Spotted hyenas are not a common sighting on Lion Sands due to their low numbers and the inaccessibility of their den sites.  As a result any sighting of these splendid animals is a special one and our guests were recently treated to the most incredible sighting!Whilst on morning game drive, Lion Sands Field Ranger, Kurt Bertels, located an adult female hyena traveling down one of the roads at a rapid pace and decided to follow her and see what had grabbed her attention.  She followed the road to the Hilda’s Rock area and then moved off the road into the surrounding vegetation.  There was lots of hyena activity in the area indicating that there might be a den in the area.  Vehicle in tow, through the vegetation we located the den containing two 2-month old cubs at its entrance!

Hyenas usually bear litters of two to four cubs which (unlike the other two hyena species) are born with their eyes open.  Cubs begin to eat meat from kills near the den at about 5 months old but they are suckled for as long as 12 to 18 months – an unusually long time for carnivores.  This is probably a necessity as most kills are made far from the den and hyenas, unlike jackals and wild dogs, do not bring back food and regurgitate it for their young. 

At about the age of 1 years old, cubs begin to follow their mothers on their hunting and scavenging forays.  Until then they are left behind at the den with a babysitting adult.

This was truly and incredible sighting and we will hopefully have several more of the growing cubs …

   

   

 

 

 

This Journal Entry was posted on Wednesday, 1 July 2009 at 2:44 am.