Who would come out on top in this fight?
During the Pleistocene Ice Age, wolves and hyenas coexisted throughout Europe and Asia, and they may have fought on occasion.
Wolves and hyenas are both skilled group hunters, taking down bison and moose on a regular basis, while the latter deals with cape buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest.
In wolves, the male is larger and leads the pack, while in hyenas, the female takes on similar tasks.
The Gray Wolf is another name for the Common Wolf. This is the wolf that the majority of people are familiar with. They are, however, sometimes confused for other wolf species.
This is due to the fact that their look can vary dramatically depending on where they are.
Some of the Common Wolves found in the wild are under 80 pounds. Others may weigh in at around 100 pounds.
They might be as long as 4 1/2 feet or as short as 6 feet.
Brown, gray, black, red, white, and a variety of other colors and tones can be seen on them.
In comparison to other species, these wolves have a narrow head and muzzle.
They don’t have the same amount of mass over their shoulders, either. Nonetheless, they are quite powerful animals.
They may not be as swift as other animals, but they have unrivaled stamina. They may not have that early speed, but they can cover ground quickly.
Their teeth and jaws are razor-sharp. It is thought that they have more than three times the biting power of the normal dog.
What’s more intriguing is that saliva from a Common Wolf has been shown to aid in the growth of new tissues and lower the rate of infection.
Spotted Hyenas are the largest of the hyena species, with females up to 10% larger than males.
Their body length is 4.25 feet, their tail is 10 inches long, and they weigh between 135 and 155 pounds.
Their coat is sandy to grey/brown in color with black patches and is short. When the hyena grows agitated, the hair on their neck and back slides forward and stands on edge.
Spotted Hyenas have a large head and neck and are well-built animals.
Their teeth are exceptionally robust and their ears are short and rounded.
Their front legs are longer than their back legs, giving them a slanting back. Their feet have four toes, each with a wide toe pad and claws that do not retract.
Due to their larger sexual organs, females are difficult to differentiate from males.
They’re frequently shown at meetings to reinforce social ties and hierarchies.
Habitat/Distribution
Today, the Grey Wolf’s range has been confined to Michigan, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, and Wyoming in the United States. Grey Wolves can also be found in Alaska, Canada, Russia, and a few nations in Eastern Europe.
Grey wolves have historically had the longest range of any land mammal other than humans. Except for tropical forests, grey wolves have lived in every habitat in the Northern Hemisphere. Forests, tundra, and grassy plains, as well as deserts and mountains, are all common habitats for grey wolves.
Spotted Hyenas can be found in Africa’s prey-rich savannas.
Their social structure is dominated by high ranking females, and they live in clans of 5 to 80 individuals.
Young males normally leave their maternal clan when they reach adulthood, whereas young females usually stay with the clan into which they were born.
They live in a region that ranges from 15 to 390 square miles and share a communal den and latrine.
They use cries, scent marking, and boundary patrols to defend their area.
Diet
Grey wolves natural diet consists entirely of flesh, as they are Carnivores. They frequently hunt on larger species such as deer, moose, caribou, elk, bison, and musk-oxen, as well as smaller creatures such as beaver, hares, and other small rodents.
The majority of specialists agree that the Common Wolf contributes to the order and balance of the ecosystems in which they live in.
When it comes to what they eat, they are highly opportunistic. It’s worth noting that they rarely attack prey that remains motionless.
They can, however, encircle it for hours or days at a time. If the animal flees, the Common Wolves will pursue it and attempt to capture it.
Spotted Hyenas are formidable hunters who feast on a variety of animals. They will prey on smaller creatures such as birds, hares, foxes, jackals, fish, snakes, and carrion if they are hunting alone.
They usually form hunting groups of two to five people and hunt medium to big hoofed species like as zebra, wildebeest, Thompson’s gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, topi, waterbuck, eland, and impala together.
Spotted Hyenas and lions prey on the same animals, and they occasionally get into fights, which can result in a hyena group killing a lion.
Spotted Hyenas will eat fruit, eggs, and invertebrates to augment their nutrition.
Reproduction
The Common Wolf has a lengthy breeding season. It might last anywhere from January through April.
The beta female will mate with the pack’s male alpha leader. He may, however, mate with any of the pack’s females. This is in contrast to other wolf species, where he will only mate with the beta.
Each litter will typically have 4 to 6 puppies. It is possible, though, that she will have many more.
This species has polygynous mating.
Before mating, male wolves do a bowing show to attract females.
Breeding occurs between the ages of 11 and 21 months at any time of the year.
Unlike wild dogs and lions, a spotted hyena’s milk is highly rich, and cubs can go many days without eating. The females are solely responsible for raising the cubs. They achieve maturity between the ages of 2 and 3.
Males leave their birth clan around the age of two, while females stay with the pack.
Behavior
Within their group, the Grey Wolf uses a number of vocal and nonverbal communication methods.
They are extremely reliant on their social group and will go to great lengths to ensure its survival.
They can be aggressive against other wolf packs, warning them not to enter their established territory by howling.
Urine and odors produced by their bodies will be used to heavily mark their area.
They can emit these odors by rolling around on the ground and rubbing against trees.
Young Common Wolves may have a tough time locating their own territory in the wild.
Spotted hyenas are thought to be on par with certain primates in terms of social intelligence.
Because they are largely nocturnal, they have superb night vision and hunt at night while napping or keeping near their den during the day.
Clans are a matriarchal social structure made up of related individuals.
The clan is led by one alpha female.
These creatures scratch the ground and use an oily material secreted by their anal glands to mark their territory.
Spotted hyenas have a wide vocal range and use whoops, shouts, grunts, growls, and giggles to communicate with clan members. The name laughing hyenas comes from the sound of their giggling, which sounds like frantic laughter.
Back to the Original Question. Who would win in a fight?
When wolves and hyenas fight, the wolf pack will inflict significant pain on the hyenas before they flee. If a risk can be avoided, no animal is willing to incur it.
If the wolf and hyena are roughly the same size, though, a variety of factors will come into play in a one-on-one fight.
Wolves are smaller and weaker than hyenas, but they are faster, have greater endurance, and appear to be smarter.
Hyenas frequently struggle with lions in Africa, and they are generally successful in driving prides away if all of the lions present are female.
When tigers are present, though, wolf numbers plummet.
Based on these differences, I’d go with the hyena, which appears to be braver, larger, and has a more lethal bite.
Hyenas are more effective in dealing with natural enemies.
In a close matchup, I incline towards the hyena due to the fact that grey wolves have never acquired a footing in the hyena’s native Africa.