Their strong stomach acids have the task of digesting the bone into a nutritional food source.
The longer front legs and large powerful neck allow for the ability to pick up heavy objects clear of the ground and run away from whatever they have stolen it from. The other reason for the long forelimbs is for long distance high speed running. Much like a pogo stick, the hyaena uses stored energy in the tendons in the legs to propel itself forward in a rocking motion from the front legs to back legs. This propels the hyaena to speeds up to 60 km/h which it can maintain for up to 3km. The question you may ask is ‘why have stamina like this?’ The main reason is for hunting. These incredible hunters use a different strategy to that of the cats, instead of ambushing their prey, they choose to run down prey over long distances. These types of hunters are known as coursers and they share this strategy with the most successful hunter of all, the wild dog. When chasing their prey over long distances the weaker animals will begin to fall behind as they tire and then become easy targets for the hunters. The prey is then killed by disembowelling and attacking major vessels. They are even more successful hunters than lions but would prefer to steal food that catch it themselves as this is far more energy efficient.
Their staple diet consists of medium sized and large ungulates such as blue wildebeest, zebra and impala but have also been recorded eating mice, birds, reptiles even fruit, eggs and garbage. In all, 43 different foods are recorded.
They live in groups, known as clans, which vary in size from 4 individuals to anything as large as 50 depending on food availability and in some smaller reserves can be the most dominant of all the predators in the reserve. These clans are female dominated and the lowest ranking female outranking the highest ranking male. Males basic purpose is mating and forms no other major role within the clan and the higher the rank of the male the better his choice of females. Females are so dominant that they are larger and produce more testosterone than the males. This has caused their vagina to close and their clitoris to become extended to form a ‘pseudopenis’. This makes it very difficult to tell male apart from female by looking at their bits and pieces. She will mate, urinate and give birth through this clitoris and due to its size, their first birth very often leads to miscarriage as the clitoris is just too small for the cub to get through.
Due to the nature of their food attainment which can mean travelling up to 70 km in a night searching for food, they often have to leave their cubs for extended periods. For this reason they have developed the richest milk in the bush which can sustain their cubs for up to 3 days. A lioness, for example, would have to feed her cubs at least once a day to ensure their survival.
Hyaenas can smell carrion from up to 4,2km away and can hear predators feeding from up to 10km away. Usually they will not be able to displace lions off a kill if there is a male present but without the male, the lionesses must be outnumbered four to one in order to take over the kill.
No comments:
Post a Comment