Striped Hyena: HEAL conducts awareness drive in Purulia to debunk false attack rumours

02 December 2025

What would you do if you saw an image indicating that a wild hyena had bitten someone?

For most, it sparks panic.
For us at HEAL, it sparks action — finding the truth, sharing the facts, and ensuring safety for both people and wildlife.

Striped Hyena or something else?

Recently, our volunteer network in Purulia shared alarming reports of a Striped Hyena attack on two villagers in Kotshila. Photos of a hyena circulating online heightened fear in the community — but when our team reached the spot, the reality was quite different.

After speaking with villagers and the victims, and showing them images of hyenas, foxes, jackals, and dogs, it became clear that no one could confirm which animal was involved. The image being shared online had been taken from the internet — not from the actual incident.

Without concrete evidence, the team concluded the bites could have come from a feral dog, or any other injured carnivore acting out of fear — possibly in two separate incidents.

HEAL's awareness session at Kotshilla Girls High School about different carnivores like the striped hyena, golden jackal etc — HEAL’s awareness session at Kotshilla Girls High School

Awareness session at Jiudaru High School about striped hyena, golden jackal, grey wolf, leopard etc — Awareness session at Jiudaru High School

To dispel fear and educate the locals, HEAL quickly organised awareness sessions at Kotshila Girls High School and Jiudaru High School. The program were aimed at helping students and villagers learn how to:
– Identify local carnivores
– Understand their behaviour
– Respond safely when encountering wildlife

We reminded everyone that wild animals rarely attack unless threatened or provoked.

Team HEAL with school students in Purulia who were made aware of different facts about the Striped Hyena

Thanks to the cooperation of the community and our local volunteers, no further “striped hyena” incidents have been reported in these areas since the awareness programs.

HEAL continues to work closely with Purulia’s local communities as part of the project supported by WWF India’s CCP grant — from our Seed Goat Bank initiative that aims to create locally sustainable solutions for loss of livestock to carnivores, to our local volunteer networks that help spread facts, and dispel fear about key small carnivore species like striped hyena, golden jackal, leopard, Bengal fox and the Indian grey wolf.

Project Striped Hyena in Purulia

HEAL launched the Striped Hyena Project in Purulia to facilitate human-hyena coexistence by using the perceptions and opinions of local communities to design effective intervention measures that will generate tolerance and appreciation towards Striped Hyena in the community. Learn more about our initiative here.