I never knew hyenas were so interesting. On our four game drives in the Mara we saw lots of hyenas. They look like cute little dogs. I never heard them "laughing" though. Wednesday evening, some young people invited us to a lecture about hyenas at the hotel. If we hadn't seen so many, I wouldn't have been interested. Because we saw so many, I was definitely interested. Plus, I could see that no one was there and they had set up lots of chairs and I wanted to support. (That's the mother in me). They were university students from Michigan State University. Researchers from MSU have been studying hyenas in the Mara since 1998. It was a fascinating lecture.
We learned that hyenas are not members of the dog or the cat families but they are a species all on their own. But they are more related to cats than to dogs. They hunt in groups and can bring down large prey such as wildebeest. Even a large clan of hyena can drive a pride of lion from a kill. They can eat a zebra in less than 30 minutes! A hyena has very strong jaws (probably the strongest in the animal kingdom) and can even chew through a giraffe's leg. They live in groups and females are dominant. They have a very strict social structure. You can learn more about their Masai Mara Hyena Project at <www.msuhyenas.blogspot.com>.
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| The university students told us we were lucky to see a hyena family. They are not usually very visible. |
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| This hyena was following the cheetah that was following the herd of antelope. I'm sure he got a tummy-full before the morning was over. |
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