If you’ve ever seen a pack of hyenas cackling as they take down prey, you may have wondered: with those powerful jaws and sharp teeth, do hyenas ever turn on each other and engage in cannibalism? It’s a grim but understandable question about these notorious scavengers of the African savanna.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll provide a definitive answer on hyena cannibalism and take a broader look at the complex social dynamics of hyena packs.
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer to your question: Yes, hyenas occasionally eat other hyenas, but cannibalism is relatively rare and limited to certain situations. Hyenas have complex social structures that generally discourage them from preying on each other. Read on to learn more!
An Overview of Hyena Behavior and Pack Dynamics
Basic facts about hyenas
Hyenas are highly intelligent and social animals that live in clans of up to 80 individuals in Africa and Asia. They communicate using a variety of vocalizations including the iconic “laughing” sound. Hyenas have very strong jaws and teeth that allow them to consume all parts of a prey animal, including bones.
Their powerful digestive systems even allow them to digest hooves and horns. Hyenas are skilled hunters but also opportunistic scavengers. They play an important role as nature’s clean-up crew by consuming carrion.
Hierarchy and social structure
Hyena clans have a matriarchal social structure led by the dominant female. Among spotted hyenas, females are larger and more aggressive than males. The matriarch is the alpha female who leads the clan and has priority access to food resources. She decides where the clan hunts and dens.
The social status of each hyena in the clan depends on its relationship with the matriarch. Cubs inherit their rank from their mother. Younger hyenas display submission to their elders by presenting their rear end and making a soft grunting sound.
Hyenas have surprisingly complex social relationships and can recognize each other by their unique “giggle.”
Interactions between clans
Hyena clans defend stable territories but the borders overlap, leading to clashes over resources. These skirmishes help maintain territory boundaries. Fights between hyenas follow highly ritualized rules and rarely result in serious injury.
However, battles between clans are more intense as hyenas gang up to attack enemies together. These vicious wars can result in severe wounding or death. Hyenas only allow members of their own clan into their territory.
When lone hyenas try to join a new clan, they go through a process of cautious integration that can take months. Overall, hyenas demonstrate a fascinating complexity in their social behavior!
Scenarios Where Hyenas Engage in Cannibalism
Killing cubs from other clans
Hyenas are highly territorial animals that live in clans called packs. When packs come into contact, violence often erupts as they fight over resources and territory. Killing the cubs of rival packs is one way hyenas assert dominance and remove future competition.
The cubs are easy targets and hyenas have been observed killing cubs from rival packs when the opportunity arises. This type of cannibalism helps ensure the survival of their own cubs by eliminating the young of enemy packs.
Eating already dead hyenas
Hyenas are opportunistic scavengers with incredibly strong jaws that can crush and digest bones. When a hyena dies from starvation, disease, or fighting within the clan, other hyenas will readily eat the carcass. Waste not, want not.
By consuming the dead body, hyenas put those nutrients back into the ecosystem and their clan. This pragmatic opportunism provides sustenance and likely played an evolutionary role in hyena behavior.
Starvation leading to cannibalism
During times of extreme food shortage, hyenas may resort to cannibalism within their own clan to survive. While not common, some reports indicate hyenas eating the young or sick when facing starvation.
Conservationists have observed this desperate survival tactic during severe drought when prey animals are scarce. However, most hyenas prefer hunting and scavenging to cannibalism which is a last resort for the starving.
Rare killings within a clan
Violence within a hyena clan is uncommon as they are highly cooperative, but it does sometimes occur, usually directed at weaker members. In times of extreme food scarcity, clan members may attack and kill the old, sick, and young who require the most resources.
Killing cubs also occurs occasionally when a new male takes over leadership of the pack. However, hyenas evolved as communal hunters, so slaughtering each other provides no long-term advantages. Cannibalism within the clan only happens in the rarest situations.
Evolutionary Explanations for Hyena Cannibalism
Infanticide and competition between clans
Infanticide, the killing of infants by adult hyenas, can be explained as an evolutionary strategy to gain a competitive advantage over rival clans. More food and territory means increased mating opportunities for the killers.
By reducing the number of cubs in a rival clan, a hyena clan can weaken their opponents. Though brutal, infanticide helps ensure the survival and dominance of the attacking clan’s genes. Some studies have shown over 60% of hyena cubs are killed by infanticide, often by females from other clans.
Scavenging as an adaptive behavior
Scavenging on corpses provides hyenas with survival advantages in harsh environments. Eating their own dead offers nutrition when prey is scarce. Hyenas have incredibly strong jaws and digestive systems that allow them to consume and digest entire carcasses, including bone.
Their powerful teeth crush bones to access the nutritious marrow. This gives them an evolutionary edge, allowing them to thrive on carrion when hunting live prey may be difficult. By fully consuming corpses, hyenas minimize waste and maximize calories extracted from each carcass.
This grants resilience during periods of scarcity.
Cannibalism when resources are scarce
When food is limited, hyenas sometimes resort to cannibalism as a survival strategy. Though gruesome, eating their own dead offspring in dire times provides adult hyenas with much-needed calories. This sustains the adults so they can later reproduce when conditions improve.
While pup cannibalism may seem counterproductive, it can actually promote the clan’s long-term continuation. Well-fed adults have higher fertility and better odds of eventually raising offspring to maturity when resources become available again.
So sporadic cannibalism, though distasteful, offers an evolutionary advantage for hyena populations facing environmental challenges.
How Common is Cannibalism Among Hyenas?
Estimated Frequency in the Wild
Although observing hyena behavior in the wild can be challenging, researchers estimate that cannibalism occurs in around 5-10% of hyena deaths. This makes it reasonably rare, but still more common than among other predators like lions or wild dogs.
Factors that Increase or Decrease Cannibalism
Certain conditions make hyenas more likely to resort to cannibalism:
- Food shortages – Lack of normal prey drives them to extreme measures
- Overcrowded clans – More competition over resources
- Unsuccessful hunts – Failed attempts to take down prey lead to desperation
In contrast, plentiful food supplies and low population density decrease incentives for cannibalism. Interestingly, some research also suggests that the presence of lions and other competitors may deter hyenas from eating their own kind – perhaps because they have to band together for defense.
Comparison to Other Carnivores
| Species | Cannibalism Rate |
| Spotted hyenas | 5-10% of deaths |
| Lions | Less than 1% of deaths |
| Wild dogs | Practically zero cases observed |
Among apex predators, hyenas are not the most frequent cannibals, but do exhibit this behavior more than lions or wild dogs. This is likely tied to having higher population densities and more competition between clans.
Notable Examples and First-Hand Accounts of Hyena Cannibalism
Observations from field researchers
Studies of spotted hyenas in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya have uncovered several instances of cannibalism among clans. Researchers observed hyenas feeding on the carcasses of deceased cubs and even killing weaker cubs during times of scarcity (see more: https://www.sciencemag.org/features/2014/11/hyenas-kill-their-own).
Infanticide allows the mothers to conserve resources for stronger offspring. Scientists also documented hyenas scavenging already dead hyenas from neighboring clans after skirmishes over territory.
Incidents captured on film
A striking video from wildlife documentary makers in Botswana shows a pack of hyenas attacking, killing, and eating one of their own. The victim was an injured female hyena who could not keep up with the clan.
The footage provides a vivid depiction of the savage and opportunistic feeding behaviors that emerge when resources are scarce in hyena populations (see the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ).
Anecdotes from safari guides and park rangers
Safari guides in Kenya have witnessed hyenas engaging in cannibalism more frequently during droughts in the Serengeti region. Carrion from other animals becomes scarcer, leading desperate clans to turn on sick or dying members.
In one incident, rangers discovered a den of hyena pups that had been slaughtered and eaten by other hyenas.
Park guides in South Africa’s Kruger National Park have rescued hyena cubs that were the sole survivors after their clan members killed and consumed their siblings. One cub’s ear was badly injured in an attack by other hyenas before rangers intervened and rehabilitated it.
These violent cannibalistic episodes contradict the generally cooperative behaviors seen in hyena clans, showing how extreme conditions can override instincts.
Conclusion
In summary, while hyenas do sometimes eat each other, it is relatively uncommon compared to the frequency of cannibalism in other carnivore species. Their complex social structures, clan allegiances, and abundance of other food sources generally discourage hyenas from preying on their own kind.
However, infanticide, competition between clans, extreme hunger, and other factors can lead to occasional cannibalism. Observed cases remain sporadic enough to be noteworthy to experts familiar with hyena behavior.
Hopefully this guide has shed light on the dynamics of hyena cannibalism and satisfied your curiosity about these fascinating, if often gruesome, predators.
