HARAR'S HYENA MAN
I've heard of some weird things in my travels, but feeding wild hyenas by hand has to be one of the strangest. Harar is an ancient Ethiopian city with a long checkered history, much of it violent and un-Western, so this hyena-feeding seemed to slot into this unique place.
My husband and I were visiting Harar for a few days at the end of a month in Ethiopia. We flew into Dire Dawa, the closest airport, and were met by an NTO (National Tourist Office) driver/guide, Sebsebe. The Institute in Addis Ababa thought it was wiser to have an NTO escort, as at that time there was still ethnic faction fighting in this area, and some resentment towards outsiders, or "farengi", which we so obviously were. Sebsebe organized for a local guide to take us around Harar: Abdul arrived, and he was great, brimming with information about local people and culture.
On our first evening they planned to visit the Hyena Man before dinner.
"The Hyena Man? Who's that?"
The mysterious reply, "Wait and you will see."
So we waited in our faded and tatty hotel room at the first-class Ras Hotel, and wondered what a third-class room would look like. We had a very plain, sparsely furnished room with no hot water, due to a small "technical difficulty", which turned out to be a burnt-out geyser.
Sebsebe and Abdul picked us up at the hotel at 7:30pm and drove us to the place just outside one of the old gates in the stone walls enclosing the Old Town, where tanned animal skins are laid out to dry. Here by a big tree the Hyena Man feeds the hyenas at night in a large dusty open area.
He was there, dressed in tattered clothes of a nondescript color, his dark-skinned face blending into the darkness. Next to him was a large hessian sack, bulging unevenly.
"In that sack are reject pieces of meat and bones from the butcher", Abdul explained. "Every time a different butcher gives meat."
Sebsebe stopped the car next to the tree and left on the headlights, shining onto the man and his sack.
Soon the Hyena Man started calling, a wild, high-pitched chant, and one by one the hyenas came, slinking down from the hills.
"He's even given them names, you know", said Adbul, "And I think they know their names."
We smiled, doubting, but what do we know of this business of feeding hyenas?
We could see quite well with the car's headlights on the scene. First came two hyenas, their red eyes glowing in the dark. They circled at a distance, and two more came. Then two more, then three, all silently circling. The chanting continued until there were about 20, big ones, all about the size of a large, heavy dog. They skittered around, in and out of the light, and Abdul cautioned, "Don't talk too loudly and stay close to the car. They probably won't come this way but we don't want any accidents."
The hyenas obviously smelled the meat, moving nearer, and we could see their spotted unattractive heads with small ears, salivating at the sight and smell of the meat.
Some made an excited yipping noise, as the man began to open the sack, others started "laughing". A hyena's "laugh" is an eerie sound, and we stepped closer to the car. It has a primitive, feral sound to it, and the goosebumps on my arm got bigger.
The Hyena Man drew out some scraps of meat, which he flung out into the dark, causing a flurry of rushing bodies and yips, and he flung more to the other side. Sometimes the bodies turned savagely on each other, in competition for the bits. He threw some small bones and we heard cracking, gnawing sounds.
The man opened the bag again and the "laughter" became almost continuous.
Three of the creatures moved much closer.
"They are more familiar with him and he can feed those by hand", Abdul whispered.
Sebsebe swung a flashlight onto the trio round the man. I'm convinced that they really are one of nature's ugliest animals.
He looped a piece of meat around the end of a long stick. One hyena ran forward and pulled on the meat until it was all in its mouth. The process was repeated a number of times, with the man flinging bits of meat into the darkness for the other animals.
We stood close to the car, taking photographs, impressed in spite of ourselves.
Then the man held out a bone, about 12-15 inches long, and one of the three hyenas grabbed it ferociously and ran off. He picked up another bone and one of the other hyenas moved closer to pull it out of his hand. All of the "familiar" ones got a bone in this way, and one he even "patted" (thumped on the back).
" He doesn't actually hold out his hand now as he lost one of his fingers recently", Abdul informed us matter-of-factly. We were surprised he hasn't lost more than that. Even though they are conditioned to come and get the meat, and obviously know the man, they are still wild animals, potentially vicious, and must be respected
"And before, he held meat and bones in his MOUTH for them to take."
We're glad he didn't demonstrate that today.
We were the only tourists but some local youths were hanging around. They respect the hyenas, apparently, but are not afraid of them.
When the sack of meat was emptied, the hyenas retreated to the darkness just beyond the light, but we could still hear their restless pacing.
Sebsebe and Abdul walked towards the Hyena Man and gave him some Ethiopian birr notes.
We wondered how much was appropriate and whether this had been pre-arranged, but Abdul brushed off our questions with "Oh, that's okay." The Hyena Man bobbed his head briefly, picked up the sack and walked off into the dark, so we guessed he was happy with what he got.
Driving back to the hotel, we had many more questions for Abdul, such as how and why this amazing spectacle started. Abdul said it's because the town's people decided to partially feed the hyenas outside the walls so they don't come into town ravenously hungry and ready to attack animals and/or kids. The custom began many years ago after a number of small children and a couple of donkeys were killed and dragged off by hyenas. " We said they were slinking around like silent executioners in the night", smiled Abdul.
Ethiopia has a large population so towns and villages are very crowded. The animal population is even larger, so some of the streets and sidewalks are not very clean. Some people call these hyenas "sanitary engineers", as they can live off rubbish and junk. By nature hyenas are usually too timid to attack humans even though they live on the fringes of many African towns, but here in Ethiopia they've got used to hanging around people. This situation could make them even more dangerous, as hyenas are known to be Africa's second-largest predator.
It was a strange night show', but we were impressed anyway, partly because it told us more about Harar and Ethiopia, and partly because we think it wasn't put on especially for tourists. They say the man does this every day even if there's no-one watching.