Spotted hyenas are among the most misunderstood and persecuted African carnivores, facing lethal conflict with humans that causes significant welfare harm.
Spotted hyena welfare is complicated by deep cultural antipathy toward a species perceived as dangerous, ugly, and scavenging. This perception drives persecution disproportionate to the actual threat hyenas pose to livestock, and largely ignores their ecological importance and cognitive complexity. Lethal control programs cause acute welfare harm and disrupt the clan social structures that hyenas depend on. Non-lethal coexistence tools including livestock protection and guardian animals offer welfare-positive alternatives.