The Bultungin, the People Who Became Hyenas
In north-eastern Nigeria, people once said there were villages where everyone could turn into a hyena at night.
What was reported
Bultungin, 'I change myself into a hyena' in Kanuri, is the name for were-hyenas in the folklore of north-eastern Nigeria, around Lake Chad. People said some villages were inhabited entirely by such shape-shifters.
Stories across West and East Africa tell of were-hyenas: people who take hyena form at night and creep into villages, and who give themselves away by their behaviour or their voices by day.
Explanations offered
Hyenas really do come into villages at night, and their eerie whoops and laughs, which sound almost human, help explain the belief. Folklorists see were-hyenas as Africa's counterpart to European werewolves.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Borno, Nigeria
- Witnesses
- Kanuri folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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