Brown hyena

Parahyaena brunnea · The brown hyena, or strandwolf, is a shaggy-coated scavenger that roams the deserts and savannahs of southern Africa.

Also called Strandwolf, Brown Hyaena.

Brown hyena
Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0
Brown hyena
Photo: AfricanConservation, CC BY-SA 4.0
Brown hyena
Photo: flowcomm, CC BY 2.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyHyaenidae
GenusParahyaena
SpeciesParahyaena brunnea

Where it lives

Deserts and coasts of southern Africa, including the Namib and Kalahari.

Fun facts

  • Young brown hyenas have such powerful jaws they can crack open a springbok's leg bone in just five minutes.
  • It sometimes stashes leftover food in shrubs or holes, coming back to eat it within 24 hours.
  • A lone brown hyena will charge a leopard with jaws wide open and can even chase an adult male leopard up a tree.
  • Its nose is so sharp it can sniff out a carcass from kilometers away.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).