There is a certain injustice that happens on every single safari. The moment a lion finishes eating an antelope, hyenas appear just a few minutes later. And what do tourists usually say? "Of course… showing up when dinner is already served."

Every time, I just smile. Because if hyenas had a lawyer, they would have won a defamation lawsuit a long time ago.

Let's do a little thought experiment. Imagine you arrive at a crime scene. There is a body, and the police are all around. Suddenly, a person in a white lab coat walks in. Who is he? The killer? Or the forensic scientist?

It’s the exact same story with hyenas. We very often see them near a kill, so we automatically assume they are the ones who did it. When in reality:

More often than not, they simply arrived at the "crime scene" after the fact.
Sometimes, it's the exact opposite: the hyenas hunt down the antelope themselves, and then the lions show up and casually take it away. Yes, indeed - sometimes the king of the savanna acts exactly like that neighbor who just wanders over because he smells a barbecue.
Hyenas do scavenge, but so does almost every major predator in Africa - crocodiles, leopards, jackals, and even the king of beasts himself, the lion. For some reason, hyenas just got all the bad press.

Here is another unexpected fact: a hyena can crush and digest bones that most animals wouldn't even touch. It doesn't sound very romantic, but thanks to this, almost nothing is left behind in the savanna. They are like a natural recycling service - working without garbage trucks, bins, or days off.

And now for my favorite paradox. We are used to viewing the lion as the ultimate symbol of power. But if you look a bit closer at the relationship between lions and hyenas, it turns out to be much more fascinating. Sometimes lions chase hyenas away; sometimes hyenas chase lions away. It doesn't depend on who is "cooler" - it depends entirely on how many animals gather on each side. In Africa, even the king doesn't argue with a crowd.

So every time someone in the car goes, "Ugh… hyenas…", I answer: "Just wait. Let me tell you the real story" 😉

I am sure that if hyenas could talk, they would only say one thing: "We aren't the villains. We just have terrible PR." And to be perfectly honest… sometimes, we are a bit like them in that regard.

The Hyena: Africa's Most Misunderstood Detective