Harar: ancient Ethiopian city that reveres 'magical' hyenas

Far in the arid east of Ethiopia, close to the Red Sea, there is an ancient walled city where hyenas prowl by night - and the townsfolk are quite happy for them to do so. Considering the beasts magical beings that can rid the city of djinn, or evil spirits, the people have made holes in the ramparts, allowing the creatures to come and go easily.

Each night, packs of hyenas gather outside the walls of Harar - timid despite their savage mien and 90kg bulk - waiting for the humans to go to bed before they roam the alleys, foraging for food scraps. One man makes a nice little earner out of the wild animals, sitting outside the city walls, putting on a terrifying show.

With car headlights illuminating him, he calls out to the hyenas in the darkness beyond and puts in his mouth a stick with a chunk of raw meat on it. First their glowing eyes appear, then - as they sidle close - their mottled coats. One approaches warily, then lunges at the meat, snatching it and sloping off to swallow it.

The man fishes more meat out of his bucket, hangs it from his mouth, another hyena bares its fangs and lunges, and so it continues. It's petrifying to watch - one slip and … But it's been going on for decades without mishap, the man's family passing the hat round after each performance. Even some tourists have a go.

Ringed by ramparts, Harar's whitewashed houses huddle across a low hill, its minarets pointing to the sky. It is an Islamic city of ancient origins and, until the late 19th century, was the capital of an independent emirate so fiercely protective that non-Muslims were banned from entering, on pain of death.