The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Animal Nutrition team preps daily meals for the 10,000+ animals in our care. In Volume I of our Animal Nutrition series, we discussed the diet for our baby snake-necked turtles, which includes live worms, shrimp, and larvae, and pellets. In Volume II, we’re focusing on hyenas!
One of my favorite things to do is walk by the Watering Hole in the Heart of Africa to see our two spotted hyenas exploring the yard, especially when they run up to the side I am standing on, curiously looking up to see what is going to happen next. Their dark, furry, rounded ears and “boopable” snoots create quite the picture of cuteness, but I also know that behind all the laughter is one of the strongest jaws relative to the body size of any mammal species!
I often ponder the simplicity of the hyenas’ diet and how important each component is to their livelihood. Replication of an animal’s wild diet in human care can be challenging. Fortunately, for the Columbus Zoo, there is a network of scientists and animal nutritionists that have made their life’s work to study wild animals and create specialized diets for each species based on all aspects of their origin, body makeup, eating habits, growth, and development.
For a hyena, its diet is quite simple! Like most of the carnivores in our care, we offer USDA-inspected ground meat supplemented with additional vitamins and minerals to create a balanced and complete diet. The hyenas are offered chicken breasts and eggs during training sessions and as enrichment.
They also receive bones! We stock a variety of types that differ in size, shape, and hardness. Bones also serve as a toothbrush! When an appropriately sized bone is chewed on, it will rub against the teeth (removing plaque buildup) and massage the gums…genius, right!?
The next time you are in your kitchen, think about what considerations you make when preparing a meal and multiply that by 10,000, which is the number of animals the Animal Nutrition team feeds daily at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium!
You can visit the hyenas in the care of the Columbus Zoo in our Heart of Africa region.
