The History of Harar Hyena Feeding Tradition

Outside the walls, after dark

The handler's basket

The Story Behind the Tradition

A relationship between a city and the animals that live beyond its walls.

For generations, families in Harar have shared their evenings with the wild spotted hyenas that live in the hills surrounding the old city. The animals know the handlers by voice, approach on their own terms, and leave again into the dark.

What began as a quiet nightly practice has become one of Harar's most recognised cultural experiences — but the ritual itself has not changed. The basket, the stick, the low call, the hyenas emerging from the edge of the firelight. Simple, unrehearsed, and honest.

A Harari hyena handler in a red robe feeding a wild hyena from a woven basket at night

Outside Fallana Gate — after sunset

A Living Tradition

A quiet ritual, kept alive at the edge of the old city.

Each evening, when the call to prayer fades and the walls of Harar Jugol turn amber, local handlers walk out to the edge of town with a basket of raw meat. Wild spotted hyenas emerge from the dark and answer to their names.

Visitors are welcome to sit close, watch, photograph, and — if they wish — take part under the handler's guidance.

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Discover Harar

The feeding site is one evening. Harar is the reason to come.

A walled Islamic city on the eastern highlands of Ethiopia, Harar is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on the continent. The evening with the hyenas belongs to a much longer story.

Harar Jugol

The walled old city — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of narrow lanes, coloured walls, and 82 mosques. The gates come alive at night.

Arthur Rimbaud House

The wooden-galleried Indian-Harari house dedicated to the French poet who lived and traded in Harar in the 1880s.

Traditional Harari homes

Interiors lined with woven baskets and hand-carved wood — some opened by families as guesthouses and cultural rooms.

Next · The Experience

See What Awaits You

Find out what it's like to witness the Harar Hyena Feeding Experience, what to expect during your visit, and how the evening unfolds.

Experience It