Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

[TheHyenid76]

Spotted Hyena predation on Pachyderms - Part I

Rhinos

Spotted hyenas have been recorded attacking and killing adult black rhinos. They also readily scavenge on rhinos that have died of various causes (natural, poaching etc). For obvious reasons, hyenas mostly attack little rhino calves.

Information by Dr. Hans Kruuk (a renowned expert on Hyenas) & author of "The Spotted Hyena. A Study of Predation and Social Behavior"

He observed a pack of 15 hyenas attacking a mother and calf and was certain that hyenas would kill the calf

"Once a female rhino was accompanied by a small month-old calf with a broken hind leg (pl. 34). There were fifteen hyenas around the pair attempting to bite the calf, trying especially to grab the ears (which were half torn off) and the tail, while the mother and the calf itself made repeated short charges at them. The calf stood smaller than the hyenas at the shoulder and stayed close to its mother. It was limping very badly, and the bone of the broken leg was sticking through its skin. The hyenas would probably have killed it in the end, but it was shot for study purposes by another scientist."

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"On another occasion six hyenas were closely following a rhino mother with a calf about six months old. The hyenas were obviously interested in the calf and bit it once in the hind leg, whereupon it charged at them; the mother showed no interest in the hyenas. But on other occasions, I have seen rhinos go quite far out of their way to charge at hyenas lying or standing on the plains-the hyenas avoided the rhinos at distances of over 20 m. According to Goddard (1967) young rhinoceroses (up to the age of four months) are vulnerable to hyena predation; he observed three instances when hyenas tried unsuccessfully to catch a young calf, but they were always repulsed by the charges of the mother or of the calf itself."

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This the image of the hyenas attacking rhino calf with broken hind leg.

"Rhinoceros protecting her injured calf (broken hind leg), Ngorongoro"

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The Spotted Hyena : A Study of Predation and Social Behavior

Information by the same scientist from his author book, "Hyaena"

Hyenas attack rhino calves and their combined effort can successfully break the rhino mother's defence. Hyenas may even attack adult rhinos which explains why some rhinos are earless!

"The rhinoceros, that huge, armoured animal weighing up to 3000 lbs, can hardly be expected to be a fair prey for hyaenas. They are left in peace, though sometimes a party of boisterous 'fisi' may spend some time 'rhino-baiting'-it looks just like a game. But one evening I saw a mother rhino with a small calf walking past a hyaena den, just as it was getting dark, when suddenly hyaenas converged on the pair from all directions. About 25 hyaenas attempted to grab the calf, whilst its mother and the calf itself put up a very spectacular resistance. At the end of a 2.5 hour fight the calf had lost its ears and its tail, and was bleeding from many wounds-but the two were still holding out. Then unexpectedly another hyaena came running past on the heels of a wildebeest bull, and given the choice the attacking hyaenas chose to follow up the wildebeest rather than the rhino calf. The wildebeest was killed, and the rhino calf survived; two weeks later I met it again, looking rather shapeless without its normal appendages, but otherwise perfect. The calf was saved more or less by accident, but I have no doubt that on other occasions the hyaenas' combined efforts against the rhino's defence would be successful. The observation certainly indicated why some adult rhinos are earless!"

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Photos of the attack described by Dr Hans

"Attempt to kill a rhino calf at night"

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Description of how adult rhinos may end up on the stomachs of hyenas.

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"Rhinos in Ngorongoro Crater, speared by Masai, eaten by hyaenas after they died in agony with spears in their body"

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Hyaena - Hans Kruuk

Incredible modern account (with images) of five hyenas killing an adult injured white rhino

"Five hyenas had trapped the rhino cow in the dam and were launching repeated attacks on her and were doing their best to kill her in the dam. They were biting her at the base of her tail and grabbing her by the ear and pushing her head underwater trying to drown her. (See the sequence of events pictured below)."

"Hyenas pushing the rhino into the dam"

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"Hyenas attacking in the water"

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"The rhino cow fights back"

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"A temporary respite"

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"The rhino succumbs"

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An extraordinary hyena attack Reply