Humans and Hyenas; Monster or Misunderstood; First Edition

Humans and Hyenas examines the origins and development of the relationship
between the two to present an accurate and realistic picture of the hyena and its
interactions with people. The hyena is one of the most maligned, misrepresented
and defamed mammals. It is still, despite decades of research-led knowledge, seen
as a skulking, cowardly scavenger rather than a successful hunter with complex
family and communal systems.
Hyenas are portrayed as sex-shifting deviants, grave robbers and attackers of
children in everything from African folk tales through Greek and Roman accounts
of animal life, to Disney’s The Lion King depicting hyenas with a lack of respect and
disgust, despite the reality of their behaviour and social structures. Combining the
personal, in-depth mining of scientific papers about the three main species and
historical accounts, Keith Somerville delves into our relationship with hyenas from
the earliest records from millennia ago, through the accounts by colonisers, to
contemporary coexistence, where hyenas and humans are forced into ever closer
proximity due to shrinking habitats and loss of prey. Are hyenas fated to retain
their bad image or can their amazing ability to adapt to humans more successfully
than lions and other predators lead to a shift in perspective?
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the environmental
sciences, conservation biology, and wildlife and conservation issues.