Hyenas

Hyena calls connect the clan

Photo by Jen Guyton (jenguyton.com)

Spotted hyenas live in groups with a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, where clan members move alone or in small subgroups that split and merge over time. Despite being widely dispersed over several kilometers, hyenas can come together rapidly for collective defense of prey items against lions, or in conflicts with neighboring clans, via long-distance recruitment calls known as "whoops".

We are investigating how communication and coordination interact in these dispersed animal societies, using collars that simultaneously track the positions, vocalizations, and activity patterns of hyenas within a clan. We are interested in how information is transmitted over long distances in these groups, how hyenas decide whether or not to respond to recruitment calls, and how such communication impacts their long-term movement dynamics.

Our hyena research is in collaboration with co-PIs Kay Holekamp, Frants Jensen, Eli Strauss, Andy Gersick and the Mara Hyena Project long-term study.

Fission-fusion dynamics

Unlike more cohesive social groups, a clan of hyenas is rarely all together in one place. Instead, hyenas range alone or in small subgroups that split and merge with one another over time.

We combine collar data with computational tools to characterize these fission-fusion dynamics.

In addition, we use accelerometer data recorded on collars to identify the behaviors the hyenas are engaging in at any moment in time.

Animation by Eli Strauss

Photo by Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin

Collective threat response

Hyenas often need to come together rapidly to defend common resources -- they compete with lions over carcasses and with neighboring clans over territory borders. To take advantage of strength in numbers, they use long-distance calls to recruit their clan mates from kilometers away. We have shown that these calls are individually distinctive, meaning that hyenas likely know who is calling.

Our collars pick up the movements of all tagged hyenas during long-distance recruitment events as well as the vocalizations they produce. This allows us to gain a more complete perspective on how information spreads over vast spatial scales to enable effective collective defense.

Source: Frants Jensen

Animation by Jana Woerner

Foraging and hunting behavior

Although hyenas are famous for their scavenging behavior, they actually obtain the majority of their food through hunting. Collar data can give exciting new insights into hyena foraging behavior - from solo hunting, to group hunting, to scavenging.

We are particularly interested in how hyenas obtain information about foraging opportunities within their territories, including how inadvertent acoustic information -- such as the sounds of dying prey or aggressive vocalizations when hyenas fight with their clan mates over food -- can allow individuals to gain information about far-away resources.

We are developing tools to identify both vocalizations and feeding noises (white stars in animation) from collar data to investigate these questions.

Animation by Jana Woerner & Marius Faiß

Header image source: Jen Guyton (jenguyton.com)

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