I'm no wildlife biologist but it seems that hyenas are not big enough to take down some of their prey by the neck (without high risk of injury to themselves, wh

I'm no wildlife biologist but it seems that hyenas are not big enough to take down some of their prey by the neck (without high risk of injury to themselves, where a broken leg probably means certain death), so the evolutionary adaptation is to go for the soft underbelly. Undoubtedly the prey animals do feel pain and suffer.