Meet The Man Who Lives With Hyenas

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This remarkable relationship between man and beast has been kept alive for 50 years thanks to one family's tradition.

A hyena is one of the most feared animals in the world, but in this small Ethiopian village, Abbas, known as the "Hyena Man," has trained them so he can hand feed them inside his home.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN LEHMANN
Dusk is falling on the old walled city of Harar and the still air is broken only by an occasional, chilling howl. In the semi-darkness, five hungry hyenas circle a young man crouched on the ground. Their bat-like ears flick back and forth in greedy expectation while their jaws flex to reveal a snarl of teeth. It’s feeding time.
But while spotted hyenas are known throughout the world to be vicious scavengers, in this small Ethiopian city, its habitants are not afraid. The young man draws a chunk of meat from his basket and dangles it in the air. Instead of leaping to attack, one hyena comes forward and takes it right out of his hands, with the poise of a domesticated dog.
Abbas Yusuf, known as the Hyena Man, learned to feed these wild animals from his father, Yusuf Mume Salleh, who used to throw them scraps to lure them away from his livestock.
Years later, the tradition lives on and though it has become a popular tourist attraction, this remarkable relationship between man and beast runs deep.
For photographer Brian Lehmann, who spent time documenting the phenomenon, it was this profound — almost transcendent — connection that interested him most. “I was in awe of their relationship,” Lehmann tells National Geographic. “People all over except this one little city in Ethiopia are terrified by hyenas because they will literally chew you up and turn you into a bloody patch on the ground in a matter of minutes. A few miles away you have a girl who was bitten in the face and dragged to a river…but here the children are not afraid at all

Source
Naija news