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Spotted hyena
Crocuta crocuta, Afrikaans: Gevlekte Hiëna
-23.9749, 31.531
Field Notes
Description:
The hyaena is a shaggy, untidy and opportunistic carnivore with a distinctive, sloping back. It is a member of the dog family, weighing around 60kg (males can be heavier) and standing at about 80cm at the shoulder.
Hyaenas have tremendously powerful jaws, capable of crushing the thigh bone of a buffalo in one movement.
Habitat:
Almost all hyaenas in Kruger are the spotted hyaena. They are found throughout Kruger and the best places to see them are south-west Okavango, Savuti and Linyanti.
Notes:
This is typical posture - head up and wide open nose - smelling for meat and blood in the air...
Hyenas can scent blood or carcasses from a great distance away and combined with the sense of hearing they will choose to react to the scent.
The “laughing” hyaena’s utterances are hysterical and mockingan eerie human-like.
They are chancers of note, often taking great risks to snatch meat away from lions.
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