{"id":48020,"date":"2025-04-28T15:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T09:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=48020"},"modified":"2025-05-28T16:56:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T11:26:58","slug":"extant-hyena-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/extant-hyena-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Extant Hyena Species"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Extant Hyena Species Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>International Hyena Day 2025 (27th April): The four extant species of hyena or hyaenids found on the African continent are facing increasing threats, leading to population declines, according to conservation organisation, Wild Africa.<\/p>\n<h2>About Hyenas<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hyenas are dog-like carnivores<\/strong>\u00a0belonging to the\u00a0<strong>family Hyaenidae<\/strong>, native to\u00a0<strong>Asia and Africa<\/strong>, noted for their\u00a0<strong>scavenging habits<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>There are four extant hyena species<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Spotted Hyena<\/strong>\u00a0(<i>Crocuta crocuta<\/i>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Striped Hyena<\/strong>\u00a0(<i>Hyaena hyaena<\/i>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brown Hyena<\/strong>\u00a0(<i>Parahyaena brunnea<\/i>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Aardwolf<\/strong>\u00a0(<i>Proteles cristatus<\/i>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Habitat<\/strong>: Forest edges, grasslands, savannas, sub-deserts, and mountains up to\u00a0<strong>13,000 feet elevation<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distribution<\/strong>: Across\u00a0<strong>Africa<\/strong>, parts of the\u00a0<strong>Middle East<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Asia<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Physical Features<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hyenas are four-legged animals<\/strong>\u00a0with\u00a0<strong>scraggly fur<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>large ears<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>They have\u00a0<strong>long forelegs<\/strong>, a\u00a0<strong>powerful neck<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>strong shoulders<\/strong>, allowing them to\u00a0<strong>dismember and carry prey<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Excellent sight, hearing, and sense of smell<\/strong>\u00a0make them proficient\u00a0<strong>scavengers and hunters<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hyenas are predominantly nocturnal<\/strong>, being most active during the night.<\/li>\n<li>Their\u00a0<strong>lifespan averages 12 years<\/strong>, although they can live up to\u00a0<strong>25 years<\/strong>;\u00a0<strong>Brown hyenas<\/strong>\u00a0typically have a shorter lifespan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Conservation Status (IUCN)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Spotted Hyena<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong>Least Concern<\/strong>\u00a0but declining, with fewer than\u00a0<strong>50,000<\/strong>\u00a0individuals remaining.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Striped Hyena<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong>Near Threatened<\/strong>, with less than\u00a0<strong>10,000 mature individuals<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brown Hyena<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong>Near Threatened<\/strong>, with just over\u00a0<strong>10,000<\/strong>\u00a0in the wild.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Aardwolf<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong>Least Concern<\/strong>, though exact numbers are\u00a0<strong>unknown<\/strong>\u00a0due to their elusive nature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Extant Hyena Species FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong>\u00a0How many extant species of hyenas are there?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0There are four extant species of hyenas: the spotted hyena, brown hyena, striped hyena, and aardwolf.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.\u00a0<\/strong>Which hyena species is most common in India?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is the most common species found in India.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.\u00a0<\/strong>Are hyenas more closely related to dogs or cats?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0Despite appearances, hyenas are more closely related to cats (Feliformia suborder) than to dogs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/africa\/international-hyena-day-2025-africas-4-hyaenids-are-facing-increasing-threats-leading-to-population-declines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DTE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hyenas are dog-like carnivores belonging to the family Hyaenidae, native to Asia and Africa, noted for their scavenging habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":48024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[527,21,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-48020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-extant-hyena-species","9":"tag-prelims-pointers","10":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","11":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}