Wolves, Hyenas Bond To Survive In Israel

Much to the astonishment of zoologists, sworn enemies wolves and their distant hybrid cousins hyenas, are bonding to beat the heat of Israel's Negev Desert.

Wolves and hyenas are known to be direct competitors for food in areas where they co-exist. Wolves are pack hunters while hyenas solitary, with divergent hunting skills. That the two species are bonding in rare circumstances was demonstrated in a recently published study.

"Both the Grey Wolf and the Striped Hyena are widely distributed in the Palaearctic region with a broad overlap of the ranges in particular the Middle East," researchers wrote in the journal Zoology in the Middle East.

Researchers described that region of observation in southern Israel as extremely arid with just 29 mm annual precipitation. "Such extreme conditions could drive the two species into the unusual symbiosis. However, the possibility of wolf-hyena symbiosis is not yet supported by any other data."

According to Christian Science Monitor, the first instance of symbiosis was detected when footprints of hyena and wolves intermingled. Nearly four years later, they observed it directly.

"Animal behavior is often more flexible than described in textbooks," University of Tennessee researcher Vladimir Dinets said. "When necessary, animals can abandon their usual strategies and learn something completely new and unexpected. It's a very useful skill for people, too."

While only more research can establish if this is an isolated aberration or a character trait of both species, researchers have some theories to explain the cooperation.

Hyenas are skilled hunters with sensitive scent tracking and high bite-force to crack bones and cans open. Wolves on the other hand are fast, agile and have honed pack hunting to bring down large prey. Hyenas are also are known for their scavenging skills that proves crucial in arid regions with scarce prey.