The Crippling and Recovery of Rosalina

The month of December was a tumultuous time for Pond clan. Around that time Aquamarine (AQUA) took over the clan from Juno and Guava and (we think) Clementine were both found dead. Another casualty of this period was Rosalina aka LINA.

LINA before she was injured.

LINA, with her sister Goomba, are Carter’s youngest kids currently, and she was fat and adorable. However that all changed on December 17^th when I found her at the den with the bottom quarter of her left back leg missing. 

First time LINA seen with her injury

How she lost part of her leg we have no idea. She might’ve lost it from a lion trying to grab her, or from another hyena during AQUA’s takeover. Whatever the cause, things looked extremely grim for LINA’s chances of survival and she became very skinny.

Happily though, spotted hyenas are nothing if not tough, and their ability to survive pretty grievous injuries is well known. For instance, a few years ago in the Mara conservancy there was an adult female hyena who survived with both back legs crippled for nearly a year, long enough to successfully wean her kids. Today while LINA isn’t fully recovered, her wound has healed up well, she’s gained a little more weight, and is starting to explore farther out from the den again. The hope is that if she can survive until the wildebeest come, there will be enough food around to where she might make a nearly full recovery. (recovery photo pending when I see her again.)