Hyenas are dog-like carnivores native to Asia and Africa, known for their scavenging behavior. Though they resemble dogs, hyenas are more closely related to cats. They have coarse fur, four toes on each foot, non-retractable claws, long forelegs, and powerful jaws and teeth. Hyenas are intelligent and opportunistic animals that often interact with humans. They can be found alone or in packs and are typically nocturnal. While known for scavenging, they also hunt live prey. The spotted hyena is the largest species, known for its distinctive calls that sound like laughter.

Where do hyenas live?

Hyenas, coarse-furred, doglike carnivores, reside in Asia and Africa. There are three species: the spotted hyena, the brown hyena, and the striped hyena. Spotted hyenas range south of the Sahara, except in rainforests. Brown hyenas inhabit Southern Africa and western coastal deserts. Striped hyenas live in scrub woodland and arid and semiarid open country, from Morocco to Egypt and Tanzania, Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, and India.

Hyenas are carnivores with a coarse fur that can be found in Asia and Africa. They are intelligent and opportunistic animals with a varied diet. Spotted hyenas eat anything from young hippos to fish, but they commonly hunt antelopes, wildebeest, gazelles, and zebras. Brown hyenas consume insects, fruit, birds and their eggs, small mammals, and reptiles. Striped hyenas have a similar diet to the brown hyena, eating insects, fruits, and small vertebrates.

How are hyenas different from other mammals like dogs or cats?

Hyenas, found in Asia and Africa, are coarse-furred carnivores known for their scavenging habits. Though they resemble dogs, hyenas are more closely related to cats. The family Hyaenidae, which includes all hyenas, split from the cat group around 30 million years ago. Hyenas have unique features that distinguish them from both cats and dogs. They possess powerful jaws and broad molars, enabling them to crush bones. Their forelegs are long, and they have strong necks and shoulders, which are adaptations for dismembering and carrying prey.

What are the main types of hyenas?

Hyenas, coarse-furred, doglike carnivores, are found in Asia and Africa and are noted for their scavenging habits. Although hyenas look like dogs, they are more closely related to cats. The main types of hyenas are: * Spotted Hyena: The largest species, also known as the laughing hyena, hunts various animals and scavenges. They live in clans of 5 to 80 individuals. * Brown Hyena: They are smaller, shaggy, and dark, with a white mane. They eat insects, fruit, and leftovers from other animals' kills. They live in clans, and adult females nurse each other’s cubs. * Striped Hyena: These small hyenas live in scrub woodland and arid regions. They have a diet similar to that of brown hyenas, including insects, fruit, and small vertebrates. * Aardwolf: It looks like a small striped hyena and has a specialized diet of insects.

How do hyenas communicate and live together in groups?

Hyenas use vocalizations and scent markings to communicate within their clans, which range from 5 to 80 individuals. Spotted hyenas communicate through moans, yells, giggles, and whoops that can be heard over several kilometers. The "laughter" vocalization is often produced when they feel threatened or frustrated, and the pitch can indicate age or status. Hyenas mark their territory boundaries with dung piles and scent from anal glands. These scent markings help hyenas distinguish their own scent from others, indicating how recently an intruder was present. Living in clans, spotted hyenas have a linear dominance hierarchy where the lowest-ranking female outranks the highest-ranking male. They also cooperate while foraging.

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At a Glance

hyena summary

Quick Facts

Also spelled:: hyaena

Related Topics:: Do Hyenas Really Laugh?; Are hyenas cats or dogs?; Hyaenidae

On the Web:: World Animal Rescue Network - Hyena (Oct. 16, 2026)

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hyena

mammal

Also known as: hyaena

Written by

Lory Herbison and George W. Frame

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 16, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is a hyena?
Hyenas are dog-like carnivores native to Asia and Africa, known for their scavenging behavior. Though they resemble dogs, hyenas are more closely related to cats. They have coarse fur, four toes on each foot, non-retractable claws, long forelegs, and powerful jaws and teeth.

Hyenas are intelligent and opportunistic animals that often interact with humans. They can be found alone or in packs and are typically nocturnal. While known for scavenging, they also hunt live prey. The spotted hyena is the largest species, known for its distinctive calls that sound like laughter.
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Where do hyenas live?
Hyenas, coarse-furred, doglike carnivores, reside in Asia and Africa. There are three species: the spotted hyena, the brown hyena, and the striped hyena.

Spotted hyenas range south of the Sahara, except in rainforests. Brown hyenas inhabit Southern Africa and western coastal deserts. Striped hyenas live in scrub woodland and arid and semiarid open country, from Morocco to Egypt and Tanzania, Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, and India.
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2. hyena
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What do hyenas eat?
Hyenas are carnivores with a coarse fur that can be found in Asia and Africa. They are intelligent and opportunistic animals with a varied diet. Spotted hyenas eat anything from young hippos to fish, but they commonly hunt antelopes, wildebeest, gazelles, and zebras. Brown hyenas consume insects, fruit, birds and their eggs, small mammals, and reptiles. Striped hyenas have a similar diet to the brown hyena, eating insects, fruits, and small vertebrates.
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How are hyenas different from other mammals like dogs or cats?
Hyenas, found in Asia and Africa, are coarse-furred carnivores known for their scavenging habits. Though they resemble dogs, hyenas are more closely related to cats. The family Hyaenidae, which includes all hyenas, split from the cat group around 30 million years ago.

Hyenas have unique features that distinguish them from both cats and dogs. They possess powerful jaws and broad molars, enabling them to crush bones. Their forelegs are long, and they have strong necks and shoulders, which are adaptations for dismembering and carrying prey.
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Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are the main types of hyenas?
Hyenas, coarse-furred, doglike carnivores, are found in Asia and Africa and are noted for their scavenging habits. Although hyenas look like dogs, they are more closely related to cats.

The main types of hyenas are:
* Spotted Hyena: The largest species, also known as the laughing hyena, hunts various animals and scavenges. They live in clans of 5 to 80 individuals.
* Brown Hyena: They are smaller, shaggy, and dark, with a white mane. They eat insects, fruit, and leftovers from other animals' kills. They live in clans, and adult females nurse each other’s cubs.
* Striped Hyena: These small hyenas live in scrub woodland and arid regions. They have a diet similar to that of brown hyenas, including insects, fruit, and small vertebrates.
* Aardwolf: It looks like a small striped hyena and has a specialized diet of insects.
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How do hyenas communicate and live together in groups?
Hyenas use vocalizations and scent markings to communicate within their clans, which range from 5 to 80 individuals. Spotted hyenas communicate through moans, yells, giggles, and whoops that can be heard over several kilometers. The "laughter" vocalization is often produced when they feel threatened or frustrated, and the pitch can indicate age or status.

Hyenas mark their territory boundaries with dung piles and scent from anal glands. These scent markings help hyenas distinguish their own scent from others, indicating how recently an intruder was present. Living in clans, spotted hyenas have a linear dominance hierarchy where the lowest-ranking female outranks the highest-ranking male. They also cooperate while foraging.
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hyena, (family Hyaenidae), any of three species of coarse-furred, doglike carnivores found in Asia and Africa and noted for their scavenging habits. Hyenas have long forelegs and a powerful neck and shoulders for dismembering and carrying prey. Hyenas are tireless trotters with excellent sight, hearing, and smell for locating carrion, and they are proficient hunters as well. All hyenas are more or less nocturnal.

Intelligent, curious, and opportunistic in matters of diet, hyenas frequently come into contact with humans. The spotted, or laughing, hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is the largest species and will burglarize food stores, steal livestock, occasionally kill people, and consume wastes—habits for which they are usually despised, even by the Masai, who leave out their dead for hyenas. Even so, hyena body parts are sought for traditional tokens and potions made to cure barrenness, grant wisdom, and enable the blind to find their way around. Brown hyenas (Parahyaena brunnea or sometimes Hyaena brunnea) are blamed for many livestock deaths that they probably do not cause. Similarly, from North Africa eastward to India, striped hyenas (H. hyaena) are blamed when small children disappear and for supposedly attacking small livestock and digging up graves. In consequence, some populations have been persecuted nearly to extinction. All three species are in decline outside protected areas.

Spotted hyenas range south of the Sahara except in rainforests. They are ginger-coloured with patterns of dark spots unique to each individual, and females are larger than males. Weighing up to 82 kg (180 pounds), they can measure almost 2 metres (6.6 feet) long and about 1 metre tall at the shoulder. Spotted hyenas communicate using moans, yells, giggles, and whoops, and these sounds may carry several kilometres. Gestation is about 110 days, and annual litter size is usually two cubs, born in any month.

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The spotted hyena hunts everything from young hippos to fish, though antelopes are more common. In East and Southern Africa, they kill most of their own food, chasing wildebeest, gazelles, and zebras at up to 65 km (40 miles) per hour for 3 km. Contrary to popular belief, healthy as well as weakened individuals are taken. One or two animals may start the chase, but dozens might be in on the kill; an adult zebra mare and her two-year-old foal (370 kg total weight) were observed being torn apart and consumed by 35 hyenas in half an hour. Strong jaws and broad molars allow the animal to get at every part of a carcass and crush bones, which are digested in the stomach by highly concentrated hydrochloric acid. Spotted hyenas sometimes go several days between meals, as the stomach can hold 14.5 kg of meat.

Living in clans of 5 to 80 individuals, spotted hyenas mark the boundaries of their territory with dung piles (“latrines”) and scent from anal glands. Females’ genitals externally resemble males’ and have social importance in the genital greeting, in which animals lift the hind leg to allow mutual inspection. The sexes have a linear dominance hierarchy, the lowest female outranking the highest male. The dominant female monopolizes carcasses when she can, which results in better nutrition for her cubs. The dominant male obtains most matings. For 6 months the cubs’ only food is mother’s milk; nursing bouts may last four hours. Where prey is migratory, the mother “commutes” 30 km or more from the den, and she may not see her cubs for three days. After 6 months the cubs begin eating meat from kills, but they continue to drink milk until 14 months old. Female cubs inherit the status of their mothers; young males sometimes move to other clans, where they are more likely to breed.

The smaller brown hyena weighs about 40 kg; the coat is shaggy and dark with an erectile white mane over the neck and shoulders and horizontal white bands on the legs. The brown hyena lives in Southern Africa and western coastal deserts, where it is called the beach, or strand, wolf. Birds and their eggs, insects, and fruit are staples, but leftovers from kills made by lions, cheetahs, and spotted hyenas are very important seasonally. Small mammals and reptiles are occasionally killed. After 3 months’ gestation, cubs (usually three) are born anytime during the year and are weaned by 15 months of age. Like spotted hyenas, brown hyenas live in clans that mark and defend territory, but behaviour differs in several critical ways: adult females nurse each other’s cubs; other clan members take food to the cubs; and females do not outrank males.

Five races of striped hyenas live in scrub woodland as well as in arid and semiarid open country from Morocco to Egypt and Tanzania, Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, and India. These small hyenas average 30–40 kg. Colour is pale gray with black throat fur and stripes on the body and legs. The hair is long, with a crest running from behind the ears to the tail; the crest is erected to make the animal look larger. Striped hyenas apparently do not scent-mark or defend territory. Litters of one to four cubs are born any time during the year after a 3-month gestation; they are weaned at 10–12 months. A female’s offspring may stay and help raise her new cubs. Striped hyenas have a diet much like that of brown hyenas: insects, fruit, and small vertebrates. In Israel striped hyenas are pests of melon and date crops.

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Order Carnivora branched into dog and cat lineages 50 million years ago; hyenas arose from the cat group. Thus, although hyenas look like dogs, they are actually more closely related to cats. Family Hyaenidae diverged about 30 million years ago. Early hyaenids did not all have bone-crushing molars; those were probably a recent development as some hyenas exploited large carcasses left by sabre-toothed cats. Hyaenidae also includes the aardwolf, which looks like a small striped hyena. It has a specialized diet of insects and belongs to a subfamily separate from hyenas.

Lory Herbison and George W. Frame

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