Favorite hyena species?

Alex Roman

Alex Roman

Well-Known Member
To me, hyenas are rather underrated carnivores, but I like all four of them to be honest.

I really like spotted hyenas because of their well-known cackling noise and aardwolves because of their interesting diet of insects.
 
I wouldn't say that I have a "favourite", but I'm certainly a fan of anything and everything Hyaenidae. In the UK they're hugely underrepresented:

Spotted Hyena - Only two collections currently have this species on public display:
- Colchester - 1.2 individuals.
- Longleat - 2.0 individuals.
- Another UK collection has received 1.1 individuals, but they aren't yet on public display.
- Some are/were held in private hands - someone can confirm if they still are.

Aardwolf - Without going subspecific:
- Hamerton - 1.1 individuals.
- Hemsley - 1.0 individuals.

There are no Brown or Striped Hyena from what I know of in the UK (Unless there are any held privately, or at a collection I'm unaware of... I'm sure someone will quickly correct me if I'm wrong:p)

IMO - We need more in the UK!!! :D:D:D:D
 
ThomasNotTom said:
In the UK they're hugely underrepresented:
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Quite the knockback from a few short years ago when we had several collections keeping them, and were one of only two countries to have the full set.

Aardwolf is my favourite, I reckon.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Quite the knockback from a few short years ago when we had several collections keeping them, and were one of only two countries to have the full set.

Aardwolf is my favourite, I reckon.
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Were Colchester and Twycross the last to have striped? I seem to recall the female at Twycross leaving for somewhere in France? I've no clue what happened to the individual/individuals at Colchester.
 
Alex Roman said:
To me, hyenas are rather underrated carnivores, but I like all four of them to be honest.

I really like spotted hyenas because of their well-known cackling noise and aardwolves because of their interesting diet of insects.
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Striped are the prettiest, Spotted is the only one I've met socially (and she was charming!), never seen the mysterious Brown, or more than a brief view of the termite eater.
Really want to see a big social group on exhibit!
 
Luckily I've managed to see all species of the Hyaenidae in captivity except one (the aardwolf) and of them all it was undoubtedly the brown hyena which intrigued me most. I suppose this was mainly due to its rarity, ecology, and how little is known about these enigmatic animals in the wild.

However, on a more superficial level I'll freely admit that I was also impressed aesthetically by the distinctive appearance of the species. I think it strongly resembles the werewolf in the classic horror movie "An American werewolf in London".

I actually wouldn't be at all suprised if the film maker and his team based their design of the look of this fictional creature and the way it moves on the brown hyena.
 
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ThomasNotTom said:
Were Colchester and Twycross the last to have striped? I seem to recall the female at Twycross leaving for somewhere in France? I've no clue what happened to the individual/individuals at Colchester.
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Not quite; the last places to keep the species were Heythrop and Twycross (2017) and Belfast (2018), with Colchester (2011) and Suffolk (2015) somewhat less recently.

The two females from Twycross went to Dvur Kralove and Jihlava, both in the Czech Republic.
 
FBBird said:
Striped are the prettiest, Spotted is the only one I've met socially (and she was charming!), never seen the mysterious Brown, or more than a brief view of the termite eater.
Really want to see a big social group on exhibit!
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A good place to see Spotted hyena pack interactions is in Thoiry animal park in France, where they have, from memory, 2.4 Spotted hyenas. It is clear to see that the diminutive males are at the bottom of the pack and that the alpha female gets the lion's share of the food.
I watched them for around 2 hours on one visit, and got to know them quite well. One of the males was consistently getting bullied by the alpha female.

As for my favourite, that would be the brown hyena :)
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Not quite; the last places to keep the species were Heythrop and Twycross (2017) and Belfast (2018), with Colchester (2011) and Suffolk (2015) somewhat less recently.

The two females from Twycross went to Dvur Kralove and Jihlava, both in the Czech Republic.
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Oh yes, how could I forget Belfast! Thanks. I wasn't aware of Heythrops though, how interesting.
 
amur leopard said:
A good place to see Spotted hyena pack interactions is in Thoiry animal park in France, where they have, from memory, 2.4 Spotted hyenas. It is clear to see that the diminutive males are at the bottom of the pack and that the alpha female gets the lion's share of the food.
I watched them for around 2 hours on one visit, and got to know them quite well. One of the males was consistently getting bullied by the alpha female.

As for my favourite, that would be the brown hyena :)
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2.4? Does X.X represent the number of males on one side and females on the other side of the decimal?
 
How diurnal are Striped Hyaena? I presume Brown and Aardwolf are mostly nocturnal? Just wondering how other species than Spotted work as exhibit animals
 
Zoovolunteer said:
How diurnal are Striped Hyaena? I presume Brown and Aardwolf are mostly nocturnal? Just wondering how other species than Spotted work as exhibit animals
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Brown and Striped are pretty diurnal.
 
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