Hyenas exhibit ecological and social diversity, occupying diverse habitats and filling specialized niches, with four living species in the family Hyaenidae.

Hyena societies

Spotted hyenas in the Horn of Africa have a long and ambivalent association with people, tolerating sanitation and carrion removal, but also causing livestock destruction, killing, and eating corpses.

Hyenas and Humans in the Horn of Africa*

Spotted hyenas maintain strong social relationships with kin year-round, despite resource limitations, despite differences in social structure and resource access.

Society, demography and genetic structure in the spotted hyena

Brown hyenas have extremely low genetic diversity, likely due to a continuous decline in population size since the Pleistocene, with potential subpopulations within the species.

Extended and Continuous Decline in Effective Population Size Results in Low Genomic Diversity in the World’s Rarest Hyena Species, the Brown Hyena

The striped hyena's immune and digestive system-related gene families have significantly expanded, likely as an adaptive response to its scavenging lifestyle.

Genome-Wide Analyses Provide Insights into the Scavenging Lifestyle of the Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena).

Spotted hyenas in Etosha National Park, Namibia, expand their territory during the wet season to follow migratory prey, adjusting to prey movements and prey dispersal.

Spotted hyenas ( Crocuta crocuta ) follow migratory prey. Seasonal expansion of a clan territory in Etosha, Namibia

Striped hyena scats reveal detailed information on regional vegetation, foraging behavior, and diet, aiding in reconstructing dryland paleoecology and animal paleoethology.

Pollen analysis of present-day striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) scats from central Iran: Implications for dryland paleoecology and animal paleoethology

Spotted hyenas derive large net fitness benefits from clan-level cooperation, with low mean relatedness within clans suggesting they cooperate with unrelated clan-mates against close paternal kin in other clans.

Behavioural structuring of relatedness in the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) suggests direct fitness benefits of clan‐level cooperation

Higher per capita prey density in striped hyena populations leads to relaxed competition for food, greater social tolerance, and den sharing among females.

Genetic relatedness and space use in two populations of striped hyenas (Hyaena hyaena)

Spotted hyenas balance cooperation and competition within their social life, with individual differences in cooperation and competition emerging from a general tendency to do-what-other-hyenas-are-doing.

Social Facilitation, Affiliation, and Dominance in the Social Life of Spotted Hyenas a

Spotted hyena bone accumulation rates and sizes are influenced by prey species abundance, clan size, social interactions within the clan, and den site availability, with intraspecific behavioral variability also playing a role.

Taphonomic and zooarchaeological implications of spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) bone accumulations in Kenya: a modern behavioral ecological approach

Striped hyenas in India primarily eat wild prey, with a small portion of domestic prey, suggesting potential human-wildlife conflicts.

Food habits of striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) in a semi-arid conservation area of India

The Striped Hyena is present in Ramnagar Forest Division, Uttarakhand, India, despite previous reports and camera trap surveys.

Photographic evidence of Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena (Mammalia: Carnivora: Hyaenidae) in Ramnagar forest division, Uttarakhand, India

Striped hyena distribution in Nepal has significantly decreased, limiting their presence to lowlands and hill areas, requiring community-based conservation efforts.

Shrinking striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena Linnaeus, 1758) distribution in Nepal

Late Pleistocene spotted hyenas from Rosenbeck Cave in Germany show three distinct cranial shapes, with one resulting from injuries caused by bites from intraspecies fights or lions.

A clan of Late Pleistocene hyenas, Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss 1823), from the Rösenbeck Cave (Germany) and a contribution to cranial shape variability

The giant short-faced hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris brevirostris surprisingly appeared in Northeast Asia, challenging the conventional concept of subspecies and suggesting its origin and dispersal from Northeast Asia.

The giant short-faced hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Mammalia, Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from Northeast Asia: A reinterpretation of subspecies differentiation and intercontinental dispersal

Striped hyenas are threatened by habitat degradation, decreased prey population, retaliatory killing, poaching, and road kills, requiring urgent conservation initiatives.

Status, Distribution, and Threats of Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena Linnaeus, 1758) in Nepal: A Review

Striped hyenas prefer open landscapes along rivers and human settlements, with canopy volume and distance to water sources being key factors in their habitat preferences.

Habitat preference indicators for striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) in Nepal

Human-hyena conflict is high in Jajarkot, Kalikot, and Mahottari districts of Nepal, with livestock depredation being a major reason for conflict.

NOTES ON HUMAN- HYENA (Hyaena hyaena, Linnaeus 1751) CONFLICT IN JAJARKOT, KALIKOT AND MAHOTTARI DISTRICTS OF NEPAL

Striped hyena prefer riverbeds and are threatened by habitat degradation, highlighting the need for conservation efforts in Rautahat and Sarlahi forests, Nepal.

Status of Striped Hyena (Hyaena Hyaena Linnaeus, 1758) and Their Conservation Approaches in Rautahat and Sarlahi Forests, Nepal

These studies suggest that hyenas are a distinct family of animals (Hyaenidae) with diverse ecological roles and social structures, but they do not provide information on their specific related animal families.