No laughing matter: Zoo lands hyenas

Timid and still adjusting to their new home, a pair of spotted hyenas at Hillcrest Park Zoo are an unusual addition to the park’s menagerie, according to zookeeper Mark Yanotti.

Yanotti said hyenas are relatively sparse in zoos and Hillcrest is excited to display the pair.

In 2005 there were only 123 spotted hyenas reported to be living in zoos, according to data from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

“They were (raised) on the bottle. They’ve never been around other hyenas,” he said.

Yanotti said they were kept as pets before they were confiscated and taken to an animal park in Texas.

Hillcrest Park Zoo was considering a new animal to exhibit when a zookeeper came across an online ad for the hyenas.

Yanotti said the city commission granted their request and the cubs were purchased for $9,500. “We rarely buy animals, most of them are donated,” he said.

The pair will be encouraged to breed, Yanotti said, and if successful, their cubs sold.

“We’re not going to count on it, (but) it would be nice to help generate some funding for the zoo through them,” he said.

The 10-month-olds arrived in early October and occupy a habitat near the entrance to the park.

Yanotti said hyenas are tough and capable hunters, but they’re also opportunists known for chasing off predators to steal their prey.

Though naturally hyenas live in female-dominated clan societies, the Clovis pair is still developing and the male has been the more assertive of the two, he said.

The female has been more reserved, according to Yanotti.

“He’s running things now, but that will change soon. “She will be top dog, she will put him in his place,” Yanotti said.

“I’m afraid he better enjoy it while he can.”

The new hyenas at Hillcrest Park Zoo do not have names. And so the zoo has teamed with the Clovis News Journal for a contest to name the cubs.

The resident with the winning submission will earn a one-year family membership to the zoo and a three-month subscription to the CNJ.

A three-person committee — two from the zoo and one from the newspaper — will select the winning entry.

Three ways to enter:

Web: cnjonline.com/zoo

E-mail: [email protected]

Mail: Hillcrest Park Zoo

P.O. Box 760

Clovis N.M. 88101

Deadline for submissions is Nov. 30, the winner will be announced Dec. 9.