Similarity of the corruption in Courts and laws of the Jungle/Savannas

[Sharing Lights]

Lions live in groups called – pride.

The leader of the hyenas’ clan is a female called a Matriarch.


Lions can take on the whole, powerful hyenas' clan
even when are outnumbered, once the leader of the
pride made up his mind to engage the mortal enemy
in a direct confrontation.

It takes a true leader to defend his group:

the one who believes, has no fear, and is determined no matter what.

The success lies is the idea to spot the Matriarch
among other hyenas, as she directs the assault and
has amazing courage, intelligence, and strength.

If she can lead her clan to surround the lions, the sheer
numbers of hyenas (soldiers) and their bravery backed
up by the power of their jaws can spread terror among
the lionesses, as they are vulnerable to the direct
attack, not being used to such challenge from other animals.

Lionesses are, often, overwhelmed by hyenas’ attacks.

It is a shock to them.

The lions’ pride consists mostly of females and cubs as
males constitute the minority.

Mature male lions who become leaders have an
innate power and determination to
respond fearlessly and to fight to the death, literally.


Even realizing that they may perish and are
outnumbered does not stop the true leaders-lions from
lunging forward in all out fierceness.

The leader fights for his “pride” and realizes that he may

not doubt himself for a moment.

(here “pride” has a double meaning.)

True leaders do not doubt their belief in a win.
They give all they got.

Once the leader lion aims for the throat, nothing can stop him.

He would slice the formation of hyenas in tremendous
speed, being full of rage and intense desire to defend
the freedom of lion-hood to such extent, that some hyenas
become almost mesmerized at such outburst of sheer force and precision.


Once the leader-lion identified the Matriarch, as he
senses which one it is, (his instincts, rarely, fail him,)
he disregards the fact that he jumps in practically the
middle of the powerful and well coordinated clan of not
only blood hungry hyenas but he is amids the creatures,
who despise and hate lions’ guts more than of any other
animal in Savannah.

Lions and hyenas are mortal enemies.

If the lion-leader is attacked, at once, on all sides, he is
at extremely vulnerable position.

The lion, who is absolutely enraged, increases his speed
as soon as the Matriarch is in his view, leaps in the air
and lands on top of her.

Sometimes, he bulldozes her in a straight slamming
fashion to knocks her off her feet.

He is not interesting in fighting her or hyena soldiers
who may try to rip him opened from all sides.

His goal is to utilize the shock of the landing or slamming
the Matriarch, which may disorient her for a second or two.

The lion knows well where her throat is.
That is his goal.

The Leader has only one goal at that moment,
regardless how many teeth are sunk in his body by the daring soldiers.

He aimed for the throat of the enemies’ leader - the cunning Matriarch.

She is a

supreme judge

giving orders to her soldiers.

Lion is the

supreme warrior

who intents to reinstate the
supremacy of his group, as no hyenas spotted or not
would deprive lions of their territory and Nature's right
to roam free and unruled by the outnumbering them
clans of intimidating hyenas, who constantly challenge the lions.


He sinks his paws in the flesh of the Matriarch with
such force that she is trapped in his deadly embrace.

Her bite is more powerful than of most of pit-bulls and
the powerful neck and jaw provide the punishment.

If few hyenas can manage to unload the power of
their super-massive jaws at the vital parts of lions’
body, he may be mortally wounded within seconds.

He has only few seconds to accomplish his task before
he is overrun by the clan that rushes to the rescue of
its Matriarch ready to unleash vengeance on their most hated enemy.

It is a misconception that hyenas are cowards.

Their structure is precise, better than well-organized,
very intelligent, and they fear nothing when their clan is intact.

The lion may either flip over, still holding the Matriarch
in his paws so that his back is protected by the ground,
and the belly is covered by the Matriarch, herself .

Then, he can hold the female with two paws and utilize
the other two in bicycle like motion to rip off the flesh of
the attacking soldiers, who attempt to deliver as many
bites as possible from all the angles.

All felines (cats) are expert in paws slicing (bicycle rip.)

The lion may, also, try pushing the Matriarch under
himself so that she is trapped between his neck and
belly if the soldiers didn't’t get to him yet.

In either way, he has very little time to aim and sink his
canines, which function as deadly daggers, driving them
straight into the neck of the Matriarch, and slicing
between the bones of the spine, forcing them apart to
sever the spinal cord.

The teeth in lions are positioned to fit exactly into the
gaps between the vertebrae of a certain size of prey.

The larger the cat, the broader and more widely spaced
the teeth, and so the larger the prey which can be killed.

Lions' jaws are designed to kill in minimum amount of time.

An outraged lion disregards all the danger and projects
such force of energy and determination that such may
affect the whole clan, which may get confused,
temporarily, in how to handle such outburst.

The lions has a hypnotic ability to affect most animals.

Their confidence and power are the driving force.


These few seconds of hesitation caused by his power
and rage unveiled, allow the King to sink his canines in
one of the two strategic spots he aimed for but, which
he can, easily, alternate, switching to whichever is available.

The leader would either crush the front of the throat or the weakest
point of the cervical spine (back of the neck) of the Matriarch.

He knows the "pressure points" precisely.

He is the King.

Once he smelled and tasted the freshness of the spilling
blood, there is no escape.

He just keeps on crushing the vertebrae of the hyenas
till hears the snapping sound.

Nothing else exists to him at that moment.

He is at the point of the ultimate sacrifice – to
accomplish the goal, disregarding his safety.

It is absolutely irrelevant to him how many solders are aiming at his throat.

He got the deadly grip and he would not relinquish it.

The attacking hyenas would meet his knifing, powerful paws.

As soon as the King heard the snapping sound, his
instinct of the killing no matter what switches to the
strategic, combat mode.


The leader-lion releases his grip and stands his ground in
front of the whole clan.

He assesses the situation and knows, practically
instantly the enemies' position and knows well that he
is, practically, surrounded.


He is alone, with the jaws full of dripping blood and
gazing directly at his enemies, who sense that this beast
is not thinking of running away.


An amazing thing happens, then.

The realization that lion is, truly, fearless at that
moment and believes that can crush any hyenas
unleashing his might and supremacy sends a doubt to
the hyenas ranks.


While the lion is completely surrounded and alone, but,
standing as the Sovereign feline he was intended to be
and is by the virtue of fearlessness, the whole hyena
clan becomes silent.
Only heavy breathing of the enraged lion and choking
with her blood Matriarch’s whistling noise are heard by all.

No hyenas dare to attack the lion who believes with all
his essence that he can take on the whole clan.

He can, as he is the leader of his pride.


He is the real King at that moment..

It may seem unfair that he sleeps most of the time and
grabs the best chunks of meat when the lionesses did all
the hunting and expended so much energy and risked serious injuries from the hooves of the fleeing pray.

One direct hit can easily kill any lion or maim for life.

Yet, only the leader can protect his group as lionesses
meet their match in ganging on them hyenas.

The true value of the truly fearless leader is
appreciated then, as he would sacrifice himself but
would not look away.

Meanwhile the leader-lion is well aware that he should
not remain too long in such hostile, even though
currently, bewildered crowd.

Yet he refuses to run away.

He calmly strolls back to his pride and no one dares to
stand on his way.

The Sovereign mind of, even, a beast, knowing his
inherited right to be free and independent, and feeling
the weigh of the responsibility before other members of
his pride (group) assures the supremacy of lions, while
the hyenas could have run them over if the lions lost
that belief that they can and will defend their pride
regardless of how many hyenas are hauling around.

The corrupt ones who howl in Courts outnumber the
currently, separated People who dare to stand for their
rights and Liberty, Equality, and Justice for all.

Yet, when those of us who would realize that not only,
they have the right to protect their Freedom, Liberty
and Justice, but have a responsibility before their “pride”
of the Sovereign people, who do not wish to kneel before
hyenas and take their hats before them or to salute
their jaws, once act as true lions, would dethrone the
hyenas and their whole clan.

Hyenas fear no one but the leaders-lions who know
where their throat and vertebrae are and who are willing to defend their pride.


PS. No violence is advocated.
Nature has its own rules.
Hyenas should not prevail as free spirit of Sovereign
lions is not under the control of their clan and never would be.


Warning: graphical and depicting animal violence video.

Use personal discretion whether to click on the link or not.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...=lion+vs+hyena

[Sharing Lights]

Lion Prides



Lions form a very complex pride unit that Packer terms as a fission-fusion social unit (Packer 1990). The average pride consists of 1-4 males, as many as 15 lionesses, and various numbers of offspring. The actual size of the pride is highly variable and depends on factors such as food availability, environmental conditions, reproductive success, etc. Therefore, there is no specific pride size due to the variability caused by these factors.



Females within a pride stay together for life. These natal female prides are comprised of mothers, daughters, aunts, and nieces. Each generation of females will live in the exact same place that their mothers did and generations of females before them. The only lions that have a temporary status within a pride are males. Male lions by the age of 2-4 years will eventually leave the pride and form a coalition with the other males in their pride which typically tend to be their brothers. Male cubs can be driven out earlier by infanticidal males during a coalition takeover. The resident adult males defend their access to the females against any incoming males. Schaller sees pride membership actually as a form of life insurance. Resident males will eventually lose their pride in a coalition takeover (Schaller 1972).





Male Coalitions



The brother/pride-mate male coalitions form very quickly after leaving their pride. The coalition is nomadic until they find a pride they can overtake. Overtaking a pride is not an easy task, and the resident males will fight significantly to try to avoid being kicked out of their pride. These overthrows result in many injured and/or dead lions. Regardless of whether the resident males die in fighting the incoming males or not, they will die of starvation shortly after losing their pride. Male coalitions that are evicted rarely ever establish residence within a pride again, and if they don’t have a pride then they can’t reproduce nor gain access to food as easily and consequently die due to starvation. The typical residence for a coalition is only 2-3 years. Therefore, the life expectancy of a male lion is very short (Grinnell 1995).



The larger the coalition, the easier it is to take over a pride and the longer they will retain their residence. Large coalitions are also capable of holding onto two smaller prides as well. However, there is a certain degree of difficulty in having such a large coalition of males. Male lions only form coalitions with their brothers and their pridemates; therefore, their native pride must have been very large with multiple females in synchronous birth and lacking in predation or infanticidal males to produce this large of a coalition. Unfortunately, not that many male cubs actually make it to form such a large coalition. Therefore, the average size of a male coalition is around 1-4 males (Bygott 1979).





Grouping Patterns



There are plenty of different reasons mentioned that suggest why lions would group themselves the way they do, but Packer seems to think there are three main factors for this grouping behavior:



1) Cooperative Cub Defense

a. Females must protect their offspring against infanticide. This is a key reason as to why they group together and care for cubs in the egalitarian ways they do.

2) Group Territoriality

a. Females must be able to leave their territory to hunt the home range animals they commonly eat. They need the territory to return to after hunting. Similarly, it would be nearly impossible to have successful breeding without a territory. Lions fight more over their territory than they do over their kills.

3) Female Reproductive Patterns

a. Females will enter estrous moreso when prey is abundant, and the ability to exploit pride hunting to gain access to food benefits the reproductive success of the females (Packer 1990).





Sex Ratio



What is a sex ratio? A sex ratio is just determining the percentage of males vs. females within the offspring. Packer has found that lions actually do bias their sex ratio in favor of males. If pride females have more males, then they are more likely to increase their reproductive success by spreading their genes to multiple females, but they also increase the capability of the males have better reproductive success by increasing the coalition size. As a result, female lions increase their inclusive fitness and the reproductive success of their male offspring by biasing their sex ratio towards males (Packer 1987).

[Sharing Lights]

land mammal over 1 kg in Africa, including of course man…”

—African Lion Working Group (Viljoen 2003)



Food Sources



That statement by Viljoen adequately sums up what food sources lions have available. Lions will eat pretty much any mammal they come across, but the majority of a lion’s diet comes from medium- to large-sized herbivorous mammals. The most common prey are:



Buffalo
Zebra
Wildebeest
Gemsbok
Hartebeest
Warthog
Kob
Impala
Gazelle (Viljoen 2003)


Although lions are strict carnivores, they will commonly eat leaves or grasses as scour to aid in the digestion of their kill.



Lions will also engage in cannibalism when an infanticidal male kills a lionesses’ offspring. Even the lioness, herself, will eat her own children if there is a food scarcity. Infanticide is very common among lions, but lions will also kill and eat the young of rival predators like the hyena, cheetah, or leopard. The threat to offspring is reciprocal amongst these predators, but lions are notoriously the most dangerous and common aggravators in this category (Rudnai 1973).



Man-eating lions have been popularized through Hollywood and at The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. The notorious man-eating lions of Tsavo, Africa have shown that some lions do indeed have an appetite that consists of humans. Tsavo lions live in some of the harshest conditions of all the African grasslands due to high heat and food scarcity which might explain why they turned to eating humans (Kays 2002).



Water consumption seems to be divulged primarily from the flesh of their kills. Lions rarely ever drink water unless it is following a recent kill to aid in the digestion of flesh and bone fragments. Following a large kill and drinking, lions usually lay down to rest and digest their meal (Rudnai 1973).





Hunting



Lions are armed with all the appropriate tools to be a great hunter: curved & elongated canine teeth; sharp, backward-slanting papillae; camouflaged coloring; sharp claws; and incredible power, strength, and agility (Rudnai 1973). The only flaw in the repertoire of the lion is their lack of stamina in chasing prey. Lions have excellent acceleration, but they are unable to chase their prey for long distances. So this means that they have become extremely adept at getting very close to the prey they intend to kill.



Stalking behavior of lions is seen in many different predatory cats and even in domesticated cats. The ability to hide and intently watch the animal as the lion slinks its way closer is vital to foraging success. The Savannah grasslands and brush provide excellent cover for lions as they sneak up on their prey. Lions utilize the cover of night to increase their foraging success by hunting when the moon is either down or covered by clouds.



When stalking its prey, the lion changes its posture by lowering its head and body staying low to the ground while keeping a visual lock on the target prey. Whenever the prey looks away or looks down to eat, the lion creeps closer, and if the prey is to look in the direction of the lion, the lion will cease its movement and remain still. This “red light-green light” type of interplay continues until the lion gets within striking distance [20-30 m]. After the lion has entered the striking distance, it pounces and ends the chase rather abruptly (Viljoen 2003).



Cooperation among lions is found extensively in their hunting behavior. Female lions are the predominant hunters, but sometimes the assistance of a stronger male is requested to bring down larger prey like a buffalo. Cooperation among lionesses increases when prey is difficult to bring down, but this cooperation diminishes when the prey is easy to kill (Heinsohn 1995).



Male dominance is clearly apparent in lion hunting behavior. The lionesses are predominantly the ones responsible for hunting, but as soon as the kill is made, the male is the first to feast. The males are then followed by all the females splitting up what is left of the kill (Bertram 1975). One of the foremost authorities on lions, Craig Packer, noted three things about observing the sharing behavior of lionesses at kill sites:



Social dominance does not occur among females with the same pride
Female pride mates have equal access to carcasses
Female pride mates show no significant inter-individual variation in food intake (Packer 1990)




Predation Threats



Being one of the largest and most feared predators in Africa, lions do not have any natural predators. The main natural threat to lions occurs during the first few years of life. Hyenas, cheetahs, and leopards are common culprits known to kill lion cubs for food or just for the sake of killing. Infanticidal lions also pose a major threat to cubs in the early stages of their life. Beyond the first few years of life, the mortality threats for lions appear in fighting amongst males, starvation, and poaching/killing by humans. Less than 10% of male lions reach old-age as a result of these factors. Only a small percentage of lions die of natural causes, whereas 75% of lions die by being caught in snares, shot by poachers, or killed in fights with rival lions. Needless to say, the life of a male lion is insecure and short-lived (Schaller 1972).

[Sharing Lights]

Egalitarianism (see the next post) is common in animals but usually only occurs when the cooperative group is despotic.

ion prides do not have one dominant female in charge of reproduction but rather all females are capable of reproducing.

The non-despotic cooperative lion pride is very unusual for this reason. Experts have determined that egalitarian lion prides are exemplified by two distinct concepts:

(1) symmetrical relationships amongst lionesses and

(2) the voluntary communal cub rearing system and shared mating/reproduction (Roach 2001).

Packer emphasizes that egalitarianism occurs more often in animals where a female is unable to control the mating and reproduction of other females.

This idea suits lionesses, because it would be nearly impossible to establish reproductive control within a pride (Packer 2001).





Communal Cub Rearing



Reproductive female lionesses and the offspring they produce form what is known as a crèche within a pride. A crèche is where the egalitarianism primarily takes place.

The lionesses within the pride communally raise the cubs by helping out with rearing, suckling, babysitting, and defending every cub within the crèche (Viljoen 2003).

The synchronizing of estrous/mating/birthing are important in the maximization of cooperative cub rearing that occurs within the pride.

If all the females are able to birth their cubs at the same time, then all the females will be able to lend a hand and help out with the rearing of the cubs.

The symmetry of the female relationships and the volunteerism on the part of the lionesses to engage in communal care is amazing (Packer 2001).

The pride system is held together strongly by the importance of cooperative cub defense.

An experiment showed that non-resident males were less likely to approach a pride when multi-female roars were heard rather than solitary female roars.

This shows that the cooperation amongst lionesses in defense discourages infanticidal males from threatening the lives of the cubs (Grinnell 1996).





Kin Selection/Altruism?



Grinnell and Packer were determined to figure out whether the cooperative nature in lions is caused by kinship or mutualism.

Mutualism involves individuals that have no urge to defect from the group and those that are expected to cooperate within the group without any understanding of the kinship or cooperation with their companion.

Cooperation within a group will yield the highest payoffs which makes this type of behavior advantageous (Grinnell 1995).

So according to this idea of mutualism, lions would not fit into this category. Since the female lionesses remain within their natal pride and the male coalitions are typically from the same crèche, then there is a good deal of kinship within a pride.

Females within a pride are 1/8 related to each other whereas males are 1/4 related to each other.

Cooperation within a pride therefore increases a lion’s fitness due the level of relatedness.

Therefore, lions do employ behaviors consistent with kin selection.





Leaders/Laggards

lag·gard
n.
One that lags; a straggler.

adj.
Hanging back or falling behind; dilatory. See synonyms at slow.

laggardly lag'gard·ly adv.
laggardness lag'gard·ness n.

==================================================



Although female lionesses do not have a defined dominance hierarchy by any means, leaders and laggards are present within a pride. Leaders take control of the pride and pull the majority of the weight within the pride.

Laggards get out easy by gaining great immediate rewards by not having to expend energies doing the duties of the leaders.

There is no real benefit to being a leader since there is not a dominance hierarchy nor is mating selection gleaned from the leaders vs. laggards list.

Leaders take note of how much laggards help out with things like territorial defense, but they realize it would be detrimental overall to the pride to threaten the life of the laggard.

Heinsohn suggests that leaders and laggards coexist peacefully in a mixed evolutionarily stable strategy (Heinsohn 1995).



Packer & Heinsohn together determined the reasoning for leaders and laggards based on three key ideas:



1) Leaders specialize in territorial defense whereas laggards specialize in other areas

2) Leaders gain more than laggards by being involved in territorial defense

3) Leaders may in fact be better fighters and therefore more likely to run less risk of injury



The lionesses work together to share their territory, and some lionesses have more tasks to carry out than others. Overall though, leaders do not gain any advantages and it’s the laggards that win out by getting a “free ride” (Packer 1996).

[Sharing Lights]

e·gal·i·tar·i·an
adj.
Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil rights for all people.

[From French égalitaire, from égalité, equality, from Latin aequālitās, from aequālis, equal. See equal.]

egalitarian e·gal'i·tar'i·an n.
egalitarianism e·gal'i·tar'i·an·ism n.



The noun egalitarian has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a person who believes in the equality of all people
Synonym: equalitarian
Antonym: elitist (meaning #1)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The adjective egalitarian has one meaning:

Meaning #1: favoring social equality
Synonym: classless



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is any moral belief that emphasizes the equality of morally-significant beings. Such theories claim that political, economic, social, or civil equality should prevail throughout human society. One can best understand various types of egalitarianism by asking, "Who is supposed to be equal?" and "In what respect are they supposed to be equal?"

The English word is derived from the French word égal, meaning equal or level.

Common forms of egalitarianism include economic egalitarianism (also known as material egalitarianism), moral egalitarianism, luck egalitarianism, legal egalitarianism, political egalitarianism, gender egalitarianism and opportunity egalitarianism.

Material egalitarianism stresses equality with respect to material possessions and therefore inevitably a disregard for property rights.
Legal egalitarianism stresses equality under the law.
Moral egalitarianism stresses equality in moral worth.
Political egalitarianism stresses equality in political power.
Gender egalitarianism stresses equality regardless of gender.
Opportunity egalitarianism stresses equality in economic and social opportunity.
Different kinds of egalitarianism can sometimes conflict, while in other situations they may be indispensable to each other. For instance, communism is an egalitarian doctrine, according to which everyone is supposed to enjoy material equality. However, because material inequality is pervasive in the current economic systems, some form of material redistribution is necessary. Since those who enjoy the greatest material wealth are not likely to wish to part with it, some form of coercive mechanism must exist in the transition period before communism. But if the coercive powers of redistribution are vested in some people and not in others, inequalities of political power emerge. History has shown, in the former Soviet Union for instance, that people who are granted coercive redistributive powers often abuse them. Indeed, those with political power were known to redistribute vastly unequal shares of material resources to themselves, thereby completely confounding the justification for their unequal political status. Therefore, most Marxists now agree that communism can only be achieved if the coercive powers of redistribution needed during the transitional period are vested in a democratic body whose powers are limited by various checks and balances, in order to prevent abuse. In other words, they argue that political egalitarianism is indispensable to material egalitarianism. Meanwhile, other defenders of material egalitarianism have rejected Marxist communism in favor of such views as libertarian so******m, which does not advocate the transitional use of the state as a means of redistribution.

Libertarianism can be understood as radical political egalitarianism, according to which everyone is equal (or nearly equal) in coercive political power, because no one has any (or those who have it have little and are strictly limited in their use of it). However, political egalitarians, such as the libertarians, often face strong criticism from economic egalitarians who worry about the extremes of economic inequality made possible by unfettered markets.

The United States Declaration of Independence included a kind of moral and legal egalitarianism. Because "all men are created equal", each person is to be treated equally under the law. Originally this statement excluded women, slaves and other groups, but, over time, universal egalitarianism has won wide adherence and is a core component of modern civil rights policies.

At a cultural level, egalitarian theories have developed in sophistication and acceptance during the past two hundred years. Among the notable broadly egalitarian philosophies are so******m, democracy, and human rights, which promote economic, political, and legal egalitarianism, respectively. Several egalitarian ideas enjoy wide support among intellectuals and in the general populations of many countries. Whether any of these ideas have been significantly implemented in practice, however, remains a controversial question. For instance, some argue that modern representative democracy is a realization of political egalitarianism, while others believe that, in reality, most political power still resides in the hands of a ruling class, rather than in the hands of the people.

Almost all theories of egalitarianism aim at equality within human societies, or at least confine themselves to human beings in general as the relevant group among whom equality should prevail.

[Sharing Lights]

Part I

Spotted Hyena
(Crocuta crocuta)


Range and Habitat


Spotted hyenas range throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Their habitat includes savannah, arid semi-desert, open woodlands, dense dry woodland, and rocky mountainous forests up to 4,000 m in altitude.

They avoid the dense tropical rainforest that occurs along east-central Africa. They also are absent from coastal areas.


Physical Appearance


Spotted hyenas are a pale brown color with dark spots all over their back, and a dark brown mask on their face and legs. The hair is short and coarse, with a wooly undercoat. The guard hairs are 30-40mm in length, with undercoat hairs 15-20 mm in length.

They have a haunched back with low-set hind-quarters. Their body is proportionately large and round, set atop thin, long legs. The tail is short in proportion ot the body, and 1/3 of the tail's length is just hair.
They have four toes on each foot, with short, blunt, non-retractile claws.

The head is carried low in relation to their topline.
Their large, rounded ears are set on the sides high on the head.

Their head is shaped similar to the American pit bull dog, with huge jaw muscles, short and broad muzzle, thick neck, rounded skull, and oblique eyes, because like the pit bull, they were "bred to bite". Hyenas have extremely powerful jaws due to their diet.

Both sexes have anal scent glands which secrete a thick, sticky secretion that is used to mark territorial boundaries.

The glandular secretion is stored in a pouch located just outside the anus. This pouch is everted during scent marking, with the hyena in a crouching position to deposit the secretion on grass and sticks.

Sexual dimorphism is very prominent in the spotted hyena, with the females considerably larger than the males.

Average weight for males is 45 kg, with the females being 10 kg heavier on average, but females have been reported to be over 70 kg (150 lb) in southern Africa.


Females are masculinized due to the excess testosterone in their bodies; they have more testosterone in their bodies than most male hyenas.


As a result of this masculinization, females are a third larger than the males, have more muscle mass, are more aggressive, and have masculinized genetalia.

Their vulva is fused to look like a scrotum and testes, and their clitoris is large and looks like a pahllus, and can be erected just like a penis.

The ****** runs through the pseudo penis.

This makes it hard for them to mate and give birth, since they do so through this pseudo penis.

It was once thought that hyenas were hermaphroditic animals because the females sported genitalia similar to the males.

In fact, the only sure way to determine the sex of a hyena is that after giving birth the female's two black nipples become enlarged.

Diet and Hunting Behavior


Hyenas are opportunistic feeders and obligate carnivores.

Contrary to popular belief, hyenas hunt more than they scavenge.

Most people picture hyenas as lowly scavengers that steal kills from lions, when it is more often that the reverse is true; lions steal more hyena kills than hyenas steal from the lions.

Hyenas hunt alone or in packs led by their female leader, and kill by tearing their prey apart.
Typical prey species are herbivorous mammals, and include gazelle, water buffalo, zebra, warthog, and young giraffe, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus. However, they have been observed feeding on a wide variety of prey, including mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. Spotted hyenas have been known to kill and scavenge off of domestic livestock, such as cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, horses, donkeys, camels and even cats and dogs.
They can and do feed on carrion, as most predatory species do, but it only makes up less than 5% of their total diet.

Hunting is usually at night, but they sometimes hunt during the day.

They tend to hunt alone or in small groups of 2-5 individuals. They detect their prey using sight, hearing and smell. Hyenas will travel extinsively throughout their territory in search of prey. Some hyenas have been known to travel for 42-80 km in search of adequate prey sources. Once prey is found, the group will travel up to 2-3 km in active pursuit of prey, and can run at speeds of up to 60 km/hr. T

he group will often run through a herd of ungulates to single out an individual. Though they will usually catch diseased, weak, very young or very old individuals, healthy prey items are often taken. They kill their prey by severing the major arteries and veins in the neck and by disemboweling. Usually after a kill, the females will disperse with pieces of the kill and eat at a distance. Males and females may will fight over food, but the female usually is the winner because of her massive size. One hyena can eat 14.5 kg per meal. Hyenas have been known to cache food underwater.

Hyena's teeth are especially large, set in a heavy jaw, and can crush through an ungulate's thick femur.

Hyenas will ingest every piece of the animal.

Bones, horns, hooves, even teeth are digested completely within 24 hours.

Hyenas have the ability to eat and digest bones due to immensely powerful jaws, and the highly acidic digestive fluids in their stomach.

Due to the fact that they eat so much bone matter, their feces are often white.


Reproduction and Life Cycle


Mating is non seasonal and can occur at any time during the year. Pairs do not mate for life; females mate to any wandering male who isn't a member of their own clan. After a gestation period of four months (98-110 days), the female gives birth to one to four all black two pound cubs through her penis-like clitoris.

The clitoris usually ruptures during birth, creating a large gaping wound that can take weeks to heal. The cubs are born fully developed, due to the unusually long gestation period.

Their eyes are open, they have fully formed teeth, and they are very active.

The social life of spotted hyenas is centered around a communal den.

These dens are not dug by the hyenas themselves, but are abandoned burrows of other species. The dens are very small, and only allow juvenile hyenas, but not adults, to enter.

Cubs can be born either at the communal den or in a private den elsewhere and moved to the communal den later. Unlike other social carnivores, the dominant female is not the only one who breeds. However, lower ranking females sometimes permanently use dens further away from the main communal den.

Rare instances of the dominant female killing subordinant female's cubs has been recorded.

Each female nurses and rears her own cubs, and will not nurse a cub that is not her own.


to be continued

[Sharing Lights]

Part II


Spotted hyenas are one of the few animals in which the young perform siblicide.

Beginning only hours after birth, siblings of the same sex (usually they are both female) battle for dominance, biting each other and grabbing each other by the neck and shaking each other like two fighting adults.

The one that wins (firstborn has an advantage) keeps the other from nursing until it weakens and dies.

Because fighting occurs in the cubs' narrow tunnels, mothers are powerless to intervene.

This sibling rivalry kills an estimated 25% of all hyenas in their first month.

The surviving male grows faster and is likelier to achieve reproductive dominance; the surviving female eliminates a rival for dominance in her natal clan. There is no reproductive competition between siblings of opposite sex and consequently no killing.

Lactation period ranges from 6 to 12 months and each female suckles only her own cubs. Spotted hyena milk is very rich, having the highest protein content (14.9%) of any terrestrial carnivore, and the fat content (14.1%) is second only to the polar bear. Cubs of alpha female go to nearby kills and begin eating meat as early as 3 months, 4 to 5 months earlier than other offspring. However, most hyenas are not fully weaned until they are 14-18 months of age. Yearlings tag along on hunts but rarely become competent hunters before 1.5 years. Females usually stay with their natal clan, but males disperse when they reach 2 years old.

The male rarely participates in parental care, but if he is around when the cubs are growing, he may occasionally play with and chase them. Usually female cubs will stay with their mother in the clan and males will leave the clan in search of a mate.


Social Behavior


Hyenas live in groups called "clans" which consist of up to 100 members, mostly females (matriarchal society), living together in a territory that is regularly marked off and defended. They mark off the territory by pasting a sticky substance excreted form their anal glands onto grass. The clan members don't cooperate as much as members of other social animals, and fight often. Females dominate the males regularly through displays of aggression. The females within a clan maintain a strict hierarchy and compete with each other. Hyenas are vocal. They communicate through whoops, grunts and whining. Hyenas make a laughing noise when they are frightened. They "whoop" when they call the clan together for a hunt or a battle. Their greeting ceremonies consist of sniffing and licking of the genitals.

Often, the males, upset with the female dominance, "bait" the females of the clan. They do this by chasing them down and nipping at their hide until they give up. They can run top speed of 35 mph, and can attain a loping speed (6 mph) for great distances without stopping.


Relationship with other Predators


Hyenas will often steal kills from the smaller felids, such as cheetahs and leopards. They will watch a cheetah make a kill, then chase the exhausted cat away from its kill, since the cheetah is not strong enough to fight off the larger hyena, nor able to sustain severe injuries, since any injuries to the cheetah will impair its ability to hunt. A pack of hyenas will actually harass a leopard out of its meal, following the leopard until it climbs up into a tree and harass it from the ground, waiting for it to drop its kill to them below. They will sometimes catch the leopard with its kill before it has a chance to escape, and since a single leopard cannot fend off a pack of hyenas, it abandons its kill. Silver backed jackals pose no threat to the larger hyenas, who see them as more of a nuisance than an actual competitor. The more agile jackals will dart in and out of a kill that hyenas are feeding off of, and may even be so bold as to join them while they are eating. African wild dogs also compete with hyenas over food, and often steal the wild dog's kills. However, since African wild dogs travel in such large numbers, they can intimidate a hyena and have a better chance of protecting their kills. Wild dogs have been seen often stealing kills from hyenas just as often. Since the other predators in Africa, such as the serval, caracal, and other small wildcats, usually feed on small prey like rodents and birds, they are not in direct competition with the hyena, and thus have little to worry about.

The most dramatic relationship, however, is between hyenas and Africa's largest predator, the African lion.

There seems to be a constant war between these two gregarious species, and it is not always over food, either.

Normally, boundaries of another species are disregarded, but not in the case of the hyena and lion. They will put up boundaries against each other as they would against members of their same species, and threaten each other at the borders with snarls, roars, urine, and paste.

If one should happen to wander into the other's territory, it will be mauled by a gang from the other species.

A pack of hyenas can easily kill a lioness, and are enough to intimidate an entire pride.

Hyenas will kill lion cubs, and lions will kill both adult and juvenile hyenas. Lions will steal hyenas' kills just as many times as hyenas steal kills from lions.

Sometimes, a neighboring clan and pride will wage a war with each other, usually in the dry season during a severe famine or drought, when resources are low.

One will start, and invade the other's territory, and intimidate the other into leaving the area.

Often, prides with more than one male are at the advantage, and are less the target of hyenas as would be prides with one or no males,

since male lions are the only thing that truly intimidate a hyena.

The lion is the only natural predator of the hyena.