where the wild things are

the wild animal graffiti of ROA, in mexico, unurth

photos of 'hyena men' by pieter hugo
an extract from the article,
These photographs came about after a friend emailed me an image taken on a cellphone through a car window in Lagos, Nigeria, which depicted a group of men walking down the street with a hyena in chains. A few days later I saw the image reproduced in a South African newspaper with the caption ‘The Streets of Lagos’. Nigerian newspapers reported that these men were bank robbers, bodyguards, drug dealers, debt collectors. Myths surrounded them...

It turned out that they were a group of itinerant minstrels, performers who used the animals to entertain crowds and sell traditional medicines. The animal handlers were all related to each other and were practising a tradition passed down from generation to generation.
...
Many animal-rights groups also contacted me, wanting to intervene (however, the keepers have permits from the Nigerian government). When I asked Nigerians, “How do you feel about the way they treat animals?”, the question confused people. Their responses always involved issues of economic survival. Seldom did anyone express strong concern for the well-being of the creatures. Europeans invariably only ask about the welfare of the animals but this question misses the point. Instead, perhaps, we could ask why these performers need to catch wild animals to make a living. Or why they are economically marginalised. Or why Nigeria, the world’s sixth largest exporter of oil, is in such a state of disarray.


i remember when i was watching spike jonze's where the wild things are i was struck that the "alien landscape" of the wild things was my backyard,
southern and central victoria,
the beach scenes are around the corner from cape schanck, an hour and a half from melbourne and 30 minutes from where my mum lives

the difference between wild and civilised can be so slight, a difference of where you put the accent, the emphasis