A few years ago, I delved into a similar topic concerning grizzly bears and their capabilities. The surprising answer I provided in Stefan Pociask’s response to “Can a grizzly bear knock a person’s head off with one swipe of its paw?” may have caught some people off guard. However, it’s important to note that lions are entirely different from grizzlies. They are not remotely related and do not engage in similar ways. Grizzly bears rely on their sheer strength, supported by their powerful shoulder muscles, weight, and the effects of significant hemorrhaging, to overpower their prey. Their aim is not necessarily to deliver a throat bite.

Cats, including lions, operate differently. Most cats have a primary strategy: to seize their opponent’s throat or the back of their neck. Every move they make is aimed at obtaining the opportunity to grasp their opponent’s neck with their jaws, especially when hunting alone. Hunting as a pride alters the dynamics slightly, as not every lion focuses solely on the throat; rather, the first one to seize the opportunity does so, while the others provide support by biting and holding any available body part. Nevertheless, as a collective unit, the primary objective of the hunting team remains getting their jaws on the throat.

The key point to consider is that a lion’s jaws are their main weapon, with their paws and claws serving a supporting role. Unlike grizzlies, which heavily rely on swiping paws and claws to overpower their opponents, a lion’s paw swipes are not intended to deliver a lethal blow. They are used to slash flesh or gain a grip, all with the goal of achieving a throat bite.

If a hyena finds herself in the unfortunate position of engaging in a one-on-one fight with a lion, it is unlikely that she would be killed by a paw swipe that breaks her neck. Breaking the neck is not the primary method lions employ for killing. Moreover, a swipe to the head by a lion’s paw would either tear up the hyena’s face or simply knock her over. The relatively short limbs of cats generally lack the momentum to break necks with a swipe. Unlike humans with their more delicate necks, hyenas possess robust necks well supported by powerful adjoining shoulder muscles. It is important to note that most of a hyena’s musculature is concentrated in their front region, making their necks far from a weak point in their anatomy. In fact, proportionately, hyenas have some of the thickest, well-muscled necks among animals.

However, once a lion secures its jaws on the front or back of a hyena’s neck, the vertebrae will undoubtedly be crushed or separated in an instant, resulting in a swift conclusion. Game over. But due to the lion’s paws serving as support weapons to their jaws and the fact that hyenas have robust necks, it is unlikely that a direct fight between a lion and a hyena would result in the hyena’s death from a broken neck caused by the lion’s paw. The hyena would ultimately lose, but not in that manner.

As is often the case with such questions, there may be individual exceptions, as behaviors are never absolute. However, based on the information available, the likelihood of a hyena dying from a broken neck caused by a lion’s paw in a direct fight is very low.