The national animal of Gambia is the spotted hyena. This is a very important animal symbolically to the local people and embodies a number of national values. They are also seen to be spirits of the physical landscape and keystone members of the Gambian ecosystem.
Hyenas occupy an unusual place in the human mind in different cultures.
They are sometimes seen as positive spirits of the environment and other times in a less than favorable light.
In Gambia they are certainly seen to embody many important points of national pride and thus they have been chosen as the country’s national animal.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Gambia?
The national animal of Gambia is the spotted hyena.
This species is also known as the laughing hyena and is the only extant member of its genus Crocuta, being native to sub-Saharan Africa.
They are fairly widespread throughout Africa and there are as many as 47,000 individuals estimated to be found in the wild.
They are a highly social species and indeed among the most social of all hyenas, living in the largest group sizes and displaying the most complex social behaviors.
Their social groups are more closely comparable to primates and are unlike any other species of carnivore.
They are, though, openly competitive less than cooperative, access to kills, among other things, being down to social domination.
They are a highly successful species and are the most numerous of all large carnivores in Africa.
They are highly adaptable and opportunistic, primarily hunting but scavenging when they are able to.
They can eat and digest skin and bone as well as flesh, and make perhaps the most efficient use of their kills of all carnivore species.
They can hunt alone, in small groups of two to five individuals, or in large, complex social groups, all of which can be a highly successful strategy.
They will chase their prey over a long distance and will typically hunt large ungulates on the African planes.
Hyenas have a long history with humanity and are featured in Paleolithic cave art right throughout history in the present day in the writings of Greek philosophers like Aristotle.
They have had a big impact on our cultural and psychic consciousness, then, from the oldest period of our recorded time to the present day.
It is no surprise, then, that they should be the national animal of Gambia.
Why is the hyena the national animal of Gambia?
The spotted hyena is the national animal of Gambia for a variety of reasons.
They are, on the one hand, seen to embody a variety of important aspects of Gambian symbolic life and national values.
They are, of course, often seen as spirits of all sorts of negative things like evil, trickery, and even witchcraft.
But in Gambia, they are instead seen as symbols of unity and strength in a group, as well as the ability to cooperate in large groups toward a common goal.
All of this is very important to the people of Gambia on a symbolic level.
On the other hand, though, they are also seen as more literal, physical embodiments of the natural beauty of the nation.
They are spirits of the landscape, and though they may not always be thought of as beautiful or enchanting animals, this is certainly the case in many parts of Gambia.
They reflect the physical beauty of their landscape in a way which, to the people of Gambia, other animals cannot.
But ultimately, you may get different answers to this question depending on whom you ask.
Hyena symbolism can be a highly controversial topic with many people bringing their own interpretation to bear on the question.
Are spotted hyenas aggressive?
Spotted hyenas are indeed aggressive and will not tolerate humans in their natural territory.
Unusually, females of the spotted hyena tend to be far more aggressive than the males, and they can be provoked to aggression by a variety of different factors.
As mentioned, they will typically use social domination to get access to kills and food and so aggression can frequently occur within the groups, too.
On the other hand, though, hyenas are able to cooperate and keep the peace when they need to, and though they are wired for aggression this is not always how they solve things.
What do hyenas eat?
As mentioned, they are famed scavengers and will very often eat whatever they can find and may even bully other predators off their kills.
This could constitute anything they can find in their environment, then, that is big enough to be worth attacking.
On the other hand, they are indeed skilled hunters and will frequently bring down large prey like wildebeest and antelope.
They will also kill birds, lizards, snakes and even insects.
Part of their success has been down to their opportunism and their ability to take whatever food they can get in their environment–they are nothing if not highly adaptable and can even digest bone.
Hyenas may not have the universally favorable reputation of things like the lion, but they are nonetheless very important to the people of Gambia in particular.
They embody natural pride and the physical beauty of the landscape, and so they have been chosen as the official national animal.
The people of Gambia see them in many different ways and even among the people of this country, they may mean different things to different people.