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AFRICAN SAVANNA HARE
In African mythology, the hare is a clever creature that gifted humanity with the village, the drum, and music. It’s very difficult to count savanna hares in the wild, mostly because it’s difficult to distinguish from the Cape hare. However, scientists are confident that savanna hares are abundant. In some areas of their range
MAMMALS
MAMMALS
SPOTTED HYENA
Scientific name: Crocuta crocuta
Weight: 90 to 190 lb.
Size: 28 to 35 in. tall
Life span: Up to 25 years in captivity
Habitat: Open plains and light woodlands
Playable by: Seniors
Aggression level: Medium/High
Predators: African lion, Painted wolf, African leopard, and Nile crocodile.
Predators of the young: African rock python, Martial eagle and African cheetah
Basic behavior:
- Spotted hyenas are the best clean-up mammal in the African ecosystem, hunting and consuming mostly vertebrates, particularly ungulates. Large predators will waste 40% of their kills and spotted hyenas take full advantage of that by consuming everything from teeth to hooves, but except the horns of the animals. There is no other large carnivore on earth that consumes carcasses so effectively as spotted hyenas do, which makes it one of the most successful carnivores on earth and the third most successful in hunting successes, and the most widespread large carnivore in Africa. Hyenas can be both active at night and day, preferring to hunt at night, they exhibit two activity peaks at night one just after dark and one 2 hours before dawn. Throughout the day hyenas forage for food, patrol their territories and while also resting in water on hot days although females return to the communal den to socialize, suckle their young, and rest in a safe environment.
- Spotted hyenas exhibit a single social structure, however, this one is particularly complex containing multiple substructures in it making it very difficult to understand, they're called clans:
Spotted hyenas live in hierarchical social groups that consist of females, males of all horizons, and ages.
In these ‘clans,’ there is a strict, linear dominance hierarchy in which all females and their young dominate all immigrant males. Daughters and sons inherit the social ranks right below that of their mothers. Thus, spotted hyenas live in matrilineal societies led by an ‘alpha-female followed by her young and all other females with their young. Below the lowest-ranking native clan member comes the highest-ranking immigrant male, followed by all other immigrant males. In exceptional cases, a male may lead a clan if he is the only heir to a matriarch's rank. Despite being one of the most social large carnivores in Africa, hyenas prefer to spend a lot of time separately from each other, only meeting on kill scenes, fights with other hyenas and predators, or during hunting attempts.
If a female wants what he has, whether would it be a kill or a place in a puddle of water, the female will take it easily without the male engaging and just walking away, adult males are not even allowed to be near the communal den site unless they're the most dominant one and sometimes cubs will join in bullying those adult males. Greeting ceremonies occur when two individuals haven't seen each other for long periods of time, however, it is done to reinforce social bonds or ranks and not as means to know who this is and males generally don't engage with females in these ceremonies
Social rank in hyenas determines everything even if a dominant individual is wounded or smaller they will dominate whomever they are under in the pecking order, however, some low-ranking hyenas will try to improve their rank by challenging the monarchy of the clan, though that is extremely an extremely rare behavior. Though coalitions of hyenas are common and the higher-ranking individuals have their own coalitions usually the matriarch's coalition, lower-ranking female coalitions which are the only ones able to change their positions, and immigrant males coalitions which are known for sometimes bullying lone female hyenas.
- Spotted hyenas don't exhibit a breeding season or birthing season and the estrus cycle in females is relatively short only lasting 2 weeks; males will try to locate a lone female and will be extremely careful and wait multiple days before attempting to mate. If the female grunts, growls or even looks at the male from behind the male will bolt from fear, once allowed near her the male will chase any other male that gets close, although if the male is higher ranked the low-ranking male will back off. Once ready to give birth the female will move into a den nearby the communal den site and nurse her cubs, after 10 days (10min in-game) she moves them to the communal den site, which is left un-guarded by adults for long intervals.
- Spotted hyenas foraging method can be described in one sentence: it will scavenge and steal food whenever possible and will always select the most easily captured prey. Despite them being able to take down animals the size of a bull wildebeest, hyenas never do this unless desperate for food and always try to look for the weakest member of a group. They hunt solo or in pairs usually by cantering towards a group of animals, which then proceed to run a few meters away which helps the hyena know which individual is the weakest. Once selected the animal is then run down to exhaustion and brought down and eaten alive. The stampeding movements of large herds of ungulates attract other hyenas which can then turn into an all-out hunting party where numerous hyenas try to select a target uncooperatively. Once a target has been taken down by all hyenas or is selected by a majority, all hyenas head to it. It happens that sometimes groups of hyenas that met along the way start eyeing together a group of ungulates and decide to go hunting as a unit, however, it is generally led by a female and made up of males the majority of time. Prey that run into deep water generally are not be delt with because of the hyenas bad swimming skills but also because of crocodiles.
- If a small kill is made and just a few hyenas are around to easily determine who is dominant and who isn't; boundaries will be set and lower-ranking individuals will wait their turn, however, if its a large kill everyone can feed quietly but if the numbers increase hyenas will start fighting and being noisy which not only attracts other hyenas which will turn into a feeding frenzy where everyone tries to eat as quickly as possible but also attracts lions to the carcass.
- Hyenas can keep or take over kills if the group of lions they encounter consists of females and young males and if they manage to recruit at least six times more members than the adult and young adult lions present at the kill. The more hyenas there are generally around a lion kill the more the hyenas will become louder and bolder, whooping and laughing to attract even more hyenas onto the scene. As they get bolder the hyenas will start regrouping in a mass advancing towards the lions and even starting nipping at the lions.
At that point, the lions either leave or fight which makes the hyenas more aggressive and everything will spark into a fight where hyenas will help each other when pounced and regroup after a charge, generally, if the hyenas feel confident enough the fight is generally won easily. It's fair to say that whether it's lions or painted wolves hyenas will not save each other unless it's a mother protecting her young and are not at all coordinated if anything they'll use a pounced hyena in order to bite a distracted lion or painted wolf.
- Hyenas are less dangerous than lions when it comes to their competition, but they are still are nonetheless aggressive. Cheetah cubs, Leopard cubs, and lion cubs are at risk of getting killed by lone hyenas, subadult lions will require a few hyenas to take down. Spotted hyenas also steal from a lot of their competitors with relative ease (cheetahs, pairs of painted wolves, and leopards ..etc), but they also steal from painted wolf packs that require a few hyenas to actually steal the kill so depending on how many painted wolves there is the number required will vary. When it comes to lions and leopards, hyenas can target lone lionesses and young lone males for coming close to their communal den site or stealing kills from leopards, they will not target male leopards by themselves and will require more than one hyena to chase an adult which is healthy off its kill.
- Hyena clans are territorial against other clans but where prey is available encounters are rarely bloody and even when they occur both groups charge and back up in a continuous loop until one fully intimidates the other and all respective clans return to their own territories.
Physical characteristics:
The Spotted hyena is Africa’s most common large carnivore. There are 4 hyena species spotted, brown, striped and aardwolves. Spotted hyenas are the largest of the three. Hyenas are fairly large in build and have relatively short torsos with lower hindquarters and sloping backs. They have excellent night vision and hearing. Females generally outgrow males because of natural levels of testosterone and better food, as well as exhibiting pseudo-penises as direct result of higher levels of testosterone.
Prey list:
1 resort: Young/lone/none attentive/weak of the following species, Topi, Blue wildebeest, Hartebeest, Female Warthog, Impala, Bushbuck, Oryx, Female Roan antelope, Female waterbuck, Thomson's gazelle, Grant's Gazelle, and Dik dik
Last resort: Healthy animals mentioned above, weak Female Roan antelope, and Flamingo.
Hunting group 1 resort: Plains Zebra, Cape Buffalo calf, Lone/weak male Warthog.
Hunting group 2 resort: Injured or weak Cape Buffalo, Male waterbuck, Male Roan antelope
A hunting group is considered one when there are more than 3 individuals within it and can expand as 7 initially but the group can call for back up during a hunt of a conflict with a predator during said hunt or conflict if its needed !
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SPOTTED HYENA CONSERVATION STATUS
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LEAST CONCERN
The wild population is estimated to be global population is between 27,000 and 47,000, the overhaul population is believed to be decreasing, because of loss of habitat, conflict with humans, and visible poaching.
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Male Roles/Reactions:
- Most sons emigrate and join another clan at the age of about 3.5 years. This contrasts with female dispersal behavior; dispersal in spotted hyenas is therefore considered ‘sex-biased’, or more precisely ‘male-biased‘. When a male joins a new clan, he acquires the social rank at the very bottom of the hierarchy, irrespective of the social rank he occupied in his birth clan. This is due to the fact that, in contrast to most other mammals, social relationships with other males rather than body size or fighting ability determine the social rank in spotted hyenas.
- New immigrant males therefore are at a disadvantage compared to already established males who are supported by their coalition partners. Once established in the new clan, immigrant males can climb the hierarchy ladder but they have to queue. Indeed, immigrant males usually only rise in rank when a higher-ranking male dies or leaves the clan. As a result, it usually takes immigrant males many years to reach the top of the male hierarchy.
- After locating a female ready to mate, males will bow their head down. If the female accepts she will bow her head as well and turn around.
Interspecific competition: African lion, African leopard, African wild dogs, and African cheetah
Call/Emote meanings:
1. This is the communication whoop call, it is meant for you to give out location to other hyenas or find one.
2. This call is the backup whoop call, it is meant for interaction between predators and clans of hyenas, where if the confrontation is starting to escalate the hyenas will start with a number of other vocalizations whoop calling for more hyenas to join in the fight.
3. Giggles are also a highly useful tool in the hunting of prey. When directed at other hyenas, they often serve as a way of communicating distress or telling a clanmate to back off. They can also indicate excitement, and call other clan members in the immediate area to the scene. Giggles can serve other functions like conveying fear or confusion to the prey being targeted, especially when many hyenas are doing so at once.
4. The groans are used as a friendly or aggressive call for hyenas when confronting other hyenas in a clan war or aggressive or friendly interaction with each other.
5. The tail raise is used as an additional emote during the usage of giggles (Note do not use when sprinting away from a predator)
6. Submission emote is the combination of both a lowered tail and a brought back ears, when sprinting away from a predator use brought back ears and lowered tail to signify a retreat. (Note you can use lowered ears to simulate ear scan)
Female Roles/Reactions:
- Mothers are very protective over their cubs, they will actively support their cubs from a very young stage when meeting or interacting with members of the clan, showing them their place in the clan's pecking order. Hyena mothers will protect their cubs from competitors but they will not risk their lives protecting them against prides of lions if alone and certainly not against a fully grown male lion.
- Daughters usually remain in their birth clan for life and build close relationships with their mother and sisters. This system of coalitions reinforces the social rank of individuals within the clan hierarchy. Coalitions and clan hierarchies are therefore usually stable for many years. However, when the reigning coalition of the alpha female and her allies weakens — which happens when one of the allies dies or the females of the coalition do not reproduce well — a coalition of lower-ranking females may manage to overthrow the alpha female coalition from the throne.
- Females may leave their birth clan and establish a new clan when a neighboring clan becomes extinct or vacates its territory (which is rare in intact ecosystems). The few cases observed so far indicate that young, low-ranking females are more prone to split off and establish a new clan. This may be because low-ranking females benefit more from dispersing and are more likely to know when a territory becomes vacant as they intrude more into other territories than high-ranking females. Females may also join an existing clan, but this type of dispersal is extremely rare
- When a male court's her, a female will accept the male's advance by bowing her head down and turning around.
Juvenile Roles/Reactions:
- From birth, siblings will play and fight for food as a way to determine who is more dominant than who and that dominance is generally established during their first days, it's generally established if both siblings are opposite genders but if they are the same gender they will have to find out who is more dominant. Hungry subordinate twins may become bold and rebellious though when the threat of starvation is high.
- The cubs stay in the den for most of their juvenile stages, learning their place in the clan and will see whom they dominate and whom they do not by copying the behavior of their mothers but when reaching sub-adult, they will no longer suckle which will trigger a weaning phase where the hyena cub will beg by winning to its mother until it leaves the den site with her. They will start venturing out of the den area and look for food with their mother or other close members in the clan.
- Cubs will usually start to help on hunts at a year old but will only be able to hunt by themselves when they reach 1.5 years of age, from then on they'll be able to hunt solo.
SPOTTED HYENA TERRITORY MAP
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BLUE AREA: This represents a territory in the western area englobing almost half the map
ORANGE AREA: This represents a territory in the eastern area englobing most of the east side of the map
NO COLORED AREAS: Areas where individuals with no territory can stay.
WROTE BY ENDERSHADOW
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