Feliformia Spotlight: Spotted Hyena

The spotted hyena is a lot of things, but what he is certainly not is a canine. I always thought they were, but they are not even close. All hyenas are part of the suborder known as feliformia. Sound familiar? If you were thinking "cats," then you are correct! So... does that mean hyenas are cats? Not really. Cats fall under the family called felidae, but the two creatures are very closely related. What hyenas are entirely not... is related to are dogs. I just wanted to get this out there since I think there might be an overwhelming misconception about them.

The reason I picked the spotted hyena was because that is the species most commonly nicknamed the "laughing hyena." I'll get into that a little later. There is a whole rant attached to it. Size-wise, the spotted hyena has a body length of as much as 5.41 feet with a shoulder height of 3 feet. The females are heavier at up to 141 pounds with the males at a lesser 121 pounds. They have long necks that extends forward as they walk and run.

The spotted hyena are carnivores. In fact, they are the most common carnivore in Africa. And really, there is not a lot that is off of the menu. They really don't care. If it moves, they will likely give it a taste. This includes you, so you should be careful if you happen to be up their way.

The thing I really want to get into here is the social aspects of this creature. It ties into their eating habits as well. The spotted hyena is not only a social animal; they can't get enough of each other. They form into groups--called clans--of sometimes up to 80 hyenas and spend their days yapping away at each other. Clearly, the spotted hyena is female dominated. They call the shots, and the males don't seem to mind it at all.

There is a ranking system within a clan. A female is always on top, and she will choose her officers. This helps with organization when they go out hunting. It is all very orderly. Although not unheard of, there are almost never problems in the ranks. Spotted hyenas are very comfortable with how things are set up. They don't like challenging authority, and they respect each other almost religiously.

They are likely referred to as "laughing hyenas" because of the wide range of sounds they can make to communicate with each other. Researchers have been able to identify many of these sounds. It is almost a complete language. Needless to say, the hyena is one of the most intelligent animals in the animal kingdom. Not anywhere near what it takes to be human, but they are very intelligent regardless.

I have seen hyenas in much fiction. Where the spotted hyenas really shined was in the 1994 Disney film "The Lion King." In this film the hyenas were portrayed as stupid and vicious creatures that were the minions of an evil lion. Let me make this perfectly clear: I liked that! I will always like it when hyenas or portrayed as violent idiots. It rather fits in with the whole laughing stereotype, and I have never denied myself a good animal stereotype. Biologists at the time protested the movie's depiction of hyenas. One hyena researcher actually sued Disney for "deformation of character." There are not enough words in the English language to project how stupid that was. I guarantee you that no extant hyena went to see the film, and if they had, they would not have cared.

Gnolls are a fictional anthropomorphic hyena creature originally found in Dungeons and Dragons. Since then, you can find them all over the place. They are known for being big, brutish, and not all that intelligent. I love gnolls, and I am currently writing a book about them called "Fly Me Away."

I also depicted hyenas as creatures who make a lot of puns and tell bad jokes in my published story "Ava in Fairyland." I had two hyenas in that one: a jokester named Hyjinx and a very sleepy, unemotional hyena named Duldree. They were later voiced in an audio drama for the book which is on You Tube.

So... where did we end up? We started off talking about how smart these creatures were, and then somehow, it ended up being about how they are shown as stupid beasts. Which is better? The answer: all of it! The idea of it is to let your imagination soar! You cannot limit yourself--especially because somebody says you should. Hyenas are probably seen as stupid because of the goofy sounds they make, but there is nothing wrong with that interpretation when fiction is involved. The spotted hyena is very, very interesting. They are a cold and calculating military force in the take down of a wide number of African animals. And as cool as that is, I like them even more as stupid and violent. When you are inspired, let your heart take you where it wants to go. The real hyena will not care either way. At the end of the day, they just want to eat.

Thank you for reading this blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Ha!

From Disney's "The Lion King"

D&D Gnoll

Duldree the Hyena