Hi, this is Kate from MinuteEarth.
And this is Scarface, one of the hyenas I studied in Kenya; and like all male spotted
hyenas, his life sucks.
Babyhood is actually the pinnacle of a male hyena’s life.
Itty-bitty cubs of both sexes rank just below their moms, who make up the entire top of
the clan's social hierarchy – more on that later.
So cubs have decent access to food, sleeping spots, and everything else.
But male cubs’ glory days are short.
Females generally don’t like mating with males from the clan they grew up in - it’s
probably nature’s way of avoiding inbreeding.
So once males turn two or so, they leave their clan and strike out on a lonely, dangerous
search for a clan with better mating prospects.
Lots of other mammalian males do the same thing, but for them, the transition to a new
group is an opportunity to challenge high-ranking individuals and increase their social standing.
Not so for male hyenas.
They endure aggressive hazing by the new clan before even being allowed to join, and once
a male does gain acceptance, he becomes the very lowest-ranking hyena in the pecking...er...bone-cracking
order.
The tastiest food rarely makes its way down to him, and there’s no way to move up the
social hierarchy besides simply waiting: either for new males to join the clan below him or
for males ahead of him to die.
No adult male will ever top a single female, resulting in a female-dominated hierarchy.
This is all...weird; unlike most mammals, male hyenas are subordinate to females.
Which is probably because, unlike most mammals, female hyenas are bigger and meaner than males,
which is probably thanks to their need to stand up for their offspring in this kind
of crazy feeding frenzy.
And unlike pretty much all mammals, physically fit or socially capable individuals can’t
make their way to the top of hyena society to do most of the decision- and baby-making.
They’re the only social mammals we know of with such a rigid hierarchy, and we don’t
yet know why.
We do know the outcome, though.
Male hyenas like Scarface end up plagued with injuries from harassment & hazing, endure
prematurely worn-down teeth from eating too many bones, and on average, only live as half
as long females do.
The best they can hope for is that, at the end of the day, they’ll have left behind
a few cubs - which is not the best for the ones that turn out to be males.
While I was getting my PhD, I spent several years in Kenya studying hyenas like Scarface.
And the rest of the MinuteEarth team has done amazing research and explored all sorts of
cool places, too.
To find out about the adventures of the MinuteEarth team, learn how we make videos, and ask us
your burning questions, join us for an livestreamed q&a on our Patreon page at Patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- we’ll put the details below.
While you’re there, consider becoming a Patron; just a dollar a video from you means
we won’t have to resort to gnawing on bones to survive.