Hyena captured after panic in Nigerian city

Mansur Abubakar - BBC News, Kano
·2-min read
A hyena baring its teeth and tongue.
A zoo worker says hyenas fear humans and often poo when scared (stock photo) [Getty Images]

A hyena on the loose in the central Nigerian city of Jos has been captured, the local tourism board has said.

Drones and rangers searched for the animal after it escaped from the Jos Wildlife Park, causing panic among residents in the area.

The hyena had "finally been found, tranquilised, captured and returned to its enclosure", the tourism board said in a statement.

It is unclear how the hyena escaped but, according to the tourist board, it had been inside a cage.

Many people in Jos were scared, despite assurances from wildlife experts that the chances of the hyena attacking were slim.

"Hyenas are very fearful of humans - the animal is more likely to run away than attack," said Abba Gandu, who is based at Kano Zoo in the north of the country, and has worked with lions and hyenas for 50 years.

"It normally excretes when scared and I foresee that happening when people finally get to it."

Wildlife escapes are not new in Nigeria.

In 2015, a four-year-old lion was shot dead after it had escaped from the same park.

At the time, police said the lion was hostile during attempts to return it to its enclosure and was put down before it could harm anyone.

In nearby Kano state in 2019, a lion also escaped while rangers were trying to return it to a cage after attending a national agricultural show.

It was later found after hours of searching.

Official of Jos Wildlife park in Nigeria
Park officials were on the lookout for the missing hyena [Plateau State Tourism Corporation]

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