Don't you hate when there's hair in your food? Shot in South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve, this lunchtime liaison had everyone laughing. A jackal was minding its own business feasting away inside of a giraffe carcass (as you do), when a brown hyena came to join the party. Both animals were clearly startled by the encounter, but the jackal didn't waste any time before bailing.
Brown hyenas (Hyaena brunnea) are distinguished from the other three hyena species by their long shaggy coat and pointed ears. The scruffy scavengers possess incredibly strong teeth and jaws, enabling them to crush bone and release the nutrient-rich marrow within. Despite being solitary when foraging (as we see here), they live in family groups of four to six individuals. These highly social groups, called clans, work together to raise the dominant female's cubs and collect food for the den.
Top header image: Alan Harper/Flickr