Two locations with aardwolves that have not been mentioned are Edinburgh, and Hamerton. The latter collection keeps both subspecies of Aardwolf.
Why All The Hate for Hyenas?- Hyena Discussions
- Thread starter BeardsleyZooFan
- Start date
When I found out about the female hyena's reproduction system and what she goes through to give birth, I had a new respect for this animal! I have not seen many hyena exhibits, but I would agree Buffalo Zoo has a nice one. I would often see the hyena come right up to the glass window.
The hyenas do have a spectacularly weird social system. I think it would make a fascinating zoo exhibit to highlight this and maybe someone has, but I haven't seen it. I've been to a talk by Lawrence Frank who studies the spotted hyenas in the wild in Kenya, and he said that even experts have trouble telling males and females apart!
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
I have seen all four hyena species, even without including the Berlin Tierpark collection. Having said that, relatively few zoos seem to exhibit these animals; there are none in NZ and only three Australian zoos have them (none of which I have visited). They seem to be generally kept behind moats, although a few places have them behind fences. Only one exhibit has been at all inspiring.
The first (and best) hyena exhibit I have seen is for Spotted Hyena at Singapore Night Safari (they also have Striped Hyena). It was totally dark when I saw the spotteds, and there were no visible barriers between me and the hyenas. And they were clearly hunting me. Which made me feel a bit nervous, but certainly illustrated that these animals are not just cowardly scavengers as typically portrayed. The exhibit itself was probably not especially stunning,
The first (and best) hyena exhibit I have seen is for Spotted Hyena at Singapore Night Safari (they also have Striped Hyena). It was totally dark when I saw the spotteds, and there were no visible barriers between me and the hyenas. And they were clearly hunting me. Which made me feel a bit nervous, but certainly illustrated that these animals are not just cowardly scavengers as typically portrayed. The exhibit itself was probably not especially stunning,
The obituary for the Sacramento Zoo's spotted hyena (http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/13/4982936/sacramento-zoos-hyena-dies-at.html) highlights a major problem in exhibiting hyenas, which is that they are nocturnal.
At one time Disney was considering building an addition to Animal Kingdom called Night Kingdom that would have included a nocturnal hyena exhibit. That might have been spectacular. Night Kingdom to reimagine the Disney-theme-park-going experience
At one time Disney was considering building an addition to Animal Kingdom called Night Kingdom that would have included a nocturnal hyena exhibit. That might have been spectacular. Night Kingdom to reimagine the Disney-theme-park-going experience
But instead they are doing "Avatar Land", sorry, I meant "JAMES CAMERON'S Avatar Land". Sigh.
There are rumors percolating through Disney rumor-land that Cameron is being extremely difficult to work with and that Avatar-land may vaporize. For a long time people have wondered why they don't build a "Star Wars" land with a galactic zoo theme. Apparently Lucas was very resistant to giving up any theme park rights beyond "Star Tours". That would no longer be an issue.
To bring it back on topic, maybe the Galactic Zoo could feature space hyenas.
James Cameron being difficult to work with?! I am in a state of surprise!
Has he arrived in New Zealand yet? He's going to be your neighbor! There was an article in the New York Times that he bought a big estate with a lot of eel habitat on it.
he's been here lots already. He has bought land here, and I think he's filming the Avatar sequels here too.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has a program called the Serengeti Night Safari where participants go into Edge of Africa, the exhibit complex with the hyenas, lions, hippos, etc., at night to see the animals when they're most active. I imagine that this would be an excellent chance to observe hyenas. However, I'm sure most of the participants are more looking forward to feeding the giraffes or getting their "adult beverages," rather than look at the hyenas.
OhSnapItsKirby
Member
There is still a female aardwolf and a pair of striped hyenas, both of which are behind the scenes.
I think Life of Pi kind of trashes the species and makes them appear as monsters. Unfortunetly, it is kind of correct in their description. They are very efficient killers. Yet Lions aren't really portrayed this way mostly.
~Thylo
~Thylo
Two days ago I was at Wildlife World Zoo with a couple volunteers from my zoo (Reid Park). One had just returned from a zoo sponsored trip to Tanzania and after seeing the hyenas there they are now one of her favorites. She was very glad to see them at Wildlife World (spotted hyenas) and wanted a stuffed hyena in their gift shop, but it was too pricey.
Out Of Africa also has a pair of spotted hyenas and if you follow the staff during their feeding they entice them to howl (not sure the best term) and it is amazing to hear it up close.
The Living Desert had aardwolf years ago and I would love to see them have it again. They do have spotted hyena.
Out Of Africa also has a pair of spotted hyenas and if you follow the staff during their feeding they entice them to howl (not sure the best term) and it is amazing to hear it up close.
The Living Desert had aardwolf years ago and I would love to see them have it again. They do have spotted hyena.
That exhibit has since been divided into three separate enclosures. Of the four I saw the other day, one is separated from the others. With the possibility of UC Berkeley's federal funding not being renewed, I believe there are still plans to move most if not all twenty hyenas to the Oakland Zoo.
BeardsleyZooFan said:
While not exactly a public exhibit, UC Berkeley's Hyena Colony has done some interesting work on hyena biology. For example, I didn't know that their immune systems were highly, highly resistant to anthrax. Could a possible cure be engineered from this?
If you're interested in donating to the group (or just want more information), check out their site: Hyena Fund!
Berkeley's official site for the Field Station for the Study of Behavior, Ecology, and Reproduction Research can be found here.
Embedding video doesn't seem to work, so check out a quick video
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It wouldn't break my heart if Avatar Land vaporized. That concept is ridiculous for a place like Animal Kingdom. (Maybe just because I can't stand James Cameron). They need to use that space to create some new spaces for animals. Maybe an Australia/New Guinea area or some areas with Arctic exhibits that are air-conditioned and let the visitors cool down after walking in that sweltering heat.
To bring this back on topic, it would be nice if they could figure out a way to incorporate spotted hyenas somewhere in the African area and/or striped hyenas in the Asian-themed area.
It wouldn't break my heart if Avatar Land vaporized. That concept is ridiculous for a place like Animal Kingdom. (Maybe just because I can't stand James Cameron). They need to use that space to create some new spaces for animals. Maybe an Australia/New Guinea area or some areas with Arctic exhibits that are air-conditioned and let the visitors cool down after walking in that sweltering heat.
To bring this back on topic, it would be nice if they could figure out a way to incorporate spotted hyenas somewhere in the African area and/or striped hyenas in the Asian-themed area.
Agreed. Disney needs to convert this exhibit space into more land for animals as people tend to visit Animal Kingdom for the animals. I think they should get Striped Hyenas as they are rarer in the US and I think Disney might be able to breed them if they build a nice enough exhibit.
~Thylo
Jordan-Jaguar97
Well-Known Member
As previously mentioned, Berlin would be the ideal place to see all four Hyena species (Aardwolf, Brown, Spotted and Striped). In the UK, only Colchester keeps Spotted, it was thought a few years ago that they would phase the species out, they only had an elderly male. It was great to hear that they revealed they'd be bringing a potential breeding pair to the Zoo. Brown Hyenas at PL are very elusive so I've been told.