Lion-hyena fight photographed by MSU student Brittany Gunther

Author: Kay Holekamp

MSU Zoology major Brittany Gunther, here in the Mara with our study abroad class called the Behavioral Ecology of African Mammals, took this amazing photo last week of a fight between a group of spotted hyenas and a lioness. Note the fourth hyena visible under the lion's belly! Although lions usually win these types of fights between species, in this case the hyenas won the day and the lioness eventually fled the scene.