Hyenas in Harar

I have gotten more comments on the photos I just posted on Facebook of me feeding the hyenas than anything else recently, so thought it'd deserve a short blog. For those of you that aren't my Facebook friends (I post the photos there with captions), here is the link to my picasweb photo site. I don't caption these and it takes longer to upload to here, so I might not have all my photos up.

http://picasaweb.google.com/hodsonlaw

From Harar

From Harar

From Harar

OK, so the basic gist of this is that there is a small group of locals in Harar that feed these wild hyenas every night, just outside the walls of the old town. Legend has it that practice began in the 19th century, during a famine. The locals feed the hyenas to appease the animals in times of drought, so they wouldn't attack children or livestock.

They are feed some old meat that the guys buy off local butchers. The 'donations' you make to take photos go to buying the meat.

For 50 Ethiopian burr, which is about $4 U.S. dollars these days, you can take pictures of the guy feeding the hyenas, and. . . feed them yourself.

From Harar

From Harar