這是《動物王國大探險展》草原生態區的斑鬣狗導覽。在此聆聽這位草原清道夫，如何主動獵食與溝通。
上方可播放導覽語音。逐字稿與語音內容相同。
This is the spotted hyena stop in the grassland gallery of the Animal Kingdom Grand Adventure Exhibition. Listen here to how this cleaner of the grass hunts and speaks.
Play the narration above. The transcript matches the audio.
非洲草原的黃昏時分，忽然傳來一陣令人毛骨悚然、像大笑的尖銳叫聲，原來是斑鬣狗正伺機而動。
大多數人對斑鬣狗的印象都是懦弱，靠撿拾剩餘殘渣而活，但牠們其實是草原食物鏈中的主動獵食者，能追擊斑馬、牛羚甚至落單的獅子。超過六成以上的食物都是他們主動捕食來的，反而是獅子會來搶奪斑鬣狗辛苦捕獲的獵物。斑鬣狗驚人的咬合力能輕鬆咬碎骨頭，能將其他肉食動物吃剩的殘骸完全嚼碎、消化，避免了疾病和腐敗細菌的滋生，成為草原生態重要的環境清道夫。
雖然斑鬣狗名字像犬科，但在分類上其實屬於「貓型亞目」，血緣上比起狼或狐狸，更接近貓。牠們是自然界中少見的高度社會化掠食者，絕對的母系社會由女王統領部族，以多達十幾種音調進行溝通。我們常聽見的，類似人類大笑的叫聲，其實是表達焦慮、挫折與緊張。
在草原生存戰裡，斑鬣狗維繫了環境的完整與平衡。
At dusk on the African grassland, a sudden cry comes that chills the bone, sharp as a laugh. It is the spotted hyena, waiting its moment.
Most people take the spotted hyena for a coward, living on leftover scraps, but they are in fact active hunters in the grassland food chain, able to run down zebra, wildebeest, even a lion on its own. More than sixty percent of their food they take by hunting; it is the lion that comes to steal the kill the hyena worked for. Their bite can crush bone with ease, and they chew and digest the remains other carnivores leave, stopping disease and the rot of bacteria, becoming important cleaners of the grassland.
Though the name sounds like a dog, in classification they belong to the suborder Feliformia; in blood they are closer to the cat than to the wolf or the fox. They are a rare highly social predator in nature, an absolute matriarchy led by a queen, communicating in more than ten tones. The laugh-like cry we often hear is in fact anxiety, frustration, and tension.
In the fight to live on the grassland, the spotted hyena keeps the environment whole and in balance.