The brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea), also called the strandwolf, is a species of hyena found in Namibia, Botswana, western and southern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique, western Eswatini, and South Africa. The largest remaining brown hyena population is located in the southern Kalahari Desert and coastal areas in Southwest Africa. The global population of brown hyena is estimated by IUCN at a number between 4,000 and 10,000 and its conservation status is marked as near threatened in the IUCN Red List. Their legs are striped brown and white, and adults have a distinct cream-colored fur ruff around their necks. Erectile hairs up to in length cover the neck and back and bristles during agonistic behavior. Body length is on average with a range of . Shoulder height is and the tail is long. although males may be slightly larger than females.
Distribution and habitat
The brown hyena inhabits desert areas, semi-desert, and open woodland savannah in Southern Africa. In the Namib, it also lives near seal colonies and in abandoned diamond mining towns. It is not dependent on water sources for frequent drinking and favours rocky, mountainous areas, as these provide shade. It may have lived also in the Iberian Peninsula and perhaps in other parts of Europe, indicated by fossils found at Fonelas 1 near Granada dated to the Late Pliocene. It is uncertain whether the Fonelas hyena specimens are truly brown hyena. Early Pleistocene brown hyenas are known to have fed on hominins, though whether this constituted scavenging or active predation is unclear.
During the Middle Pleistocene, it inhabited what is now Kenya. Latrines made by brown hyenas have been discovered in South Africa dating back to the Middle Pleistocene. There is the possibility that Parahyaena may be synonymous with the extinct Pachycrocuta, making the brown hyena the only extant member of this genus. Other authors however do not support such a position.
Ecology and behavior
In the Kalahari, 80% of a brown hyena's activity time is spent at night, searching for food in an area on spanning on average, with territories of having been recorded. during which the hyena deposits secretions from its large anal gland, which is located below the base of the tail and produces a black and white paste. Live prey makes up only a small proportion of its diet. In the southern Kalahari Desert, species such as springhare, gemsbok, springbok lambs, Burchell's zebra, bat-eared foxes, korhaans, crowned lapwings and helmeted guinea fowl constitute 4.2% of its diet, while on the Namib coast, black-backed jackals and cape fur seal pups compose 2.9% of the diet. It has an exceptional sense of smell and can locate carcasses kilometers away. Single brown hyenas charge at leopards with their jaws held wide open and can tree adult male leopards. In the Kalahari Desert, they are often the dominant mammalian carnivores present because of this aggressive behavior and the relative scarcity of lions, spotted hyenas, and packs of African wild dogs. In areas where their territories overlap, brown hyenas may, on rare occasions, be killed by spotted hyenas and lions.