The Man Who Tickles and Plays with Hyenas

hyenas renowned for their brutal scavenging ways hyenas can weigh twice as much as an adult wolf and that's why what kevin richardson does is all the more surprising kevin has worked with large predators for most of his adult life but a few years ago he set up his own private reserve so that he could fully integrate himself into this clan of hyenas he did this to study their behavior and change people's perceptions of what is a much feared animal the hyenas live in a large enclosure but they're far from tame these animals have a very complex and fluid social structure all governed by dominance and how each one finds its place in the pecking order if kevin isn't careful there's always an individual that'll try and get one over on him i wanted to ask you about you know where they see you in their clan are you a hyena in their eyes their behavior with me is treating me as an individual in their clan is exactly how they treat one another and and that's why i get my fair share of of bites because they don't hold back so why on earth would you want to do this when you're aware that it can be dangerous what i feel is the risk is actually being mitigated over the years by knowing the individuals and by no means do i just say hey i'm the hyena whisperer i can go in with any hyena group and do what i do with these guys this is a relationship that's been developing with some individuals over 14 years uh-huh where are you going no you're not going this don't leave them yes stay for the comrades look at this see now that's just ridiculous look at that teddy bear yeah i mean come on it's like if you're behaving with him like if he's a dog you know once all the energy dissipates and once they they're okay with you guys and they they now they've smelt you out and they see that you're not a threat yeah and they calm down these animals are just it's just it's incredible what you can do with them i mean this guy he desperately wants his chin scratches i can see that kevin has worked very hard to earn the hyenas trust and it allows him to play with them in a way i never thought was possible but even this time spent playing together gives him a chance to learn about their social structure and how he can maintain his position within it okay so i mean all this kind of thing that i'm doing here is asserting my dominance so it does look like play but he's also feeling that i'm not you know submitting to something he does and that i'm actually playing with him in a dominant way so i'm doing things to him that he wouldn't normally allow other individuals to do to him that he was more dominant who he was more dominant of so so it is interesting i'm using affection because he's coming to me for love and a tickle and a chin scratch and all of the above but i'm dominating him and i'm not hitting him you know i don't have to it's a bit of a psychological game what do you get out of it then do you think why were you driven to do this with these hyenas i'll tell you what i mean this is enriching for me as it is for them i mean the fact that i'm tickling this hyena and his chin and he's using i'm using him as a resistance bonkers kevin yeah it's awesome i mean don't get me wrong it's i still get a kick out of seeing my buddies um however the other thing that i really hope it does is it shows people a different side of them and and hopefully people watching a program like this would go away and say you know what i never knew hyenas were like that i actually actually like them they they actually very similar to my dog in a way kevin has an extraordinary relationship with these hyenas by combining his knowledge of each individual and their position in the hierarchy and with his ability to assert his dominance where needed it seems that kevin has truly become one of the gang and in doing so he's proving that hyenas are not as intimidating as many people would have you believe

Channel: Animal Planet

Views: 9,162,264

Keywords: nature documentary, world's oddest animals, animal couples, animal friendships, hyena man, hyena whisperer, hyena clan, Hyena (Animal), Animal (Film Genre), kevin richardson, fatal attractions, wild animals, nature, big dog, big cat, wolf

Id: qIjgIQweeYA

Length: 4min 28sec (268 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 15 2015