Have You Heard of the Hyena men of Nigeria? Really!

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Yes! We do have hyenas in the northern part of Nigeria. I’m quite surprised you haven’t heard about the Hyena men of Nigeria. They are people of a rural community of Runka Village in Kastina State, North-west Nigeria.

~Hyenas are powerful carnivorous animals and hunters, that possesses the strongest jaw and teeth in the world that can chomp through every part of their prey, yep! Including their bones~

The Hyena men of Nigeria work with three hyenas, four baboons, and two rock pythons. These men have used these animals to create a very successful business model. It is a family business, for only members of the family are taught how to trap and care for the hyenas and the other animals. 

The animal handlers make use of herbs, concoctions, powders, amulets, and incantations to catch and train the animals. All of these things protect the handlers from harm as well. When the handlers go out to capture a hyena, they drink a protective potion as well as bathe in it. With their hunting dogs, they venture to the caves and forests of northern Nigeria.

When they find a hyena den, they chant incantations to draw the animal out. Then they blow a traditional African tranquilizer, in the form of a white powder, into the animal's face to disorient the beast. Thus, making it easy to subdue. After they coax the hyena out of its lair and subdue it, the handlers apparently have a medicine that they put on the hyena’s body that makes it completely obedient to them. 

The captured hyena then begins training that last for about one to two months. The training teaches the hyena how to live with humans and other animals as well as engage in different kinds of play without becoming violent. After the training, the hyena men use the animals as a circuit display in states and places in the northern Nigeria like Zaria and Kano. With the aid of the large crowds they draw, they use the opportunity sell their native herbs that are used to cure illnesses like typhoid and for fortification against evil doers, which require toddlers being kept on the hyenas to ward of evil beings according to their beliefs. 

Okay meet the hyena men of Nigeria:

So interesting I would love to see the Hyena men of Runka Village in Kastina someday soon, you should too!