SIFAKA BLOG

During the second day of our Etosha National Park visit, I told my friends that I really wanted to see a hyena. I had never seen one before, and I think they are a very beautiful and very misunderstood African predator. The chances that we would see a hyena were very small, especially because hyenas are nocturnal, meaning they are awake at night and sleep during the day. But when we drove up to a waterhole that morning, there were two spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) enjoying the cool morning air! One of the hyenas was even taking a bath in the waterhole!

One of the hyenas walked off into the bush, but the other hyena seemed to be having a very nice time in the water. We were able to watch the hyena for a pretty long while before it got up out of the water and went to join its friend.

Hyenas may have a bad reputation, but they play a very important role in the African savannah ecosystem. Hyenas are known to both hunt and scavenge for their food. To be a scavenger means that they will eat something that has already died. It may sound rather gross to you and me, but it is a good way for hyenas to get a meal and help clean up the savannah. In this way, hyenas are kind of like garbage disposals!

Are you ready to earn some more Sifaka Cash?

That's right, it's time for another SifakaWorld Challenge! Below are five pictures of animals found throughout the world. All you need to do is identify all 5 animals and you can win Sifaka Cash to buy all sorts of fun things in SifakaWorld.

To win, send the names of all five animals to win@sifakaproductions.com. Please don't try to post answers to the comments section here, because they won't get published. The first 10 people to send in the correct answers will win 1500 in Sifaka Cash.

Good luck, and have FUN!!!

We recently took a fun trip as part of one of CCF’s international training courses. We put on these training courses in order to teach people from around the world how to help conserve the cheetah and its ecosystem. There is much to learn during these courses (they’re a lot like going to school for an entire month!), and so we take some time off to let our course participants view wildlife in Etosha National Park.