Brown Hyaena

Parahyaena brunnea (Thunberg, 1820)

Photo: Doug Lee

IUCN Conservation Status:

Lower Risk, near threatened (LR/nt).
Surveys by the Hyaena Specialist Group of the IUCN/SSC in 2006 indicated a global population of between 5 000 and 8 000 of which approximately 1 000 are in Namibia. Hunting and trading of brown hyaena and its products are currently strictly forbidden by the international legislation of CITES.
Early Dutch settlers in the Cape called it strandwolf, “beach wolf”, because of its habit of strolling along the tidal zone of beaches in search of food.

Taxonomy

Classification

The taxonomy of the hayenas has changed several times and the relationship between the extant four species is still in dispute.
 

These are:

• Parahyaena brunnea the brown hyaena
• Crocuta crocuta the spotted hyaena
• Hyaena hyaena the striped hyaena
• Proteles cristatus the aardwolf of the subfamily Protelinae,
Fossilized remains indicate the existence of at least 24 hyaena genera that were widely distributed across Eurasia and Africa during the late Miocene epoch. These were divided into two consecutive, major groups. The first group consisted of the small jackal-like hyaenas, which were similar to the present mongooses and civets and had rudimentary jaws and a poor dentition. The second group contained the greater bone-cracking or hunting hyaenas, which developed jaws and teeth for cracking open large bones such as bovine femurs. The hyaena apparently diverged from the cats approximately 29 million years BP during the Oligocene, somewhere in Eurasia, where they shared a common, civet-like pre-ancestor. The Hyaenidae family developed to its full extent during a moist, warm era that prevailed in most of Europe, Asia and Africa during the early Miocene.
Only one hyaena genus Chasmaporthetes dispersed from Eurasia into North America and none into South America or Australia. Several genera migrated across the Gomphothere land-bridge into Africa in the late Miocene. The genera Hyaena, Parahyaena and Crocuta evolved in Africa in the late Pliocene, the brown hyaena originating in East Africa and spreading to southern Africa. The striped hyaena diverged much later than the brown hyaena and spread from East Africa into Asia where it is still found today. The most widely distributed hyaena at present, the large spotted hyaena, is the youngest member. It developed 9 000 years BP from its ancestor Crocuta ultra that evolved in Africa approximately 3.5 million years BP. C. ultra spread to Europe and Asia and gave rise to the cave hyaena C. spelaea that became extinct in the late Pleistocene.

Description

A typical Hyaenid profile of high shoulders and a sloping back. It is third tallest of the four extant hyaena species, the smallest being the aardwolf. The head, neck and shoulders are large in relation to the rest of the body. The body is entirely covered with exceptionally long hair of 12-17 cm; unevenly dark brown, with yellowish-brown to cream-white shades over the shoulders and neck. The upper legs are horizontally striped in cream-yellow, and the tail, muzzle and ear tips are black. The large ears are 14 cm long, are pointed and almost always upright. Adult body mass is reached at 30-35 months and maximum body size at 40-72 months, after which time the body size begins to reduce with age.

Comparison To Man

Trophy

The brown hyaena is protected by CITES and is therefore not recognized as a trophy animal in official trophy registers.

Habitat requirement

The brown hyaena prefers beaches and the vicinity of inland rivers and smaller drainage lines. It is not associated with a particular vegetation type, but rather with arid and semi-arid regions with a mean annual rainfall of between 80-300 mm. Solitary nomads may be found in highveld grasslands with an annual rainfall of up to 650 mm; higher rainfall areas are avoided. Common landscape habitats include desert, the Kalahari, dry savannah and both sweet and mixed, temperate grasslands with sparse low shrubs. It is independent of surface drinking water.

Distribution

Feeding & Nutrition

Brown hyaenas are predominantly active at night when clan members split up to hunt and scavenge alone. They take refuge during daytime under thicket, in underground holes, in tall grass patches, under debris or between large rocks. When food is limited they become increasingly more active during the day. It is predominantly a scavenger, especially of rotten flesh. They rarely hunt prey such as hares, foxes, game birds and lambs of small antelope. The success rate of hunts is only 4-6% and hunted kills account for 4% of the consumed diet. It moves 30-55 km per night and up to 40 km from its den. Wild fruits and fleshy bulbs are also consumed but mainly for the moisture content, vitamins and minerals. For example, 22 tsammas provide an equal energy of 1 kg of meat. Other dietary components include insects, small birds, rodents, reptiles, ostrich eggs and seal carcasses that are washed up on the shore line. Brown hyaena can consume up to 8 kg of flesh at one time, while the daily intake is estimated at 1.5-3 kg. Pieces of meat and bones are carried away and hidden for later consumption. The total diet consists of 40% vegetative material, 56% carrion and 2.5-4% prey.

Social structure

A gregarious, socialized animal that becomes temporarily solitary when searching for food. Social clans vary from 4-18 individuals and comprise of adult females, adult residential males, sub-adults of both genders and cubs, all sharing the same communal den and home range. A clan has several dens in the home range and alternates between dens every 3.6 months. Some sub-adult males leave the clan and become non-residential, solitary nomads. The most dominant female becomes the alpha female that breeds with an external alpha male residing temporarily with the clan. Clan members meet frequently while roaming and hunting, and display a complex greeting ritual named as “necking“. Nomad alpha males dominate the residential beta males of a clan briefly while they are resident. Several brown hyaenas from different clans may tolerate each other at large carcasses, especially close to the home range boundaries. Home range sizes are not static and vary with changes in food abundance. Overlapping between an adjacent clan’s home range is <20%. Solitary nomads do not have fixed ranges and can cover distances of up to 2 000 km in as little as 3 months.
The alpha-females of >2.5 years, do not mate with the adult residential beta-males of <3 years in the clan. A nomad alpha-male of >5 years drifting between clans picks up the scent of an ovulating female at a considerable distance, as well as her pasted scent markings. He only copulates with an alpha female and then stays in the clan for an undetermined period. Peripheral immigrant beta-males of 2-5 years might mate with beta-females but their offspring is inferior to that of the alpha-pair and they have a limited survival potential. Sub-adult females assist in the nurturing of the adult female’s pups and carry food items back to the den for the young. Sub-adult males and some sub-adult females leave the clan at an age of 18-22 months to join other clans or to establish a new clan.

Information Table

Bibliography