Observations on the behaviour and ecology of the striped hyaena, hyaena hyaena, in israel

The family Hyaenidae has been fruitful for the study of inter- and intra-specific variation in social biology and for the development of functional explanations for observed differences. The present study of striped hyaena, Hyaena hyaena, in Israel was conducted in the hope of contributing information on the behaviour and ecology of this species in circumstances not hitherto described, and so to add further material to the discussion of the social biology of the family. The hyaenas' diet, studied through faecal analysis, consisted primarily of a food (offal) that differed in abundance and distribution from that of striped hyaenas studied previously. Perhaps as a consequence of this, the social organisation of these hyaenas differed from that of their conspeci-fics in East Africa; for instance, they are less strictly solitary and use middens. © 1978, Taylor & Francis Group.