Hattie a' Hièna/Hattie the Hyena

Investigative guides which reveal amazing facts about members of the animal kingdom. This episode features Hattie, a spotted hyena who lives on the grasslands of East Africa. With her oddly sloping back, shabby spotted coat, tatty tail and toothy grin, she will stand about 85cm at the shoulder and weigh up to 80kg when fully grown.

Spotted hyenas are skilled hunters and they are rarely alone - there are about 50 hyenas in Hattie's clan. The ranking order in hyena society is unlike that of other mammal species; males are dominated by the bigger, masculine-looking females.

Hattie's mum is clan leader and this gives Hattie a privileged position; she gets more milk than her brother and one day she will inherit her mum's position. But first she must survive long periods without milk and encounters with hungry lions while her mother is off hunting wildebeest, gazelle and zebra.