NARRATOR: At the
head of any hyena
family is a hard-nosed leader.
And unusually for
the animal kingdom,
it's nearly always a female.
They grow to be bigger
and stronger than males.
More than 2.5 feet
tall and 130 pounds.
They must keep the clan safe.
On the African plains,
danger is never far away.
Lions are the
hyenas sworn enemy.
They steal their meat and
sometimes even kill clan mates.
The only way hyenas can survive
is with a strong leader.
But over the years, this queen
has turned into a tyrant.
Two lower ranking
females kill an impala,
yet the queen hijacks the
carcass, leaving them hungry.
She bullies the
weakest clan members,
including mothers raising cubs.
The queen is out of control.
And the clan is
at snapping point.
Surviving here is perilous
enough without threat
from within.
The tyrant must go.
She's set upon.
In a one-on-one fight, the
hyena queen would easily
overpower any of her followers.
However, she is up against
not just one but all of them.
They surround her, just
like they would surround
larger prey during a hunt.
Each hyena has a force of
more than 1,000 pounds,
enough to crack a
giraffe's thighbone.
And they attack as one.
The hyenas could easily kill
her and are known cannibals,
but they stop short.
It's already over
for this tyrant.
She's defeated.
Her hind leg is ruined.
The hyenas choose the
clan over their leader,
leaving her defenseless
and surrounded by enemies.
