averagemedian
"Neanderthal skeletal remains found in hyena lair". It's simple and straightforward. Explain the why in the article. Don't try to explain everything in a headline.
Chimps rip balls off, gouge eyes, etc. Snakes use venom. Some plants drown and dissolve their prey in acid. It's not a matter of "cruelty", it's a matter of the tools available to these animals.
> In yet other cases they just start eating the animal from before it's even dead.
There are animals/plants that eat their prey whole and dissolve them in acid. Ultimate goal of these animals is to eat, not to kill. What do you want the hyena to do?
> Very different from many cat family predators that usually kill their prey first.
Not because of some moral code. Because they don't want the prey attracting other predators. There are videos of cats eating live prey when it is convenient for them. A particular gruesome one is a pride of lions eating a live baby elephant.
There is no "cruelty" in nature. Only efficiency. These animals want to eat and do what they can with what they have.
Is it cruel for wasps to parasitically control insects, bugs, etc and lay eggs in them so that their eggs/larvae could feed on these hosts? A hyena is no more "cruel" than an earthquake is "cruel" for unleashing a tsunami that drowns thousands of people.
Only humans are cruel. Nature is simply nature.
Felines are part of the Felidae family
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae
Hyenas are part of the Hyaenidae family
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyena
Both felines and hyenas are of the Feliformia order and they share a common ancestor but that doesn't mean hyenas are felines. Hyenas are more closely related to felines than dogs, but hyenas are not felines.