The hyena is a carnivorous animal with nocturnal habits that usually feeds on carrion . The term comes from the Latin word hyaena , in turn derived from the Greek word hýaina .
Present in Asia and Africa , this mammal catches its prey with its teeth and not its claws. Although its bite is very strong, it generally feeds through kleptoparasitism : it takes advantage of prey that other animals have hunted and killed.
Except for the spotted hyena , the rest of the members of this family are not gregarious. However, they gather together to hunt, communicating with each other through howls that resemble human laughter with chilling or macabre characteristics.
Gregarious animals are those that have the tendency to group together to carry out their daily activities, that is, they prefer or need community life. Although there are various terms to designate the social groups of animals, they do not have so many differences from those of human beings.
The fur of hyenas is thick and rough but sparse, yellowish or grayish in color. There are species that have a mane on the head or withers.
In colloquial language, the idea of hyena is used to describe a person who is cruel or brutal . This meaning is linked to the unpleasant image that the hyena produces in humans due to the sounds it emits (which are disturbing), for feeding on carrion and for keeping prey that other animals hunted.
Suppose a man is blamed for the murder of several children. This subject, according to investigators, used various tricks to lure the children to his house and there he brutally killed them. When presenting the news, a journalist defines him as a “hyena” . Of course, the evil that humans show is not present in the animal, which acts by instinct.
For all the reasons stated in the previous paragraphs, the hyena is an animal that is the protagonist of a large number of myths , some of which are used as justification for hunting it and thus increasingly threatening its survival as a species. Experts say that most of these statements are false and that we should really know it to appreciate it and stop fearing it.
One of the most widespread myths is that "spotted women are hermaphrodites ", meaning that they have a male and a female sexual organ. Although hermaphroditism occurs in many species of the animal kingdom, it is definitely not the case with the hyena. The reason for this belief is that females have an external clitoris that has the appearance of a penis, which becomes erect in various situations.
This myth goes hand in hand with another according to which the only way to recognize the sex of a spotted hyena is through dissection. The reality is very different: from three months of age it is possible to distinguish males from females . During erection, the end of the penis is different from that of the female phallus, since the first is pointed and the second has a "barrel" shape.
It is also said that hyenas only feed on carrion , and this is not true in all cases. Although brown and striped birds include carrion in their diet, they also complement it with prey that they capture themselves, with invertebrates and fruits. A clear example that serves to invalidate this myth is found in the diet of hyenas called ground wolves , which have a diet composed exclusively of termites and ants.