The Bouda or Were-Hyena Accounts of Northern Nigeria

Record summary

Bouda is a name used in parts of the West African literature for people or groups believed to transform into hyenas or to possess special relationships with hyenas. Late twentieth-century discussions connect the motif with Hausa and broader Bori religious contexts, but terminology and interpretation differ by author. It is relevant to cryptid comparison because outsiders have occasionally treated such accounts as evidence for a humanoid animal or hidden species. The stronger research value lies in documenting belief, stigma, performance and colonial-era categorization, not in validating a zoological claim.