Hyena mum Noubia presented her babies

24.2.2026 by Pat Waldron, Source: Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Daily Mirror

The ten-year-old female, Noubia, travelled from Belgium to join Speedy, the other spotted hyena at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, as the number of species in the wild declines. Now the sweet couple are parents to two cut Babies!

Yorkshire Wildlife Park welcomes hyena cubs as ‘supermum’ saves pups from flooding.

Delighted rangers were relieved to see a ‘supermum’ hyena bring her cubs in from the cold, when torrential rains threatened to flood her underground den where she was keeping her newborns safe.

A hyena proved herself to be a ‘super-mum’ after rescuing her cubs from an underground den in danger of flooding from torrential rain.Visitors to Yorkshire Wildlife Park were amazed when Noubia, a spotted hyena, appeared in the reserve with a soggy but healthy tiny cub hanging from her mouth, last week. Then days later a econd one appeared in the hyena’s heated house.

Since then they have proven to be the stars of the Park – making several appearances outside with their mum to the excitement of the visitors. Despite having access to their own purpose built house at the park, hyenas like to find security in underground dens, normally dug by other animals, which can be between four and 20 metres long.

YWP’s Carnivore Team Leader, Rebecca Brown, 36, explained how their previous hyena had constructed the den, which the new mum then took over. But they were worried as downpours threatened flooding. Dens are not typically dug by hyenas themselves but adapted from existing, abandoned burrows. In the wild they act as nurseries where cubs from different mothers gather.

But it makes things difficult for rangers to monitor, so whilst it was suspected that Noubia was pregnant, it was hard to find out if she had given birth without disturbing her. Rebecca said: “We were very excited when we got a call to say a visitor had seen it above ground, it was a massive relief for us.

“It was raining, it was cold, it was amazing for us to see. Even now we rely on our visitors’ pictures because of how elusive they are. We were so pleased and relieved that she brought it to the heated house. That’s quite a big ask as hyenas naturally in their mum mode are quite secretive. “

Talking about the den, the ranger explained: “It goes down and comes back up and the babies are on a little ledge. To see the baby was alive and she’d chosen to bring it into the heat of the house was fantastic. It’s a month old and it’s little belly is full.”

Just amazing to see this lovely family for the first time on the 17th of February.