Crossword Genius

Cackling individual feeding urge to laugh (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hyena

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cackling individual feeding' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'urge to laugh' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'urge' could be 'yen' (yen can mean a craving for something) and 'yen' is found within the answer.
'laugh' could be 'ha' and 'ha' is found within the leftover letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hyena that I've seen before include "African scavenger" , "Scavenging carnivore" , "He's sometimes spotted" , "Wild mammal" , "Predatory dog-like animal, makes sound like laughing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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