Hyena Facts: The Clan, the Laugh and the Hunt

Spotted hyenas have a bad reputation as scavengers, but they are skilled hunters too, and catch most of the food they eat. They live on the African savanna in large, noisy groups called clans, led by females, and their famous "laugh" is a call they make when they are excited or nervous.

The ten words cover all of that: carnivore, predator, hunter and scavenger, the clan or pack, the savanna and the laugh. The grid has no diagonals, but five words go against the reading direction.

Hyena Vocabulary: 10 Words to Find

Words run across, up and down; 5 of the 10 read backwards. The longest words are Carnivore and Scavenger, with 9 letters each.

Carnivore: An animal that eats mainly meat.
Clan: A group of spotted hyenas that live and hunt together. A clan can have more than 80 members, led by females.
Hunter: An animal that catches its own food.
Hyena: A dog-like African carnivore. Spotted hyenas hunt most of their food, but they also scavenge.
Laugh: The famous call of the spotted hyena, which sounds like a giggle and shows excitement or nervousness.
Pack: Another word for a hyena's hunting group. Scientists usually call the whole group a clan.
Predator: An animal that hunts and eats other animals.
Savanna: The African grasslands where spotted hyenas hunt, often at night.
Scavenger: An animal that eats the remains of animals that have died or been killed by others.
Social: Living in groups and interacting with others of the same kind.

How to Solve the Hyena Word Search

There are no diagonals here. "Carnivore" and "scavenger", the two 9-letter words, run across the grid, but scavenger reads backwards. "Laugh" and "predator" run upward. "Savanna", with its double N, runs straight down.

Hyena Myths and Facts for an Animal Report

Ask students to list three myths about hyenas, then check each one.
Compare hunters and scavengers: which animals do both?
Listen to a recording of a hyena's "laugh" and discuss what it might mean.