Damn, that's one big mofo o.o

But cute. :3

Quite cute indeed ^^

BUT HE WILL EAT YO FACE!!! O_o'
Jk...well maybe...: /

Yeah they're a feisty bunch of critters that's for sure :x

How do they do that, positive reinforcement with food?

See that shoot to the right of the human, that's where they drop meat chunks or treats when they do the right things. So yes. ^^

very handsome 'yena! :)

brown or spotted? (hard to tell with his fur getting pressed into the frames lol)

good job getting this nice shot too ^^

I believe spotted.
And thanks. ^^

Browns have pretty leg stripes kind of like a striped hyena, and a different looking mane and generally a different shade of uniformly darker brown fur. *sage hyena nod*

That hyena is adopting a submissive posture and pressing itself against the chainlink fence so that the guy will pet it XD

Not sure about submissive. But this is so they can inspect the hyenas for anything without tranquilizing them and while keeping the keepers safe.

Head down, intentionally denying it's senses, body against the chainlink fence, fur jutting out between the fabric mesh, tail between the legs... From my experience with wolves, when they did these things it was to show you they were in a good mood and wanted scratches. The fur poofing out of the fence was the number one thing, IMO to suggest it was trying to get some scritches.

Hmm, but would the body language of a hyena be quite different from a canine's?

From a canine? Maybe in small, subtle ways, but I have *seen* that pose on wolves and it always means the same thing: "Pet me pet me pet me!"

Yes, but I what I mean is that hyenas and wolves aren't related at all, so I would think that their expressions are very different.

Well given that a male hyena interested in coupling with a female will keep his head down when signaling his interests, and the fact the males are generally terrified of making the females angry, it probably is a submissive gesture. They definitely respond to reinforcement with food well too. :P

Assuming this is the place I have seen pictures of before, the hyenas will even stick out a leg and allow blood samples to be drawn, so I don't think safety is as large of an issue as you may think when they will even tolerate the pain caused by a needle.