New Species: Striped Hyenas!
I don't have a ton of photos of this species: this sweet old man was the only one anywhere near me. He's since passed, so I wanted to get photos of him online. All he wanted to do the times I saw him was relax in the sun, so that's how we'll remember him.
The Animal Photo Reference Repository is an independent, permanently open-access project and funded entirely by donations. Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use all photos in the repository as references.
**Patreon** -- **Ko-Fi**
I love him!
North American zoos seem to prioritize spotted hyena conservation over the other species (which makes sense given SSPs and zoos' limited resources), and spotted hyena are great, but I'd love to see the full variety.
I think thereâs also a sourcing issue. I donât know of anywhere in the US breeding non-spotted hyaenids, which means you have to import, and thatâs expensive and tedious.
I know weâre completely out of aardwolves in the US and I think thereâs only a couple places that have striped hyenas left. The two facilities I knew of who had them, including this guy, have both passed. EDIT: I have been reminded that there are a couple of aardwolves, Nashville was raising a couple babies although I donât know where they are now.
One of the reasons Iâm really looking forward to being able to take donated photos in the future (weâre still working towards it!) is to be able to represent lesser-known species from all around the world.
