“Awww, puppy!” At least that’s what one couple thought when they purchased what appeared to be a cute little ankle-biting pooch from Craigslist. However, as is often the case on classified advertisement websites, everything wasn’t as it seemed in the listing. Instead, they’d thought they bought themselves a baby hyena!
In a 15-second clip posted on TikTok by a user called Gabriela (username @user7936031421), the little creature can be seen cowering and stressed under a storage unit while whining incessantly and occasionally lashing out — and can you blame it? The poor thing should be finding its feet on the extensive plains of Africa, not living a fish-out-of-water life on a hard floor in a random American household.
It remains a mystery how the hyena came to be listed for sale on Craigslist, but suffice it to say it shouldn’t have been there — and the video of it looking decidedly uncomfortable in Gabriela’s home garnered a hefty response from TikTok users.
How did TikTok react?
Proving there is some humanity left in the world, lots of people sympathized with the poor animal’s situation, with users commenting things like, “he just wants his mama,” “That poor thing is so scared and probably wondering where his mommy is,” “This made me so sad. Poor baby,” “Oh my gosh this is soooo sad. You better protect him and give him space,” and “This is actually so sad. They’re very social creatures and he’s probably absolutely terrified being away from his pack :(“
Others were less sympathetic to the little one’s cause and wondered how they could get a baby hyena of their own. Comments of that nature included, “now how does one buy a baby hyena,” “how does one acquire a baby hyena. asking for a friend,” “I want a hyena,” and “Is there more available I’ll take 3, this way I can have my little lion king hyena pack.”
Another user noted that a certain DC Comics character has a hyena for a pet and advised the couple to “keep it and live ur harley quinn life.” That is not great advice, we have to say.
One user asked the question we all want the answer to: “Okay…. But what did you think you were getting??” Even if there weren’t a picture of the hyena on the listing, you’d think Gabriela and her partner would have realized it wasn’t a dog before taking it home.
In all seriousness, if you inadvertently end up with an exotic animal as a pet, let someone who’s an authority on them know. Gabriela appears to have done the right thing by tagging Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage in the video’s description, which we hope resulted in the creature being rescued and taken somewhere more suited to its needs.
World Animal Protection notes that the concept of keeping wild animals as pets has proliferated in the last few decades due to cheap transport costs. This has resulted in a global wildlife trade worth USD $30-$42.8 billion a year, which is a shame because it has resulted in upsetting situations like this one.
