African folklore

Because hyenas are African animals, there is a lot of folklore and stories that go along with them from African peoples. I have included some of the more interesting tidbits here.

Hyenas and Witches

In Africa the hyena is associated with witches (much like the cat is in Europe). Many different cultures believe that witches can turn themselves into hyenas.

The Wambugwe (Tanzania) believe that "every witch possesses one or more hyenas which are branded (invisibly to normal eyes) with his mark, and to which he refers as his 'night cattle.' Some people say that all hyenas are owned by witches -- that there are no free or wild hyenas....At regular intervals, all witches of the land ride their hyenas to a prearranged place in the forest for a saturnalian gathering, where they boast of their evil deeds and perform obscene rites." (Robert F. Gray, in Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa.)

Hyenas are supposed to bear their young in a witch's house, and the witch milks the hyena. If you kill a hyena, the witch will kill you through magic. Witches are believed to ride hyenas naked through the night carrying torches they refuel with hyena butter.

The Hyena's Revenge

The Hyena went to Lion's house to eat, but he felt the Lion had acted grudgingly toward him about the quagga's flesh. Therefore, he invited the Lion to come dine at his house. The Hyena boiled ostrich flesh in a pot to serve for dinner.

The Hyena gave the soup to the Lion, and the pot was very hot when the Lion went to take it in his hands. The Hyena said: "O Lion! Allow me to pour soup into the inside of thy mouth." The Lion consented, and the Hyena poured the hot soup into the Lion's mouth. Then he dropped the pot over the Lion's head, and the soup burned the Lion's eyes and the inside of his mouth. The Hyena took up a stick and beat the Lion, and he died, swallowing the hot soup and being beaten, while his head was inside the pot.

- This is a Bushman story which I have rephrased from this page.

Were-Hyenas

In African and Persian folklore, there are stories of a hyena-man hybrid, much like werewolves in Europe. The Bouda is a mythical tribe that is supposed to have the ability to transform into hyenas. The ancient Kingdom of Kaffa had a similar were-hyena known as the qora.

Belief in were-hyenas is so entrenched in the Bornu people of Nigeria that their language contains a specific word, bultungin, which translates as 'I change myself into a hyena.'

Hermaphroditic

Many African tribes, such as the Himba, also perceive the hyena as a hermaphrodite, just as Europeans saw it as able to change sex.