The Biggest Myths About Hyenas

Native to the African continent, hyenas are known in numerous cultures as frightening animals – sometimes even associated with witchcraft. This might explain why, even though these mammals have been around for millions of years, we know so little about them. We have gathered some of the most common misconceptions about hyenas and debunked them.

Hyenas are felines.

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Because of their slight physical similarity to animals of the Felidae and Canidae families, many people mistakenly assume hyenas are related to cats or dogs. However, these animals belong to their own family, Hyenidae. Currently, there are four extant species of hyenas in the world: the striped hyena, the brown hyena, the spotted hyena, and the aardwolf.