Striped Hyena: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Wild Hunters · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. Once in a while, a striped hyena travels and lives with a wolf pack. The hyena brings a sharper nose and more strength, the wolves better tracking.
2. Of all the hyenas that crunch bones, it is the smallest, yet its powerful jaw muscles can splinter a camel's thigh bone.
3. Striped hyenas are born already wearing their stripes. Spotted hyena babies, by contrast, start out black with no markings.
4. Hyena parents stay as a pair. The father helps set up the den, then helps raise and feed the cubs.
5. It is not a fussy eater. In the Caucasus, grasshoppers are a key seasonal food, and in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, it feasts on wild fruit.

The quiz

1. Which animal does the striped hyena sometimes team up with?

• Lions
• Wolves (correct)
• Elephants
• Bears

Rarely, striped hyenas travel and live with wolf packs, and neither harms the other.

2. What can the striped hyena's strong bite splinter?

• A camel's thigh bone (correct)
• A tortoise shell made of stone
• A metal fence
• An elephant's tusk

Its jaw muscles are strong enough to splinter the thigh bone of a camel.

3. What do newborn striped hyena cubs look like?

• All black with no markings
• Pure white
• Covered in spots
• Already striped like adults (correct)

Cubs are born with their adult markings, unlike black spotted hyena cubs.

4. What does the striped hyena father do?

• He leaves after mating
• He chases the cubs away
• He helps set up the den and feed the cubs (correct)
• He only guards the den entrance

The male sets up the den with the female and helps raise and feed the cubs.

5. In the Caucasus, which small animals are an important seasonal food for striped hyenas?

• Snails
• Butterflies
• Grasshoppers (correct)
• Earthworms

In the Caucasus, grasshoppers are an important seasonal food.

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