Nigerian men with Hyenas and baboons picture?
Not news as such but someone e-mailed me this picture today of a group of men who keep hyenas and baboons as pets (click thumbnail for larger image).
I didn’t have a clue what the story behind the picture was so I thought I’d do a little investigation (a.k.a Googling) to find out a little more info,
A South African photographer Pieter Hugo spent 10 days in Nigeria with 10 men, four baboons, three hyenas, and two rock pythons. He was responsible for taking this photograph of the Baboons and Hyenas during this visit.
Apparently the men catch the hyenas in their burrows when they’re puppies, then drug them over a period of time in order to sedate them. It takes away a bit of the hyena’s edge apparently, which is unfortunate but understandable.
They use muzzles more for effect than for actual protection, and as long as the animals have eaten, they’re apparently stay quite calm.
The men are very much like travelling minstrels. They go into the ghettos outside cities and march down the street with their hyenas until crowds start gathering. They have baboons that do tricks and beg until people put money in their hands.
The men take the muzzles off and wrestle with the hyenas, and afterward they’ll scare the crowd with rock pythons.
People pay money for all of this, and they also pay the hyena guys for fetish charms they believe will guard them against wild animals.
People assume the fact that these men can walk down the street with such beasts must mean that the charms offer some kind of protection. The long association between witchcraft and hyenas will also probably help here.
Unlike the selfish people who trap and keep these wild animals, Pieter Hugo is a very talented bloke. If your interested in viewing some more of his work, check out his web site here.
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August 30th, 2006 at 11:53 pm
hey i was lookin up the nigerian men and i always seem to come across you are you theonly person who was allowed to travel with them or are there more articles about them? your pictures are amazing! i love africa, its my favorite place in the world. i loved reading about these men and their way of life, i found it very intriging.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE NIGERIA MOVIE MEN
August 31st, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Poor animals….what a sad life, being caught and forced to live an unnatural life in a big dirty city!!
I hope, Africa will soon be developed, and people will care for the animals. This would not happen in Europe. You should learn from us. Pay taxes, and no people will be poor.
December 15th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
It really is sad-much cruelty is needed to keep these beutiful animals “in line”-but it seems every living thing must suffer in Africa-and europe and the united states are responsible for quite a lot of it,outside of natural geographic misfortune
February 1st, 2008 at 10:57 pm
It makes me sick to see people who get attention for trapping animals and parading them around like they’ve done something important. Ignorant fools. I hope they get mauled.