7/11/2007 - Spotted Hyaena and Jackal

The Spotted Hyaena is the largest and most powerful of the three species of hyaena found in Africa. They possess the strongest jaws of all land predators and their molar teeth are so extraordinarily powerful, they can crush bones. They have blunt, non-retractile claws designed for long distance chases and there are more Spotted Hyaena than any other large mammalian predator in Africa. The Hyaena is extremely vocal and their wailing whoop cry can be heard for more than 3 miles (5km). The female is the larger of the sexes and is dominant over the male. She leads the clan in hunting and of the two sexes, she is the most aggressive.

Spotted Hyaena have a reputation of being scavengers but that is not necessarily true. They are capable of making their own kills, either singly or in groups. They hunt by chasing prey animals, like wildebeest and zebras to the point of exhaustion before disembowelling them. A solitary hyaena is more than capable of pulling down a full grown wildeebest.…………………………………………Jackals are thought to be the ancestor of domestic dogs. There are 3 species of Jackal found in East Africa, the Side-striped, the Golden and the Black-backed Jackal which is the most common seen. All three species of Jackal pair for life and that is why when you see one, there is always another close by. Their main predator is the leopard and their pups are taken by large eagles and snakes. Pups are born in a den which is usually an old termite mound but the mother is known to move them to new dens frequently. Both parents raise the young and the pups will appear above ground as early as 2 weeks old.

Jackals are opportunistic omnivores, scavenging from kills as well as killing smaller prey, like newborn gazelle and impala, for themselves.

The Golden Jackal is a dusky, yellowish-grey jackal with a dark tip to its tail.……………And the Black-backed Jackal has exactly what its name says, a black back.…………And their young.