The researchers saw hyenas and lions compete as hunters, and often steal each other's kills, with hyenas often driving lions away from their own kills. In Botswana's Chobe National Park, hyena clans, sometimes numbering as many as 40, have confronted lion prides, not to compete over food but to fight. Lions, in what appeared to be an attempt to rid their territory of hyenas, attacked the rivals. Lionesses sought the dominant female hyena. Spotted hyenas roam savannas, desert, and mountainsides either as hunters, running down their prey like wolves, or as scavengers, feasting on carrion.
Hyenas can go for several days without water.
Their incredibly strong jaws and digestive tracts can dispose of entire corpses, including bones, hide, and hair. A hyena can consume up to one third of its body weight in one feeding frenzy. Spotted hyenas hunt in packs, typically chasing a herd of migrating wildebeests until a weak or young one falters, then pouncing on it and consuming it on the spot. A chase may go on for a mile or more, with hyenas achieving speeds of 25 to 30 miles per hour. As many as 80 hyenas live together in large clans, which divide into packs.