... but this is ridiculous; [beware the blood & gore]
Although it's not clear how this giraffe died, the video does serve to illustrate an important point; spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) often hunt alone, and if an individual comes across a carcass there's more for them than if they had to share a kill with a hunting party. Such are the trade-offs that often direct hunting strategies; hunt alone and get a juicy giraffe to yourself every once in a while, or hunt in a group and get a piece of a carcass more regularly.
More like this
Humans can really piss me off sometimes.
From Montgomery Gentry's website (Hat tip to jc):
Canada, land of the holier than thou.
Pretty cool. A friend of mine once talked about an elephant that died, and her hyenas ate from it for about a month, if I remember right.
The whole trade-off between hunting with the pack and hunting alone is going to be a function of your social status. If you're a high-status female (or the son of one, who hasn't yet dispersed from its natal group) then the benefits of hunting alone would be smaller than if you were a low-status female. And, of course, if you are a solitary male who has dispersed from his natal group but not yet joined another one, you don't have a choice.
That? Is just awesome. I may need to further share these.