Thread by @AnneWHilborn

First Up Tonight we have #16 seeded Belo Horizonte Marmoset vs. #1 Harar Hyena! #2018MMM

Despite it’s long neck and loping stride, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is not a cross between a bear + dog as some people claim. The family (Hyaenidae) is more closely related to cats than the dogs. Spotted hyena range over much of Africa #2018MMM iucnredlist.org/details/5674/0

Black tufted marmosets (Callithrix penicillata) are small new world monkeys (about 1.5 stoats/350 g). They live in family groups of 4-14 individuals in central Brazil and forage for fruit, flowers, leaves, young stems, tree resin, and insects #2017MMM citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/downlo…

Outside of the walled city of Harar, Ethiopia, a hyena has spent the day resting, a beatific expression on her face. As the call for sunset prayer floats over the city, the hyena knows it's time to see a special man about some meat. #2017MMM

Hyenas are powerful predators but scavenge when they get the chance. Usually hyenas + humans leads to conflict, as most people are not keen on having large carnivores in close proximity to them or their livestock #2017MMM

But the situation in Harar is a bit different. People in the town tolerate hyenas roaming the streets as they eat the rubbish and help keep the city clean. In addition, the hyenas around Harar and a few “Hyena men’ have a special relationship. #2017MMM

The men feed the hyenas bits of meat, and there is a lot of physical contact that is unusual between humans and wild large carnivores. Feeding the hyenas is thought to have originated in the 19th century as a way of distracting the hyenas from preying on their livestock #2017MMM

A little distance away from the hyena, the black tufted marmoset is feeling a bit uneasy. It is drier here than in his home in Belo Horizonte (about 450 km north of Rio de Janeiro), and there are fewer trees that provide places to nest in safety #2017MMM

The sound of humans from Harar doesn’t bother him, he’s used to the din from the city park where he lives. Well, the shouts of human children on the weekend make his family retreat to quieter parts of the park, but right now human noise is a dim #2017MMM livescience.com/14817-monkeys-…

What does bother him is the lack of tall trees and the members of his family group to help look out for predators. His wild cousins are concerned with birds of prey but in Belo Horizonte the marmoset and his family have learned that feral cats are the biggest threat. #2018MMM

To survive, they nest in trees with smooth bark that cats can’t climb. Being in a tree with lots of branches is not ideal, and he’s looking for a branch on which to spend the night when he’s distracted by a line of tasty ants marching towards him #2017MMM search.proquest.com/docview/854572…

In the low light, the hyena spies something that looks edible on the end of the branch. She is used to snagging bits of meat off of sticks held in the hands or mouths of the hyena men. This looks like a big chunk of meat on a stick. She makes a lunge for the marmoset #2018MMM

There are no family members to make alarm calls to warn him. However he sees movement out of the corner of his eye and leaps higher in the tree, but the tree isn’t very tall. And the hyena is 181 stoats (40 kg) worth of mass and 3 feet high at the shoulder. #2018MMM

She stands on her hind legs, her long neck giving her the reach to grab the marmoset who desperately clings to the branches, the thorns making bloody shreds of the skin of his hands. But the strength of the hyena is irresistible, and she drags him out of the tree #2018MMM

HARAR HYENA TEARS APART BELO HORIZONTE MARMOSET!! #2018MMM