Hyena Lent

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Ethiopian hyenas keep Lent: ” In the 55 days before Easter in Ethiopia, hyenas are forced to turn from scavenging to hunting to make up for Christians’ fasting traditions. Observant Ethiopian Christains give up meat and dairy for Lent, and it appears some spotted Hyenas are observing the religious holiday, too, by adjusting their diets to find the protein they can no longer get from trash cans. Members of the Orthodox Tewahedo Church give up meat and dairy during the Lent period in Ethiopia. Now, a new study of hyena droppings finds that local hyenas, deprived of butcher scraps during this time period, supplement their diets by hunting donkeys for food instead.”

It’s like the old adage: If hyenas do it . . . .