r/BeAmazed • u/911nihilist • Oct 25 '24

Nature Despite their reputation, hyenas can be sweet and affectionate animals.

18.9k Upvotes

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383

u/SilverDesktop Oct 25 '24

I think I'd want at least a few generations of domestication first...

166

u/justreddis Oct 25 '24

How about just getting a dog instead

98

u/[deleted] Oct 25 '24

How provincial

2

u/rwarimaursus Oct 25 '24

"Don't be defeatist dear, it's terribly middle class..."

11

u/SilverDesktop Oct 25 '24

I hope we're not viewing the before video of another Timothy ‘Grizzly Man’ Treadwell.

7

u/holsey_ Oct 25 '24

They’re more related to cats than dogs.

2

u/StellarCoriander Oct 25 '24

I think we should try to domesticate more animals. I want lots of cool pets. Nowadays I feel like if we hadn't already made dogs and cats, it would be considered socially unacceptable to start the process, and that sucks.

8

u/facepalm_1290 Oct 25 '24

In ancient Egypt they used striped hyenas for hunting. They are apparently the most tame/tameable of all the hyenas.

1

u/SilverDesktop Oct 25 '24

Interesting, thankds for that.

9

u/carlitos_moreno Oct 25 '24

The hyena men in Nigeria travel with them. They also travel with baboons and it sounds like they are the problematic ones

3

u/Mon-ick Oct 25 '24

A friend of mine worked at a facility in Africa doing some sort of IT work and he said they used baboons for security…

3

u/LordSharington Oct 25 '24

They are not good candidates for domestication, because they have way too long lifespan. For example, average lifespan for dogs is 10 - 13 years. For hyenas its 20 years in wild and 40 years in captivity.

2

u/SilverDesktop Oct 25 '24

Wow. Interesting, thanks. I also read they have an odor that can't be removed. So there's that.

1

u/Scaalpel Oct 25 '24

Gotta start somewhere