The hyenax had a hierarchical method of succession and lived in packs. If the pack leader was killed by another creature, that creature automatically became their pack leader. This trait was not limited to members of their species, as evidenced by a hyenax pack following Darth Vader, a Human, after the latter successfully killed their pack leader.
In 0 ABY the Sith Lord Darth Vader crash-landed on Vaal after the Battle of Yavin. There, he was attacked by a pack of hyenax. Vader killed several of them, including the pack leader. With this, the hyenax withdrew. Later the same evening, Vader found himself surrounded by the canines, who had brought him the body of their former leader, whose position Vader had unknowingly assumed by killing it.
The next day, the pack attacked a large creature, who killed several of them. In anger, Vader killed the beast with his bare hands.
The pack followed their new found leader to the Imperial Relay Outpost V-798, and killed the entire crew after Vader departed from the planet on the station's only shuttle.