| STRIPED HYENA (Hyaena hyaena) |
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| Range: | Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and western India. |
| Habitat: | Arid, mountainous areas of their range, avoiding true deserts. They prefer the acacia bushlands and open, rocky terrain. |
| Diet: | Mainly mammalian carrion, also invertebrates. Eggs, wild fruits and organic human waste. May kill small mammals and birds. |
| Status | Lower Risk (IUCN). |
| Approx. Dimensions of Adult: |
Weight: 55 to 121 lbs. Height: 23-30 inches at the shoulder. |
| Lifespan: | Unknown |
| Reproduction: | 1-4 (usually 3) cubs born throughout the year after a 90 day gestation period. |
![]() The spotted lives in huge packs called clans, but the striped hyena is a relatively solitary, nomadic animal that spends its time wandering from water hole to water hole. Unlike the spotted, the striped is nocturnal. During the day, it sleeps in an abandoned burrow or cave, and does most of its foraging and wandering at night. Though they may forage alone, they are not solitary animals. They associate in small family groups that usually include the mother, father and their offspring of many generations. The younger adults bring food back to the den to feed the cubs. Within the groups, animals of the same sex tend to avoid one another, while animals of opposite sex enjoyed each other’s company, mutually grooming and nuzzling. The striped hyena occupies a home range that is marked off regularly by "pasting" with the anal glands. Like other hyenas, the striped uses "latrines", special areas where feces is deposited, always a certain distance away from their dens. They are killed mainly for destroying crops of melons, dates, grapes, apricots, peaches, and cucumbers, as well as for their body parts for medicinal purposes |
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