The Mighty Rangsang

Last week, we in Serena were treated to an incredibly rare sighting; one of our hyenas, Rangsang (RANG) killed a wildebeest right in front of our car on the road. We often see hyenas hunting animals, and come across carcasses quite a bit, but the actual takedown of an animal is very unusual to see.

This kill is unique in that Rang doesn't use the normal hyena hunting technique of coursing, or running animals to exhaustion then ripping out their stomach. This wildebeest tripped right in front of her, so she grabbed it and broke its neck.

Rang is one of the higher-ranking hyenas in South clan. Her mom, Java, is the matriarch, and Rang is Java's muscle. We didn't see Rang for a while, but she is back at the den right now, hopefully nursing some new cubs. Be on the lookout for some new black cubs!