Abuja, Nigeria
Spotted hyenas ( Crocuta crocuta ) are one of the most feared species in the animal kingdom . However, in Africa there are at least two stories about the rapprochement between humans and these carnivores; family traditions based on domesticating these fierce animals.
The first is located in a small village near Abuja, in Nigeria, where he lives in a group of nomadic traders who are engaged in the business of training and selling wild species. Aside from snakes and baboons, they also capture hyena hatchlings in the wild and train them from childhood, as can be seen in Tarryn Crossman’s short documentary Hyenas Boys.
“I’ve been doing this since I was five years old,” says Mufasa Mohammed, a hyena trainer. “Since the animal was small, I have been feeding it, giving it meat and medicine. Now the beast is tame enough to be displayed in public.” Mohammed talks about medicine, a kind of concoction that they give both animals and their trainers since they are children to make them strong, as part of their instruction; as well as growing up with snakes on their necks since they are babies.
These nomads make their living from the alms they get from their street performances with wild animals; and the sale of them to wealthy families for values of between $ 3,000 to $ 8,000 per beast.
Harar, Ethiopia
The second story takes place in Harar, in Ethiopia, where Abbas Yusuf has earned the trust of these carnivores. In this city, finding wild hyenas walking through the streets, the Magala Gudo market and the garbage dump, looking for remains of meat and garbage is very common. Here people are not afraid of them, in fact, the locals say that the hyenas have not attacked anyone for more than 200 years, since they decided to open the walls and put food scraps on them.
Yusuf, known as the Hyena Man, learned to feed these wild animals from his father, Yusuf Mume Salleh, who used to throw food at them to keep them away from his livestock. Years later, the tradition lives on and has become a popular tourist attraction. Every evening he climbs a hill and calls the hyenas to attract them to his house, where he feeds them.
Nat Geo photographer Brian Lehmann, who spent time with Yusuf documenting their work, says “there is no doubt that they are hideous creatures, but there is no doubt that there is beauty within.”
Although the two cases show us that it is possible to train these wild animals, in most countries of the world it is illegal and very dangerous. Due to their strong character, they must always wear the muzzle and, once they reach adulthood, they cannot be released back into nature because they can transmit new pathogens to animals in the wild, therefore having to be euthanized.
