Re: Hyenas and Small-Medium Predators

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Rob Gay wrote:

<<I was wondering how many types of Hyenas (or other medium size
predators that I might be forgetting) are present in the savanah of
Africa.>>

Dan Bensen replied:

<Let's see.  There's the hyenas (I think, three species), jackals, Cape
dogs, and various small cats.  The only moniter lizard large enough to
be included in that list is the nile moniter, and they only live, as
the name suggests, in the Nile.>

  Hyenas are various in size, and aside from leopards and lions, are
the largest predators on the savannah. Smaller predators include the
aardvark (Orycteropus afer), various jackal species (Canis aureus et
al. [I'd _really_ like to just distinguish jackal species as a
subspecies, to tell the truth, and wolf species as another, because all
Canis species are not sprung from the same litter, if you get my
drift]), servals (Leptailurus) and caracals (Caracal) are largish cats
[I know about the birds], and the really small predaceous cats include
the sand and wild cat groups (nearly all of them Felis). There's the
Cape hunting dogs, but these are southern African, and don't really mix
with the shrub--forest-marge forms of the north.

  Dan Bensen notes some birds, but the only real guild player here that
could be included in the rest of savannah predators is the secretary
bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) and this is a light bird of moderate
wild-cat (F. sylvestris) size or slightly larger. Others are either
scavengers, necrophagous, or non-terrestrial in the least, and belong
to a completely different niche [read: cathartine and vulturine prey
birds, some kites and hawks] which do not "hunt," and any eagles in
Africa belong to either the fishing clans (ernes) or are very uncommon,
such as the Spanish (or Golden) eagle, which is restricted largely, I
believe, by the naster lammergeier in the northern Atlas of Morocco.
Could be wrong. Nile moniters predate ostrich eggs on occasion, so they
can be included in the guild, but crocs are ambush predators, not
creatures that go out of their way to aquire prey, like most of the
others [read: active predator].

  If anyone has other information or corrections, please: don't hold back.

=====
Jaime "James" A. Headden

  Dinosaurs are horrible, terrible creatures! Even the
  fluffy ones, the snuggle-up-at-night-with ones. You think
  they're fun and sweet, but watch out for that stray tail
  spike! Down, gaston, down, boy! No, not on top of Momma!

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