#intelligents

R.L. Gregory - The Intelligent Eye - McGraw-Hill - 1971

THE SPOTTED HYENA.  The predominant sound in my African nights - aside from the birds - was the whooping call of the hyena. Unfortunately, like wild hunting dogs, the hyena are often reviled by man as being cruel or unsavory. But take a close look at humankind...without a bit of hesitation I say that it is human primates that have non-essential practices that are cruel, and unrelated to survival. Hyenas play an incredibly important role in their ecosystem. While they are often thought of first as scavengers, their food consists largely of what they've hunted. They are highly intelligent, and do wind up in some conflicts with man over livestock predation, but there are tribes who leave dead to be consumed by hyenas - circle of life concept demonstrated. They have the strongest jaw - relative to body size - for a mammal. This image was taken of a spotted hyena who seemed quite curious about me and my lens...and I literally thought "Can he jump up here?" LOL. From the series "Into Africa"

Lomepal - Palpal.

Lomepal - Palpal.