Adaptability of large carnivores to changing anthropogenic food sources: diet change of spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) during Christian fasting period in northern Ethiopia

Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), hereafter referred to as hyenas, show evidence of many particular behaviour that set them apart from other mammals, making them a fascinating model organism for the study of animal behaviour (Smith & Holekamp 2010). They can adapt to habitats with dense human population (Woodroffe 2001) eating almost any organic matter, even putrid carrion and anthrax-infected carcasses (Johnson 2006).