๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐๐บ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข (๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐) ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข "๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ง" ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ด (๐๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ง); ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด, ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐บ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข.
Brown Hyenas occur in the southern African sub-region: Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Republic of South Africa and Namibia. The total population size of brown hyenas is estimated to be between 4000 and 8000 animals, which make them one of the rarest large African carnivores.
They can be distinguished from other hyenas by their long shaggy hair, which is dark brown or black on the body and lighter coloured on the neck and shoulders. Adults grow 130 cm to 160 cm in body length, with males weighing 47 kg and females around 42 kg on average.
The front legs of brown hyena are horizontally striped, (resembling zebra stripes) and are much longer than their hind legs, resulting in their shoulders being higher than their rumps. Their heads are large with less hair than the rest of their body and they have long pointed ears.
๐ผ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฅ/๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ ๐ "๐พ๐ก๐๐ฃ".
Brown hyenas have a social hierarchy comparable to that of wolves, with a mated pair and their offspring. They live in clans composed of extended families of four to six individuals. Some males and females may turn into solitary nomads. Females either mate with a dominant alpha male, or nomadic males that venture into the clanโs territory.
The mating season is usually from May to August, depending on the availability of food. Females give birth in isolated dens and and a few weeks later, move their young to the rest of the clan. One to five pups are born after a gestation period of up to 100 days. They will drink from the mother up to fourteen months of age.
Brown hyenas are primarily scavengers, eating a wide variety of small vertebrates, insects and fruits. They usually forage alone, but several animals even from different clans may gather to feed on a large carcass. They are most active at night, but become more active in the day, when food is scarce.
One of their unique habits is called pasting - a form of scent marking from their anal glands. They send out two kinds of messages with their pasting: Lighter coloured, longer-lasting and stronger-smelling paste is used to mark territories and warn off other hyenas. Darker, temporary paste, milder-smelling, is used to let other clan members know that they've checked the area for food and have eaten it, so as not to duplicate efforts. So Clever!
Just like with Jackals and certain other scavengers, Hyenas are the cleaning crew of the bush, and they are highly resistant to bacterial infections that could kill other animals. They perform a critical role in a balanced ecosystem, and should be protected against extinction.
Written by CJ Carrington (WHWF)ย ยฉWild Heart Wildlife Foundation
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