Parenting can be a daunting task, but with three cubs to keep watch over this hyena mother had to make sure she was constantly on the ball. Any mistakes could have serious consequences, and the cubs themselves needed to understand this.
Jaco Joubert spotted these cubs enjoying a day out at the MalaMala Game Reserve, and sent the footage of this hyena mother’s stern discipline to Latest Sightings.
Tiny Trouble
The three hyena cubs were running over dirt mounds on what could well have been their very first ever outing from the den. There were three of them making a nuisance of themselves under the watchful eyes of mom.
Although they would one day grown into dangerous killing machines, these cubs were too cute and fluffy to be much of a risk to anything for some time yet. This did not mean they were safe from other predators attacking them.
Lions, wild dogs, and hyenas tend not to get along very well at the best of times, due to living in similar environments and hunting similar prey. If one saw a chance to take out some of the competition and score a meal at the same time it would take it.
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A Very Watchful Mother
Because of this risk that was inherent in their very existence, their mom had to make sure she was keeping a close eye on all three of her cubs while they scampered around, oblivious to the dangers of simply being alive.
That obliviousness did the very opposite of stopping these little cubs from having fun. Everything was new and outside of their den there was a whole wide world to explore.
If these little cubs were going to make the most of it then they would need to roam around the surrounding area, climb over dirt mounds and crawl through the long grass, but they also would have to learn to behave.
A Step Too Far
While two of the cubs were peacefully exploring, one of them seemed like it was trying instead to start a game with its mom. She wasn’t in the mood to join in with its play, but it kept trying until it clearly annoyed her.
The two better behaved cubs watched smugly as she marched over to the offending hyena and seized it by the scruff on its back, carrying it away into the long grass and presumably back to the den.
The message was clear, if these cubs behaved wrongly for the situation then they would be removed from it, and taken somewhere to think about what they’d done.
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Repetitive Discipline
Wherever this hyena mom was putting her kids in time out, it never seemed to last very long. In subsequent scenes of Jaco’s footage all three cubs were present again and almost every time one of them was removed from the group.
To keep her cubs safe in the wild this mom would have to make sure that they learned the lesson of what to do when, and once they’d learned it they would be safe to explore further, and perhaps even on their own.