Spotted hyenas are highly intelligent, matriarchal social carnivores whose welfare needs are often misunderstood. Both wild populations facing habitat pressure and captive individuals in poor conditions deserve greater welfare attention.
Spotted hyena welfare in the wild is primarily affected by persecution, habitat loss, and retaliatory killing for livestock depredation. Individual hyenas are killed in wire snares, by poison, and through shooting — all methods that cause significant suffering. Their negative cultural reputation means conservation funding and public sympathy are substantially lower than for charismatic predators like lions and cheetahs, despite hyenas being keystone ecological species. In captivity, the complex social needs of matriarchal clan-living carnivores are rarely met — solitary or pair housing fails to provide the social complexity hyenas require. Better public understanding of hyena ecology and intelligence is a prerequisite for improved welfare outcomes.