Mama hyena can't sleep with rowdy cubs all over her

Baby hyenas are just plain cute and very playful. This video captures the adorable moments of hyena cubs, full of energy, busy playing all over their mother’s head while she is trying to take a nap.Show more

While hyenas can have a scary and dangerous reputation, they have also proven to be beautiful and fascinating creatures, with surprising social behaviours and the most adorable looking babies. During a safari in the Kruger National Park, we had the privilege of visiting the den site of a large hyena family. On our arrival at the den, the whole family was outside and there were hyenas everywhere. It was amazing to come so close to such incredible creatures. There were six adult hyenas lying around the den, resting in the morning sun with a total of eight babies running around and playing. Our attention was drawn to the largest of the adult hyenas who was the mother of the hyena cubs. The mother hyena was taking a nap in the morning sun, looking tired after a long night out. Her nap did not last for long. Suddenly one of the baby hyenas decided that on top of its sleepy mom’s head was the perfect place to lie down and chew a piece of grass. The baby hyena looked full of energy, stepping and bouncing on its mother’s head while being amused by a piece of grass. This behaviour looked like fun to the other smaller cubs and soon the playful baby hyena was joined by another two smaller cubs that wanted to part take in the fun.

It was so adorable and funny to watch the baby hyenas jumping, sitting and rolling over their sleepy mother’s head. One cub even had a quick nibble on the mother’s ear. Through all of this the mother hyena didn’t look all too bothered by her youngsters playing around her head while trying to sleep. The playfulness of the hyena babies became more intense until the mother eventually lifted her head to calm them down a little. It was incredible to see how much bonding, love and care there was between the mother hyena and her adorable babies. We left the hyena den with a totally different perspective on hyenas and overwhelmed by the heart-warming moments we experienced while being with these animals.