THE HYAENA FAMILY— HYAENA. 



185. 



feet are whitish. These colors are liable to show 

 considerable variations, as they may be much darker 

 or lighter. The length of the body is about fifty- 

 two inches ; the height of the shoulder is nearly 

 thirty-two inches, but much larger specimens are 

 reported to have been killed. 



Spotted Hycena's The Spotted Hyaena inhabits 

 Haunts and southern and eastern Africa, ex- 



Mode of Life. tending from the Cape of Good 

 Hope to about the seventeenth degree of north 

 latitude, and wherever it is plentiful it almost com- 

 pletely crowds out the Striped Hyaena. The two 

 species live together in Abyssinia and East Soudan, 

 but farther south the Spotted Hyaena gradually 

 becomes sole possessor of the field. It is very corn- 



more stupid, and of a more wicked and brutal dispo- 

 sition than its striped relative, though it may be 

 tamed to a certain extent in a short time, with the 

 aid of the whip. Still it seems that it never attains 

 the degree of docility that is reached by the Striped 

 Hyaena. The tricks performed in wandering circuses 

 by the Hyaena do not furnish us with a standard, and 

 it is only such peripatetic zoologists as these that 

 find pleasure or profit in bestowing much attention 

 upon these animals, which are so ugly, clumsy and 

 unprepossessing in their cage. For hours they lie 

 like a log ; then they jump up, look at people with 

 a remarkably dull-witted expression, rub themselves 

 against the bars from time to time and then break 

 out with their abominable laughter. 



STRIP£D HYJENAS. This species of the Hyaena family is the best known, and derives its name from the markings of its fur as shown in the 



picture. This is. like the other species, a carrion eating animal, and the dispute over the possession of a bone, as here depicted, is a very common occur- 

 rence on the African and Asiatic plains which form its habitat. The rough, coarse fur and mane, the erect ears and somewhat slender limbs which distin- 

 guish the animal, are seen in this group. {Hyxna striata.) 



mon in Abyssinia; and is found even at an elevation 

 of twelve thousand feet above the sea. Its mode of 

 life is similar to that of the others, but it is much 

 more dreaded because of its large size and strength, 

 and probably it is on this account that it is consid- 

 ered a spirit of evil, bringing misfortune to man. A 

 great many observers agree that it attacks human 

 beings, especially when the latter are asleep or tired. 

 Ruppel says that the Abyssinians declare this to be 

 the case. 



Character and The Spotted Hyaena is the animal 

 Disposition of that plays the most important part 

 Spotted Hywnas. [ n tradition. Of all Beasts of Prey 

 it undoubtedly possesses the ugliest and most repul- 

 sive shape ; and its mental endowments are such 

 as to make the animal still more detestable. It is 



The Brown The Brown Hyaena or Strand-Wolf 

 Hyaena or {Hycena brunned) is mainly distin- 

 Strand-Wolf. guished from its relatives by a long, 

 rough mane on the back and hanging down on both 

 sides. The hair is long over the entire fur, and its 

 color is a general dark brown, diversified by a few 

 spots on the legs of a mixed brown and white hue ; 

 the head is dark brown and gray, the forehead black, 

 sprinkled with white and reddish brown. The hair 

 of the mane on the back is whitish gray at bottom 

 and brownish black above. The Brown Hyaena is 

 considerably smaller than the Spotted Hyaena, and 

 at the best only attains the size of the striped species. 

 This animal inhabits the south of Africa, but prob- 

 ably only the desert-like western regions, and is said 

 to exist usually near the sea-shore. It seems to be 



