Brown hyenas can survive in the desert by eating everything from insects to seals they find on the beach!
Hyenas - Facts for Kids
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Facts About Hyenas For Kids
Spotted hyenas can eat and digest horns and hooves, which most other predators can’t do!
A single spotted hyena can eat up to 32 pounds (14.5 kg) of meat in one meal!
Spotted hyenas can eat and digest every part of their prey except hair and hooves!
A clan of spotted hyenas can eat a 440‑lb (200 kg) zebra in about 45 minutes!
Hyenas can store extra food in their stomachs and digest it later when needed!
Spotted hyenas have stomach acids so strong they can dissolve aluminum (the metal cans are made of)!
A single hyena can carry up to 30 pounds (14 kg) of meat in its stomach!
Hyenas can crack open bones that would require a 12-pound sledgehammer to break!
Brown hyenas get most of their water from the food they eat, rarely drinking from water sources!
Spotted hyenas can eat up to one-third of their body weight in a single feeding time!
Hyenas use their powerful jaws to crack open tortoise shells that other predators can’t break!
A hungry hyena can eat as much food in one meal as 128 hamburgers!
A spotted hyena clan can be as big as three school classrooms full of students — up to around 80 hyenas!
A hyena’s den tunnel can be as wide as a school bus is long — but the dens themselves are only a few metres long!
Conservation & Population
There are approximately 27,000-47,000 spotted hyenas left in the wild!
The striped hyena is listed as “Near Threatened” because their numbers are getting smaller due to habitat loss (losing their homes)!
Brown hyenas are one of the rarest large meat-eating animals in Africa, with only about 4,000 to 10,000 adults left in the wild!
Some African cultures have traditionally protected hyenas, helping them survive in areas where other large predators have disappeared!
Scientists are using special GPS collars (tracking devices) to follow hyenas and learn more about how to protect them!
Hyenas help farmers by controlling populations of crop-eating animals, though many farmers don’t realize this!
The biggest dangers to hyenas are habitat loss (losing their homes), human conflict, and being hit by vehicles on roads!
