GAME OF THRONES... WITH HYENAS

Hyenas get a bad press, says producer Simon Blakeney.

‘Ever since The Lion King they’ve been painted as villains. But they’re amazing animals with really complex social rules.’ Their hierarchies are more like those of macaques and baboons than other carnivores such as wolves or wild dogs. Females form alliances and close family bonds, and a matriarch rules over the pack.

When the crew arrived in Zambia, the hyena clan’s alpha female had just died. Scientists tracking the animals expected to see the mantle fall onto her oldest daughter Sia. But Sia was too young and inexperienced to assert her dominance, and another female, Suma, muscled in. What followed was a power struggle more akin to Game Of Thrones than a wildlife documentary, as the two feuding hyenas sought allies and formed cliques. It’s not all intrigue though. ‘We’ve tried to show their softer and more playful side too,’ says Simon.