subject: Wildlife Kenya Safari And The Savannah Queen [print this page] The savannahs of Kenya really are a home to a wide range of wildlife. Probably the most frequently seen wildlife may be the spotted hyena, yet little is famous about them.
In the traditional African society, the Hyena continues to be branded 'the coward one'.
This has been with the way of feeding of the hyena. Referred to as a scavenger, the hyena is actually a great hunter and scavenging only makes 5%- 10% of the meals.
They rarely leave any evidence especially simply because they devour everything. For example they are able to make a kill in the night and also the only sign will be light blood stains.
Within the recent years the complexity of the hyenas continues to be revealed. Lots of time has been focused on studying them. This article is about hyenas as well as their survival tactics in the savannahs of Kenya. They range throughout sub-Saharan Africa in savannah, arid areas, and open woodlands. To date they aren't present at the coast.
There are three species of hyenas in Africa. Two species are located in Kenya.
The most common to be the spotted hyena, crocuta crocuta.
They live in groups called clans and also the clan is under the leadership from the oldest female, the alpha female. Interestingly, the females are dominant within the males and are heavier than them. The females genitalia are extremely masculinized which contributes to their being aggressive. Such sex dimorphism isn't common with other wildlife. Simply because the presence of higher level of testosterone within the female's body than that of the males.
A distinguishing feature using the hyenas is the 'haunch-back' and short hind legs. They hold their scalp low when they walk. Normally the head has a rounded skull and long ears. They've extremely strong jaws along with a complex acidic digestion system. This really is one of the factors that give them one step ahead for survival. They're capable of ingesting bones, horns, hooves and also the tough animal skins.
Just the hair is not digested which usually comes out in the form of bolus or locally known 'hyena hair ball'. All this bone matter they eat is what makes the hyena feces chalk-white.
They hunt in packs in a manner that could be termed as ruthless they do not have a killing bite. They don't have any hunting technique and most cases they run-down their victim to exhaustion. Usually they attack their prey and tear chunks before their victim dies.
It's interesting to know that lions steal plenty of their kills. It is true that hyenas perform the final cleaning by chewing the bones and also the skins left by others. In some instances the hyenas have succeeded to steal in the lions but in most of occurrences overturn is more common.
The reproduction and life-cycle is not seasonal. The females don't however mate with their people in the clan. They can take every other wandering male for mating and discard him. 4 months is the gestation period in most cases give birth to as much as four cubs. These are usually dark colored with some others having small taint of black. A weird thing that occurs with the cubs is competition over who nurses first.
This generally result in fighting for dominance. The looser usually starves to death which is only with the female cubs. Hyenas, unlike other wildlife require much time to wean their cubs. It might take between 14-18 months. The female can lactate as much as 12 months with milk that's very high in protein percentage.( 14%). The cubs start following a mother to the point of kill once they reach 1 year.
They do not restore food to the den. They eat for their fill on the spot.
The female cubs remain in the clan of their birth but men're kicked out when they reach around 24 months. Apart from playing with the cubs a mans has no role in upbringing from the cubs.
One clan might have between 20-100 members, all around the matriarchal system. All the members are associated. Each clan digs its own den which includes deep and long tunnels to support the clan. They mark their territory through anal sac secretions. This can be a paste that they use to define their boundary and it is deposited at the edge of their territory. That's their home-territory that they protect and intruders aren't welcome. They have a greeting system of sniffing one anothers genitalia and also as a way of identification or recognition within people in the same clan.
To the untrained eye, it is not easy to differentiate between males and females. This is due to the physical resemblance of the female's genitalia to that particular of the male. But in nevertheless they are female organs. The females aren't hermaphrodite as some have claimed in the beginning sight.
Hyenas have 'toilets' whereby all of the members go to deposit their dung. This increases the boundary markings of their territory. about wildlife in Kenya
They communicate in many ways: When about to attack the tail is held high, when it's held forward over the back, it's a sign of excitement. And when frightened they contain the tail tucked between the legs. If you find presence of food, this is the time you hear the famous 'hyena laughter' specially in the night. This laughter is really a call to other clan members and could be heard up to 3 kilometers away. Read about Cultural safari tour in Kenya
You should note that though hyenas portray cowardly behavior, they may be extremely dangerous. They should be left alone, least intimidated as well as their respect awarded to them.
by: Kera Tours Expert
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