Hyenas: Native to Israel and Largely Misunderstood

Hyenas. Have you ever seen any? Well Israeli researcher Ezra Hadad who works at the Nature and Parks Authority, is dedicating years of his life to studying them. Hadad’s research focuses on a phenomenon called “alloparenting,” where he observes hyena and adult cubs and how they care for younger cubs. Hyenas are not to be confused with jackals, which are another type of animal that are typically golden brown wolf-like wild dogs. According to Hadad, hyenas are misunderstood and thought of as being vicious animals. But his study reveals hyenas actually are very maternal. And cubs from previous litters grow up and then become caretakers for their younger siblings, which is actually not so common in other species of animals. When it comes to striped hyenas, for which there are a few hundred in Israel’s center, older sisters do everything except nurse their younger siblings. Then, when the time comes for them to be mothers, they are very adept. Striped hyenas have faced persecution in the region in general and people have been scared of them, but today they are thriving in Israel. Hadad says they are playful and have soft, clean fur. He has also spent time watching the families do a lot of play with older siblings taking bones or plastic bottles and running around in circles with it while the young ones trot behind. Another playful tendency is that the mother often gets a lot of food and meat and will hide it some 400 meters away. Then the siblings will go back and forth taking small amounts of it to feed the little ones throughout the day. How cute is that? One last fact – striped hyenas don’t have a lot of patriarchal influence. Once the dad has impregnated the mom, he leaves and pretty much never comes back. The hyenas in the photos Israel Daily News received were light brown with black stripes, a dark colored face, upright ears on the top of the head and very cute. Hadad says he hopes his research will help to conserve the striped hyena population.