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How to fold an origami prowling hyena

Fold a kite body deep at the front, swing long front legs and short back legs, crimp the head down and fold a strip on top up into a big blunt ear, then tip it so the back slopes.

You need: 1 sandy brown square (15 cm), scissors and a black pen. Hard, 21 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, turned like a diamond, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, crease and unfold.
  2. Kite. Fold the edges at the left point in on creases from the point to 9 cm above and below the middle crease. That end is the hyena's head.
  3. Narrow the other end. Fold the edges at the right point in on creases from the point to 6.9 cm above and below the middle crease. That end is the tail.
  4. Tummy corners. Fold the top and bottom corners in on creases 4.7 cm above and below the middle crease. They will be hidden inside.
  5. Fold in half. Fold the top half down onto the bottom half along the middle crease. The long fold on top is the back, the flat bottom is the tummy.
  6. Crease two strips. Fold the bottom edge up 1.3 cm and the top edge down 1.4 cm, all layers, and crease both hard. These strips give the legs and the ear.
  7. Open it. Unfold both strips again.
  8. Slit the legs. Cut along the strip crease from the front end in 3.9 cm, and from the back end in 2.8 cm.
  9. Free the ear. Cut along the top crease from the front end in 2.2 cm.
  10. Front legs: long. Swing the front strip down on slanted creases from its inner end, the front layers one way and the back ones behind, a little apart.
  11. Back legs: short. Swing the back strip down the same way, the front layers forward and the back ones behind.
  12. Head: crease. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 5.9 cm from its tip, all layers together.
  13. Head: crimp down. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the head hangs low like a hyena on the prowl.
  14. Ears up. Fold the free strip on top of the head up behind on a slanted crease from the end of its cut, both layers together, so it stands up as the ear.
  15. Blunt the ear. Fold the top of the ear down behind on a crease straight across it, 2.6 cm above the end of the cut, so the ear is short, wide and round-topped.
  16. Blunt nose. Fold the sharp tip of the head behind, all layers together, so the hyena has a big blunt muzzle.
  17. Tail: crease. Fold the tail point over on an upright crease 3.1 cm from its tip, all layers together.
  18. Tail: crimp down. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the short tail hangs down.
  19. Pleat: fold over. Fold the back part of the body over to the front on an upright crease just in front of the back legs, all layers together.
  20. Pleat: fold back. Fold it back on an upright crease 0.9 cm further forward. The body gets shorter and stockier.
  21. Prowl. Tip the hyena up at the front, so the back slopes down from the high shoulders to the low hips.

On the prowl!

Draw a shiny eye, a dark nose, a few dark spots on the body and a dark tip on the tail.

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