What do you MEAN you don't love hyenas???

Listen here bubs, there's three things you gotta know about hyenas:

• They're often rotund
• Generally orange but sometimes not (orange factor decreases significantly when not considering Crocuta Crocuta)
• They're big chunky angels who deserve all the love in the world

Okay, in all seriousness, spotted hyenas are pretty cool and they don't deserve the hate they get. Sure they're a little bit stinky, but they're incredibly intelligent creatures with complex social structures and big tree trunk necks. Christine Drea, the evolutionary anthropologist, found that in teamwork-based problem solving puzzles spotted hyenas scored even higher than primates! We mustn't forget Crocuta crocuta's equally important cousins though:

• the Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena), the smallest of the true hyenas and a certified glam rock icon
• the Brown Hyena (Parahyaena brunnea), an even more elusive critter with a social hierarchy similar to wolves
• and the Aardwolf (Proteles cristata), the last descendent of a line of smaller, bug-eating hyenas that branched off from their bone-crunching cousins millions of years ago