Summary
The beautiful African grassland is a magical and charming holy land. There are a large number of birds and beasts living on the endless grassland, including many ferocious carnivorous beasts. In order to survive, fight for food and territory, the vast prairie is full of dangers and dangers.
Speaking of carnivorous beasts on the African grasslands, the lion is undoubtedly the No.1! So, who is second to it? The answer may come as a bit of a surprise: African hyenas!
On the surface, compared with its competitors, hyena does not seem to be in an advantageous position. But the puzzling question is how do hyenas retain their place in this cruel carnivorous world?
Smiling African Hyena
Hyenas are the most important carnivorous animals on the African grasslands. The front half of their bodies is larger than the back half, and they look tilted forward, somewhat like a male. They actually belong to the suborder Cat, and are more closely related to the civet . Adult hyenas are 95-165 cm long and weigh 30-40 kg. Females are significantly larger than males. Their fur is khaki or brown, with short manes on their backs.
African hyenas are often mistaken for scavengers. In fact, they are very ferocious predators. Most of their food is live prey, including antelope, zebra, wildebeest, etc.
They rest in the grass or in caves during the day and wander around at night, looking for food. They like to hunt in groups, and sometimes as many as fifty or sixty of them hunt together in an organized way on large and medium-sized herbivorous animals such as antelopes and wildebeests. It can even kill a half-ton African wild buffalo.
If we talk about their most striking feature, it is their hideous laughter. Howlings and creepy laughter can be heard from deep in the dark and windy grasslands at night, and it is the hyenas that are hunting their prey. Sometimes I think that maybe it was its terrifying cry that attracted the lion. After finally hunting for food, the lion cut off the beard. Faced with lions, which are more ferocious than hyenas, hyenas usually have to bear the pain and hide and watch, waiting to pick up the lion's remaining meat.
The social system of hyenas is highly complex, and female hyenas occupy an absolute dominant position.
The social system of hyenas is very similar to the maternal organization of baboons . As long as there is sufficient food, a hyena group can grow to hundreds of animals. This tribe contains multiple matrilines or derived matrilineal families.
In the social group of hyenas, female hyenas have the same individual responsibilities as males and do not have the disadvantages of female mammals in the usual sense. Like baboons, females will vigorously maintain their social status as matrilines within the tribe, and matrilineal dominance relationships within the tribe are fairly stable over many generations. But unlike baboons and most other mammals, female hyenas are more aggressive than males and dominate.
When large carnivorous animals such as lions and wolves eat in groups, their cubs are often placed at the end, so when food is scarce, a large number of cubs will starve to death. This situation is very rare among hyenas, probably because the female's aggression ensures that she and her cubs eat. Especially high-ranking female hyenas always have priority when competition for food is fierce.
There is a simple way to increase the aggressiveness of animals. Intense competition for food will make aggressive female juveniles. Increasing androgens (male hormones) at the appropriate period of embryonic development can make adult mammals more aggressive (this process occurs during the development of male embryos, androgen comes from the developing testicles of the embryo). Therefore, higher-than-normal levels of male hormones can be injected into the developing embryo in the uterus to increase its aggressiveness.
In the fierce competition for food, status is the decisive factor. Only the dominant female hyena and her offspring are allowed to stay and enjoy the spoils.High-level hyenas often leave two or three times more offspring than low-level hyenas, thus ensuring that their offspring continue to maintain high-level status in the tribe. The status of hyenas in the tribe has obvious "hereditary" characteristics. When the adult cubs grow up, they learn from their mothers who can give orders and whose orders they must obey.
Hyena's ranking is a mystery
On the surface, compared with its competitors, Hyena does not seem to be in an advantageous position. But the puzzling question is, how do hyenas retain their place in this cruel world of predators?
The lion has a strong body and fast movements. Its unparalleled speed and strength are its advantages in hunting large prey. Cheetahs usually hunt alone and are perfect tracking and sneak attack experts. They mainly prey on small and medium-sized prey.
In lakes and rivers, Nile crocodiles play the dual roles of hunting and scavenging. Among these outstanding competitors, the hyena not only survived but also achieved a certain status. Hyenas, which weigh more than 30 kilograms, do not have the strength of lions or the speed of cheetahs, and they do not even have the robust and streamlined body of other carnivores. However, their status in Africa far exceeds that of cheetahs. Among terrestrial carnivores, hyenas are considered second only to lions as hunters.
On the African grasslands, it is estimated that hyenas are distributed at 1.7 per square kilometer, while lions are 1 per square kilometer and wolves are only 0.4.
Hyenas can achieve this density number because they are extremely efficient predators. They work together to track down and bring down large mammals, later eating the entire prey.
A hyena is a bone digestion machine. It has teeth and strong jaw muscles that can crush bones. It has a digestive system that can absorb the fat and protein contained in fresh bones. Of course, it also has abundant energy and a flexible mind.
Female hyenas are larger than male hyenas, and it is also the female hyenas that dominate the group. The unique aggressive characteristics of high-ranking female hyenas result from masculinization caused by group hunting habits.
Once the hunting is completed, the competition for food is very fierce. As many as twenty or thirty hyenas will fight to share the food of a zebra or wildebeest. Each hyena will do its best to compete with its companions to eat the prey quickly. This process usually does not exceed 20 minutes.
This habit of grabbing food makes hyenas become gluttons in African indigenous legends. While the prey may be captured by male hyenas during a cooperative hunt, they can only leave after the female hyena arrives.
Such a powerful female hyena, under her leadership, the race continues to multiply. It can be said that it is a gang of robbers with a queen as its head.
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