THE ANIMAL FILES

Spotted hyena

Crocuta crocuta

The famous laugh belongs to a skilled hunter with a busy nursery.

Spotted hyenas hunt as well as scavenge, and their young gather around communal dens. Whoops and giggles belong to a varied communication system rather than a constant expression of amusement.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Spotted hyena
Image: Diego Delso · Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Food acquisition
Hunting and scavenging both occur[1]
Young animals
Communal dens act as nursery sites[1]
Calls
Whoops, giggles, grunts and others[1]

A hunter that can also scavenge

Field studies documented substantial hunting by spotted hyenas. The balance with scavenging differs among populations because prey, habitat and competing carnivores differ. Wildebeest, zebras and gazelles are important in some study areas; other places have different prey combinations.[1]

Small tunnels protect small occupants

Communal dens can have several entrances and narrow passages inaccessible to large adults. Hyenas often use burrows first dug by other animals. Mothers may initially keep cubs in a separate birth den before moving them to a shared site, so one clan can use more than one nursery location.[1]

Laughter is one sound among many

The vocal repertoire includes whoops, grunts, whines and giggles. A study found individually distinctive features in whoops. These features provide acoustic cues about the caller, although demonstrating recognition by a listening hyena requires behavioural evidence.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Are spotted hyenas only scavengers?

No. Hunting is a major documented route to food. Scavenging also occurs, and its contribution changes with local ecological conditions rather than replacing predation altogether.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why can a den entrance be larger than its inner tunnels?

Reveal the explanation

Narrow inner spaces can admit cubs while excluding larger bodies. The den’s protective value depends on the size of its occupants and passages, not only on the number of animals gathered outside.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Spotted hyena (fixed revision; adapted and translated)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Crocuta crocuta (identity and classification)

Last fact check:

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