Hyenas’ reputation as plucky, devious scavengers is not entirely unjustified.
Of the four hyena species, two (striped and brown) certainly fit that description. But a third, the aardwolf, is a specialised predator of termites, and the most familiar (and the biggest) of the bunch is more of an active predator.
Spotted hyenas hunt smaller animals alone and work together to bring down zebras, buffaloes and giraffes, though they will also eat carrion and steal kills from other large predators. In the words of one mammalogist, “Their catholic tastes mean that virtually any animate and inanimate object is potential food.”
Do hyenas eat lions?
Given the opportunity, hyenas would likely eat lion meat – but whether hyenas could kill a lion is another matter. Competition for the same prey does bring the two species into conflict. At about three times the weight of hyenas, lions are usually dominant and are more likely to steal hyena kills than vice versa.
But hyenas can turn the tables through weight of numbers. In a harrowing scene from the 2018 BBC series Dynasties, a young male lion is attacked by 20 or 30 spotted hyenas. He only escapes with his life when a second male comes to his rescue.
Main image: a lioness runs away from a group of hyenas/Getty
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