The spotted hyena is an efficient predator that kills as much as 95% of the food it eats, including small to large antelope, buffalo, zebras, and young giraffes and rhinos. It hunts alone or in small groups and can run at speeds over 60 km/h to chase prey over long distances. Spotted hyenas are also adept scavengers and will eat carrion as well as human and domestic animal food. They have developed diverse hunting techniques and are able to eat prey and digest bones completely.

1. FOOD AND FEEDING HABIT OF
SPOTTED HYENA( Crocuta crocuta)
BY
MARYAM SADA ABDULLAHI
MSC/BIO/15/0086
ZOO 8301 ASSIGNMENT

2. INTRODUCTION
The spotted hyena is a carnivorous animal
that is regarded as a scavenger that picks
up leftovers at the kills of other carnivores
(cheetah, leopard, lion) or feeds on
carrion. However, all studies demonstrate
that the spotted hyena is an efficient
predator in its own right. Although
spotted hyenas will scavenge
opportunistically, they kill as much as 95%
of the food they eat . The spotted hyena is
impressively versatile in its choice of prey,
as its food varies greatly between
ecosystems. In addition, it has developed
a wide diversity of hunting techniques.

3. SPOTTED HYENAS FOOD
• The spotted hyena primarily kills and
scavenges mammalian herbivores. These
include small, medium and large-sized
antelope, Cape buffalo, and other herbivores
such as zebra, warthog, and the young of
giraffe, hippopotamus and rhinoceros. It can
be very opportunistic and has been recorded
eating almost any mammal, bird, fish or
reptile, irrespective of size or species .

4. • It may also pick up carrion and human-
associated organic material, including cooked
porridge, offal, garbage, a variety of vegetable
matter, and buffalo and wildebeest dung. The
spotted hyena has a reputation for killing and
scavenging domestic stock, mostly cattle,
sheep and goats, but also poultry, cats, dogs,
horses, donkeys, and camels. These predatory
activities have actually been observed

5. SPOTTED HYENA

6. HYENA KILLING WILDEBEEST

7. HYENA KILLING WILDEBEEST

8. FEEDING HABIT OF SPOTTED HYENA
• The spotted hyena detects live prey by sight,
hearing, and smell.
• It detects carrion by smell, the noise of other
predators feeding on the carcass, or during
daytime, by watching vultures descending on a
carcas over distances of up to 10 km (Mills 1990)
• Typically the spotted hyaena hunts solitarily or in
small groups of two to five, although larger
parties have been observed (Kruuk 1972)

9. • During a hunt, individuals often run at
moderate speeds through a herd of ungulates
apparently looking at herd members before
deciding which individual to attack.
• The spotted hyena chases its prey over long
distances, often several kilometres, at speeds
of up to 60 km/h (Kruuk 1972)
• The spotted hyaena travels long distances in
search of prey.

10. • Small prey is killed by being shaken in the mouth,
while large prey is eaten alive
• Spotted hyenas usually hunt wildebeest either
singly, or in groups of two or three. They catch
adult wildebeest usually after 5 km
• Chases are usually initiated by one hyena and,
with the exception of cows with calves, there is
little active defence from the wildebeest herd.
• Wildebeest will sometimes attempt to escape
hyenas by taking to water although, in such cases,
the hyenas almost invariably catch them.

11. • The spotted hyena is very efficient at eating its
prey; not only is it able to splinter and eat the
largest ungulate bones, it is also able to digest
them completely.
• A single spotted hyena can eat at least 14.5 kg of
meat per meal
• Although spotted hyenas act aggressively toward
each other when feeding, they compete with
each other mostly through speed of eating,
rather than by fighting as lions do

12. • When feeding on an intact carcass, spotted
hyenas will first consume the meat around the
loins and anal region, then open the
abdominal cavity and pull out the soft organs.
Once the stomach, its wall and contents are
consumed, the hyenas will eat the lungs and
abdominal and leg muscles. Once the muscles
have been eaten, the carcass is disassembled
and the hyenas carry off pieces to eat in peace

13. • Spotted hyenas are adept at eating their prey
in water
• a group of 35 hyenas can completely consume
an adult zebra in 36 minutes
• Spotted hyenas do not require much water,
and typically only spend 30 seconds drinking

14. CONCLUSION
• The spotted hyena is the most carnivorous
member of the Hyaenidae. Unlike its brown
and striped cousins, it is a predator, not a
scavenger; this has been shown since the
1960s as shown by various studies and
spotted hyenas hunt as much as lions able to
digest them completely.

15. REFERENCES
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena
• http://www.hyaenidae.org/the-
hyaenidae/spotted-hyena-crocuta-
crocuta/crocuta-diet-and-foraging.html
• Kruuk, H.(1972)”The spotted Hyena: A study of
predation and social behaviour’’. University of
California press.
• Mills, G; Hofer, H.(1998).’’Hyenas: status survey
and conservation action plan’’(pdf).IUCN/SSC
Hyena specialist group.