A comparison of innovative problem-solving abilities between wild and captive spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta

► Research on animal problem solving seldom considers both wild and captive animals. ► We presented wild and captive spotted hyaenas with the same novel technical problem. ► Captives were better than wild hyaenas at solving the problem. ► Captives showed more diverse exploratory behaviour and were less neophobic. ► Captive studies of animal innovation may suffer from low external validity.