Introduction
The Spotted Hyena is known to be a vicious animal that could harm anything but when you look deeper, they are much more than that. Do you know that the Spotted Hyena can be capable of digesting skin, bones, and wastes from their prey, and their average meal is 14.5kgs! The Spotted Hyena can leap into action anytime they detect their prey vulnerable, and in the open alone. The spectacular Spotted Hyena is the biggest and best in the hyena range. Did you know that the Spotted Hyenas weight can vary from 50-86 kgs.
Habitat
The Spotted Hyenas habitat can range from hot dusty, sweat dripping Sub-Saharan desert sun and tanned grass to the cooler air of the Amazon rain forest, where they can rest and get energy for their next big feed. The Spotted Hyena firstly originated from Asia but their habitat was destroyed by the ‘Nate Pleistocene Age’.
Physical Description
The Crocuta Crocuta (scientific name) is known to have blacks spots on their sandy fur, that could also be black or brown. The Spotted Hyena is 1.3 metres long and has a long, scruffy tail that wigs and wags when they detect prey on the horizon. It's been scientifically proven that female Spotted Hyenas are 10% heavier than the normal male!
Diet
The Spotted Hyena is an omnivore, although they prefer meat, and also have a reputation for eating leftovers from other animals. The Crocuta Crocuta hunt in groups to keep each other protected from the sizable and aged Lions. Their diet consists of wilderbeast, zebra, and various kinds of antelope species. The most common way of dying is from lions, due to battles to get prey.
Interesting Facts
The immense rival of the Spotted Hyena is the lion because they live in similar habitats. They don't live in dens for resting, they bargain on finding shaded holes and pools during the day, where they splash and have fun to keep themselves nice and cool, just in case they encounter prey they are ready to pounce. Out of the many species of hyenas, the Spotted Hyena is the largest and most common. The spotted hyena can reach up to 60 kilometres per hour which Louis Leakey said;"although we followed that hyena for the best part of half an hour, we never caught up with it".
