Why Is This Mongoose Hanging From a Hyena’s Ear

Why is this mongoose hanging from the ear of a spotted hyena? The answer is hidden in the fur. Blood-feeding hard ticks have attached around the hyena’s ears, neck, and shoulder. For a banded mongoose searching for food, these parasites can become an opportunity. In this wildlife documentary, the mongoose cautiously approaches the much larger carnivore, grips individual ticks, pulls against their strong attachment, changes position when necessary, and swallows the parasites it manages to remove. The hyena is not being “rescued.” The mongoose is feeding. And any reduction in parasites is simply a consequence of that feeding behavior. Hard ticks are persistent ectoparasites that attach firmly to the skin, take blood, irritate the host, and in some cases can carry microorganisms between animals. A regular cleaning partnership between banded mongooses and spotted hyenas has not been established, so this film presents the interaction as a reconstructed opportunistic encounter rather than a known mutualistic relationship. Watch closely as the mongoose tries to remove parasites while staying only centimeters from one of Africa’s most powerful carnivores. #WildlifeDocumentary #SpottedHyena #Mongoose #Ticks #AfricanWildlife