THE UGLY QUEEN OF Africa
The Hyena (namely the spotted hyena) is the posterchild of all animals villainised by human beings. Whether it’s through movies or the fact that they’ve been viral for eating the guts of their very much living prey, hyenas are perceived as lowly, scavenging and simple when, in reality, the complete opposite is true.
Hyenas live in matriarchal societies with the lowest ranking females often outranking the highest ranking males. The children of the matriarch will then assume her rank, but the sisters, even then will always outrank their brothers.
Female hyenas often ‘mount’ males to assert dominance. They have a pseudo-penis due to increased levels of testosterone in the womb which they will use in acts of dominance but also puts females in the driving seat when it comes to mating as the male will need to cooperate without force.
Lions steal more from hyenas than the other way around. In fact, lions scavenge more than hyenas overall. Lions scavenge about 50% of their food whilst hyenas only scavenge around 40%.
Hyena societies are so complex that they’re comparable to those of primates - more intricate than the male - led ‘pride’ system of lions. Members of hyena society have strict hierarchical roles but can manage to rise in the ranks through coalitions with those higher in the system than themselves.
