Wild African elephants may have domesticated themselves
Two elephants greeting each other at the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa.
(Image credit: Johan Swanepoel, Depositphoto.)
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E l’amore non scompare mai definitivamente. Si annida in qualche piega d’ombra, va in letargo, si inabissa, ma non si disfa.
Lidia Ravera – L’amore che resta
Ph Johan Swanepoel
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Parahyaena brunnea
Mostly due to habitat loss, brown hyenas are the rarest of the hyena species, with 4-10 thousand individuals in the wild. There are 30-50 thousand wild spotted hyenas, for comparison.
Brown hyenas are also known as strandwolves, which means "beach wolves" in Afrikaans, a language spoken primarily in South Africa. This name was given to them because brown hyenas in coastal areas spend a lot of time walking down beaches in search of food, and maybe to unwind after a long day. Some of the largest brown hyena populations are found in these coastal areas of Southern Africa, but there are also large populations in the Kalahari desert.
Although the name strandwolf suggests it, brown hyenas are not closely related to wolves or other canines. They can resemble canines, but hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs. Their closest relatives are mongooses and civets. The photo below shows an African civet.
Brown hyenas are generally smaller than striped and spotted hyenas, but they can still get pretty big, weighing up to 90 pounds (40.8 kg). This size and their powerful jaws make them seem like formidable predators, but they're pretty bad hunters. They mostly scavenge for food or steal it from more capable hunters like cheetahs, leopards, and jackals. Since they can digest bones, hooves, horns, hair, and skin, they can basically eat every scrap food they find. Brown hyenas often live in groups, but this scavenging is done on their own.
Their clans are much smaller than those of spotted hyenas, and the structure is more similar to a wolf pack; most hyenas in the group are the offspring of the dominant hyenas. Brown hyenas are very social and form close bonds with other hyenas.
I rate the brown hyena 17/10. I like them. They seem a little bit lazy with their poor hunting skills and walks down the beach
Photo credits:
(1) Christophe Jobic (2) Mario Nonaka (3) Yarin Klien (4) Thilo Beck (5) Johan Swanepoel (6) Joel Sartore
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Johan Swanepoel
Impala, Kruger National Park, South Africa
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Woman standing in doorway
by Johan Swanepoel
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B/N... + ¿Color?
Reflections of D'nell 5 es una fotografía de Johan Swanepoel que se subió el 15 de diciembre de 2018.
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