HYENAS AREN'T UGLY, LAZY, OR VICIOUS...AND NEITHER ARE WOLVESWolves are either loved or hated. Hatred for wolves is deeply monopolized by the belief that they are lazy, vicious, sport killers, demons, ugly, sinners, and onward. But there is one carnivore that is hated even more than wolves, and that is the hyena. Whatever the reason, from The Lion King to religious traditions, hyenas are the one animal that has been vilified even more than wolves. Though the hyenas in The Lion King did scare me as a kid for a while, I never directly hated them or was afraid of the actual animal. But I definitely didn't consider them as interesting, worthwhile, or fascinating as other animals like cheetahs or lions. Not until I went to Tanzania this summer did I fall completely in love with hyenas, with their behavior, quirks, and intelligence. I realized that, just like Americans (and Europeans) fear and hate wolves for no reason, the world has hated hyenas for no reason other than misunderstanding and lack of education. In the Beginning, God Really did not Like WOlves (Or Hyenas)Though many cultures, especially native tribes, respected and adored wolves, Abrahamic religions did not and since the modern world is run by the influence of Abrahamic religion and culture, so have the negative attitudes about wolves. In the Bible, every mention of wolves is negative. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. For reference, Ezekiel 22:27 (ESV) states "Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain". Most of the wolf symbolism in the Bible depicts wolves as the devil's chargers or Satan himself, attempting to destroy a flock of lambs, shepherded by Jesus. But did you know hyenas are also in the Bible? Though not written of quite as much as wolves, to nobody's surprise, the Bible is not positive toward hyenas either. Jeremiah 12:9 says "The people I call my own will attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas." And further along, Jeremiah 50:39 says "Therefore the desert creatures along with hyenas will live there... but people won't live in it again. They won't inhabit it from generation to generation". Ye Olde Medieval ManuscriptBoth hyenas and wolves are depicted in the Rochester Bestiary, which is an illuminated manuscript from 1230-1240 in medieval Europe. The Rochester Bestiary contains 107 entries of animals, both exotic, domestic, and mythical. It was basically the Wikipedia for animals in ye olden days. It's based off Physiologus, another bestiary book written by the Greeks in the second century, but the Rochester Bestiary uses much more explicit Christian allegory in the animals' entries. The hyena is described in the manuscript first. They are said to be grave robbers and dirty hermaphrodites (an organism that can change sex- scientists also believed female hyenas, which have an enlarged clitoris that looks like a penis, were hermaphrodites for a long time). According to some legends, if you look at a hyena three times, you become paralyzed (and then it eats you). Hyenas also circle houses and imitate the cries of man until you step outside to investigate and our devoured by this trickster. Allegorically, hyenas represent "untrustworthy, two-faced people. Or it represents humanity, who first worshipped God and then worshipped idols. It can also signify a greedy and lustful man" (The Medieval Bestiary- online). Wolves do not fair much better. The following quote is from Medieval Bestiary and describe the allegories attributed to wolves in this medieval text. "Like the wolf, the devil always sees mankind as prey and circles the sheepfold of the faithful, that is the Church. As the wolf gives birth when thunder first sounds, so the devil fell from heaven at the first display of his pride. The shining of the wolf's eyes in the night is like the works of the devil, which seem beautiful to foolish men." Also, prostitutes were called she-wolves. Oof. Medieval records often compared wolves and hyenas. "The hyena is a cruel beast like to the wolf in devouring and gluttony, and reseth on dead men, and taketh their carcase out of the earth, and devoureth them". Still don't believe me about the similarities between wolves and hyenas? IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE ABOUT RELIGIONImportant side note: I am not particularly religious, although I was raised Christian, but I can tell anyone who uses the Bible as justification for hating wolves: don't. Firstly, the Bible is extremely symbolic and every mention of wolves in the Bible is part of a parable or representation. If you are a Christian and want to hate wolves and use God as an excuse, I leave you with the story of Noah. God did not say "take 2 of every animal except for wolves because I hate them and they're evil and literally Satan". God said "TAKE 2 OF EVERY ANIMAL. EVERY. INCLUDING WOLVES AND HYENAS". Werewolves And... Werehyenas?Yes, werehyenas were/are creatures of mythology in African lore. Remember when I said wolves and hyenas have very similar stories when it comes to hating them? Here's possibly the best example across history. Possibly the first "werewolf" story was from Ancient Greece. Zeus turned Lycaon, a king into a wolf after Lycaon decided to feed Zeus his own cooked son (as in Lycaon's, not Zeus's- HIS OWN; he butchered HIS OWN SON) to see if Zeus was really all-knowing (spoiler alert: he was). Stories of "true" werewolves began in the Middle Ages in the 14th century, possibly as a result of so many people dropping dead from, you know, plagues. Though the myths began around Christian symbolism of the wolves being devils, those myths came about probably from Proto-Indo European beliefs that men turned into wolves before battle. These "pagans" turning into wolves were likewise associated with the devil, so anything related to werewolves or lycanthropy was not exactly okayed by the church. Much of the fright and continuation of the werewolf myth came from German paganism. In 16th century France, the werewolf terror enhanced when people were accused (correctly) of murder and cannibalism (probably from starvation) , but the crimes had nothing to do with real wolves. At this point, werewolves were tried in witchcraft trials especially in France. Some historians think that werewolves may be "explanations" for serial killers. Also, because wolves are top predators, along with bears, wolves may have been merged into a terrifying werewolf tale that was only made easier by biblical symbolism. Other top predators, like jaguars and tigers, have likewise been made into "werewolf" stores. As have werehyenas. Werehyenas have history possibly even further back than werewolves, but we'll probably never know. Hyenas are associated with witches in a lot of African tribes, even today. Some believe that there is no such thing as a "wild hyena", that every hyena is just a skin-changing witch. Some believe witches keep hyenas as pets. In Ethiopia, Tanzania, and other parts of Eastern Africa, blacksmiths are said to be able to turn into hyenas and then rob graves at midnight. They're called buda. This story may have started because, during times of famine or war, hyenas will often scavenge human remains and were seen as a sign of death. This is similar to how we have come to associate crows and ravens with death. Other versions of werehyenas depict them as originally being cannibalistic humans, usually witches or blacksmiths. Arab versions of werehyenas say that they can hypnotize someone with their eyes and suck blood from their victim's necks, like vampires. In Persia, a kaftar was a half-man half-hyena that continuously killed (and ate) children. In Greece, there was a monster known as Crocotta, which was probably just their description of actual hyenas. Fun fact: the scientific name for hyena is Crocuta crocuta. And, if you want a combination of wolves and hyenas in these morbid scary stories, the Greeks also got you covered (they had pretty vivid imaginations). Literally until about 1800, Greeks believed that undestroyed werewolf bodies would turn into vampire hyenas that preyed on bleeding, dying soldiers in battle. Eek. Blame Disney for Why you hate hyenasLet me first stop you at "they're ugly". I think hyenas are adorable, and super quirky in both appearance and personality. I literally saw one roll around in grass like a puppy. I don't think many people actually have seen hyenas, whether photography or in real life. I'd never seen a hyena before Africa. Why? They're not in common in zoos. Nobody wants to see them. Nobody likes them. Considering some zoos are trash, maybe that's a strike of good luck for hyenas, but as a whole, hyenas are received more negatively than even wolves. Blame The Lion King. Don't get me wrong, I love that movie (just yesterday I saw the new one and nearly sobbed from the beautiful animation), but let's be real: the hyenas are portrayed as ugly, stupid, dependent on Scar, and jokesters. In the original movie, they're also voiced by people of color compared to most other characters being voiced by white people so that was a whole debate and controversy (rightly so) as well. But The Lion King set a stage for an entire generation or two hating hyenas. They either were terrorized by them as a child or were only exposed to them by seeing them as villains trying to eat little Simba and Nala. Also, the Swahili names for the two of the three hyenas, Shenzi ("savage") and Banzai ("skulk" or "lurk"), weren't positive. And Ed was a complete slobbering maniac with a stupid name for a hyena. Naturally, hyena biologists weren't happy with Disney (one tried to sue them, but apparently hyenas don't have the same defamation rights as humans), and they had a solid point. If you ask anyone outside of Africa why they dislike hyenas, the answer is almost always going to be The Lion King. I will say the 2019 "live action" version did a lot to make up for this past mistake. Shenzi kept her name, but she was portrayed as the capable, strong leader of the group, as is appropriate since female spotted hyenas rule the roost. The hyenas were slightly more sympathetic since they were said to be starving because of Mufasa's rule. Some dialogue from the original movie about hyenas being "mangy slobbering poachers" was taken out. Sadly, that's about all the improvement. Banzai and Ed were renamed Kamari and Azizi which I was briefly excited about since I thought it may give them more dignified names. Then, I translated the names and was immediately disappointed. Kamari means "gambler" and Azizi means "they do not know". Nice work, Disney. Ernest hemingway and theodore roosevelt were jerksThese writings are detrimental to both species, and inspired not only the eradication of wolves in America but the continuous vilification of hyenas. Ernest Hemingway Despite his fame in the literary world (I think his writing was shit, but that's just me) Hemingway was a certified asshole, not just for this following passage about hyenas, but because he was a racist, homophobe, and sexist. "It wAS oKAy aT thE tIME" ok sure, read this and then tell me you still want to excuse Hemingway. It's an excerpt from The Green Hills of Africa when he describes the safari he took with his wife: "It was funny to M'Cola to see a hyena shot at close range. There was that comic slap of the bullet and the hyena's agitated surprise to find death inside him. It was funnier to see a hyena shot at a great distance, in the heat shimmer of the plain, to see him go over backwards, to see him start the frantic circle, to see that electric speed that meant he was racing the nickelled death inside him. But... the pinnacle of hyenic humor, was the hyena, the classic hyena, that hit too far back while running, would circle madly, snapping and tearing at himself until he pulled his own intestines out, and then stood there, jerking them out and eating with relish [the hyena probably did this from complete pain and attempts to get the bullet out of itself]. Fisi, the hyena ["fisi" is Swahili for hyena], hermaphroditic [myth] self-eating devourer of the dead, trailer of calving cows, ham-stringer, potential biter-off of your face at night while you slept, sad yowler, camp-follower, stinking, fowl, with jaws that crack the bones that the lion leaves, belly dragging, loping away on the brown plain, looking back, mongrel dog-smart in the face; wack from the little Mannlicher and then the horrid circle starting (Hemingway pp. 37-28, 1935)." Teddy Roosevelt "Teddy Roosevelt loved animals! He saved that bear!" First of all- Roosevelt was hunting bears with hounds at the time, and although he did refuse to shoot the bear after it was exhausted by the dogs and tied to a tree as an easy target, be insisted the bear still be killed for "humane reasons" (???). "...the hyena is a singular mixture of abject cowardice and the utmost ferocity. Usually feeding on carrion, and often hesitating to attack even the weakest animal if it is unhurt and on its guard, the ravenous beast will, on occasions, even when single but especially in troops [hyena groups are called clans, by the way], assail very formidable creatures" (Roosevelt and Heller, p. 259, 1915). Oh, and he hated wolves. "The wolf is the arch type of ravin, the beast of waste and desolation. It is still found scattered thinly throughout all the wilder portions of the United States, but has everywhere retreated from the advance of civilization." (Roosevelt, 1902) |
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