Hello to all you hyena-loving humans! I am glad you are here
reading this blog, and I hope that you are learning a lot about my new favorite
animal and the amazing place it inhabits.
My name is Robyn Strong and I am the newest research
assistant for the MSU Mara Hyena Project. I arrived in Kenya on 3 November and
have been living at Serena camp since 9 November, and I have had a great first
month! But before I start on my experiences so far, I should probably tell you
a bit about who I am and how I got here.
I graduated from Humboldt State University in May with a
Bachelor of Science in Zoology. Of course, I went through five years of college
and four different majors before getting to that wondrous day. I had a bit of
trouble deciding what I wanted to do; I cycled through Anthropology,
Philosophy, Religious Studies, and International Studies before finally
realizing that I could have a legitimate career staring at animals all day. I declared
my Zoology major officially, and three years later, I spend my days staring at
animals doing arguably the greatest job ever.
For the past couple years, I have oriented my studies mostly
toward sociality and animal behavior. Specifically I found myself interested in
social carnivores; this interest led me to research the evolution of sociality
in lions (the only truly social felid), which somehow led me to hyenas, which
led me to Dr. Holekamp, which eventually led me here.
Come to find out, hyenas are incredible. Who knew, right? I,
like most other people, was first introduced to hyenas through The Lion King,
which got almost everything wrong. I loved the noble lions of Pride Rock, and
disdained the lowly hyena lackeys. While I eventually realized that it was a
Disney movie and therefore not an accurate portrayal of animal behavior, it
never really occurred to me that hyenas had lives beyond lions until reading
scientific papers that discussed hyena communication and social dynamics.
Hyenas live in a matriarchal society with strict dominance
hierarchies, have the cognitive power to remember other clan members' ranks and
identities, and they communicate via complex vocalizations and unique olfactory
signatures. While watching them these past few weeks, I have seen hyenas
aggress on each other, sack out in the middle of roads, nurse their young, curiously
investigate novel objects, romp around excitedly, play with old topi horns,
roll in the mud, glare balefully at any humans in the vicinity, and trot right
up to our research cruiser to sniff the muddy tires. I have heard horrible
squeals and long, drawn-out whoops, excited giggles and obsequious groans.
These animals fascinate, amuse, and impress me.
There are no words to explain the emotion that wells up in
me when I realize that I am here in the middle of all this life, observing and
taking notes, contributing real data to real scientists. And not only do I get
to see hyenas every day, I get to see all the inhabitants of the Maasai Mara.
Lions and leopards and rhinos, oh my! It is truly amazing, and I am beyond
grateful to be here. I am looking forward to a year full of animals and
science, and am very excited to share some of that with you!
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