The most successful hunter in all of Africa is intelligent and loving, forming intricate social bonds that rival those of primates. Cubs of the alpha female inherit the rank immediately below hers, similar to a monarchy.

The king of the jungle, you might say? Nope. We’re talking about the hyena.

Long misunderstood as dim-witted, gluttonous scavengers with a demonic laugh, the hyena has a “serious PR crisis on its paws,” says Arjun Dheer, a Ph.D. student at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany, who studies spotted hyenas in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater.

“The visceral reaction any time I tell someone I’m working with hyenas is, Ew gross, why?”

That’s because centuries of literature and traditional folklore—often featuring stories