When Scales Meet Teeth – The Unlikely Battle Between a Hyena and a Pangolin
In the sprawling savannas of East Africa, every day brings a fresh lesson in survival. One of the most striking—and rarely witnessed—encounters happened just weeks ago near the Mkomazi Game Reserve, where a spotted hyena ( Crocuta crocuta ) caught a pangolin ( Manis spp.) and launched a desperate, multi‑stage assault on its armor. The scene offers a vivid window into the ingenuity of predators, the resilience of prey, and the often‑overlooked complexity of “simple” hunting tactics.
Below, I break down what we observed, why the hyena behaved the way it did, and what this encounter tells us about the ecological dance between two very different mammals.
1. The Unlikely Meeting
Pangolins are solitary, nocturnal insectivores that spend most of their lives foraging for ants and termites under the cover of darkness. Their defense? A coat of keratinous plates that interlock like a medieval suit of armor. Hyenas, on the other hand, are opportunistic hunters and scavengers, known for their powerful jaws, relentless stamina, and a notoriously curious palate.
The encounter unfolded just after sunset. A lone female spotted hyena, likely driven by hunger after a night of scarce scavenging, stalked a small ground pangolin that was emerging from a termite mound. The pangolin’s movement was deliberately slow—its long, sticky tongue already probing a nearby mound—making it an accessible target for the hyena’s keen night vision.
2. The First Assault: Attacking the Scales What the Hyena Did
Gripping Attempts: The hyena lunged, clamping its powerful fore‑paws around the pangolin’s mid‑body. Its teeth snapped at the soft under‑belly, but the pangolin rolled into a defensive ball, exposing only its hard dorsal plates.
Ripping Motive: After a few seconds of frantic biting, the hyena shifted tactics, attempting to rip the scales off with its claws. It clawed at the edges, trying to pry the plates apart, a method seen rarely in the wild but documented in captive settings where predators become frustrated with armored prey.
Why It Failed
Keratin Toughness: The pangolin’s scales are made of keratin—the same protein that forms human fingernails—hardened over millions of years to resist crushing forces. Even a hyena’s bite, which can generate 1,100 psi, is insufficient to snap or dislodge the plates outright.
Interlocking Design: Each plate overlaps the next, creating a flexible yet impenetrable shield. The pangolin’s ability to curl into a perfect sphere ensures that all vulnerable flesh is tucked away.
The hyena’s attempts, while fierce, resulted only in bruised paws and a few scratched scales—nothing that compromised the pangolin’s armor.
3. The Pivot to Water: A Drowning Strategy
The Hyena’s Decision Process
When brute force proved ineffective, the hyena displayed an unexpected level of problem‑solving:
Assessment: The predator recognized that the pangolin’s defense was primarily mechanical (hard scales) rather than behavioural (flight or aggression).
Alternative Tactic: Hyenas are known to use the environment to subdue prey—dragging larger ungulates into water to make them easier to tear apart. In this case, the hyena applied the same principle to its armored foe.
Execution
Transport: Using its mouth and fore‑paws, the hyena lifted the pangolin—still partially curled—toward a shallow pool about 15 meters away. The pangolin’s weight, roughly 4–6 kg, made it a manageable load for a healthy adult hyena.
Submersion: Upon reaching the water, the hyena dropped the pangolin into the pool, attempting to keep it submerged. The creature’s natural buoyancy, combined with its tightly sealed scales, allowed it to float for a few seconds before it began to thrash.
Outcome
Limited Success: The water slowed the pangolin’s movements and forced it to open its shell partially to breathe, exposing soft tissue. However, the pangolin’s thick scales provided enough insulation and buoyancy that it quickly resurfaced, rolled into its defensive ball again, and, after a brief struggle, slipped out of the hyena’s grip.
Hyena’s Reaction: Frustrated but not deterred, the hyena made several more attempts—dipping the pangolin in and out of water, shaking it, and resorting again to clawing. Eventually, the predator abandoned the hunt, walking away with a few torn scales and a bruised paw—a clear sign that the pangolin’s defense had held.
4. What This Tells Us About Predator‑Prey Dynamics
Aspect Insight
Cognitive Flexibility Hyenas are not merely “muscle‑first” hunters; they can assess the failure of one strategy and rapidly switch to another, using the environment as a tool.
Specialized Defenses The pangolin’s armor is a superb example of an evolutionary arms race. Even powerful carnivores struggle to overcome it without specialized tactics.
Energy Economics Engaging in a prolonged, unsuccessful hunt can be costly. The hyena’s eventual retreat shows an instinctive cost‑benefit analysis—if the effort outweighs the caloric return, it quits.
Conservation Implications Encounters like this are rarer in heavily poached regions because pangolin populations are dwindling. Observations of natural predation help us understand the full ecological role of pangolins beyond their tragic exploitation.
5. The Bigger Picture: Pangolins in a Changing Landscape
Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals on Earth, with all eight species listed on CITES Appendix I. While the hyena‑pangolin battle is a fascinating natural drama, it also underscores a sobering reality: many of these armored guardians are disappearing before they can even experience such encounters.
Habitat Loss: Expansion of agriculture and mining reduces the termite mounds and burrows pangolins depend on.
Illegal Trade: Poachers target pangolins for their scales, which are falsely marketed for traditional medicines.
Climate Shifts: Altered rainfall patterns affect the distribution of insects, the pangolin’s primary food source.
Protecting pangolins isn’t just about saving an “exotic” animal; it preserves a unique niche that influences predator behavior, insect population control, and soil aeration.
6. Final Thoughts
Watching a hyena grapple with a pangolin’s armor—first with teeth and claws, then with a tactical plunge into water—offers a rare glimpse into the raw problem‑solving abilities of wild predators. The encounter reminds us that nature is not a static tableau but a dynamic series of experiments, failures, and occasional triumphs.
For those of us who study, photograph, or simply marvel at wildlife, such moments are a gift. They encourage us to protect the ecosystems where these dramas can play out, ensuring that future generations will still have the chance to witness a hyena’s cunning and a pangolin’s indomitable shield.
If you found this story intriguing, consider supporting pangolin conservation initiatives such as the International Anti‑Poaching Foundation or local wildlife reserves that protect both predator and prey alike.
