If you are still taking questions, something I have been dying to know that seems to lie perfectly with your line of work is why spotted hyenas seem to be doing so much better conservation-wise than other top-order carnivorans in Africa. Namely lions, leopards, and painted dogs, especially when, at least to someone with less knowledge, it seems they'd be more vulnerable if anything. All four experience threats from habitat destruction, human persecution, and a declining prey base. While spotted hyenas also seem to deal with having the worst reputation of the four, poisoned carrion, and two years of producing some of the most nutrient-dense milk of any carnivoran before their babies are weaned. Yet the two pantherines are considered vulnerable, the canid endangered, and spotted hyenas are decreasing but of least concern. Beyond that, a 2018 study showed a spotted hyena population in the Serengeti took 16 years to recover to pre-epidemic numbers compared to the three required by lions in the same area. Despite the hyenas seeming to face a 16% decrease as opposed to the 30% experienced by those lions. Slow recovery from a disease epidemic in the spotted hyena, a keystone social carnivore
What makes spotted hyenas so special, what is setting them apart? Decreased competition? All those other predators are facing decreased competition, so what sets the hyenas apart? Is it their large range? Then why do spotted hyenas specifically have such a large range? And regardless of what this advantage is how effective may it be in the future with increasing anthropogenic pressures? Is it possible this could save these keystone species in some way?

I'm missing something here and probably making myself look silly for it, but I would greatly appreciate some clarification on my Crocuta crocuta conservation confusion.