Early this morning, I heard the sound of hyaenas vocalising in the distance. Perhaps they were competing over a food source, or perhaps trying to dislodge a leopard from a tree with its kill. We headed there to have a look. We were greeted by a savage scene. 4 hyaenas were trying to kill another hyaena in the middle of a muddy lagoon. As we arrived, 2 of the attackers walked off (perhaps scared of our vehicle), but 2 remained with a couple of cubs looking on.
It was pretty clear that the hyaena was either from another clan, or was part of the attackers clan but had stepped heavily out of line in some social encounter. Fortunately, hyaenas have incredibly strong necks, with thick muscle surrounding the important arteries, veins and the spine, so the ferocious attack caused little more than superficial wounds.
Eventually, they gave up attacking the poor creature and wandered off. Why they did this is a bit of a mystery. If it was an intruder, then why not complete the job and kill it, and if it’s part of the clan, why did they attack it so brutally in the first place.
