The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is a creature of the dark. Unlike its cousins on the grasslands further south, which hunt in packs during the day, the striped hyena scavenges at night. Its diet is mostly carrion, insects and human refuse but it has retained the hyena's ability to crunch through bone and will devour an entire carcass, regurgitating the horns, hooves and anything else its powerful digestive system cannot crush and dissolve. Some African villages leave their rubbish outside at night for the striped hyena to 'collect'. It rarely attacks livestock or people and is not aggressive.
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