Hyena has last laugh: Restaurant selling its meat shut

ASIR: The municipality of Surat Obaidah closed down a well-known restaurant and fined its owner SR10,000 for serving clients hyena meat.
During a surprise visit, inspectors found that the restaurant along the Najran-Khamees Mushait Road was closed and being guarded by a worker, while cooking was underway inside.
The inspection team cordoned off the area and confiscated the meat, which turned out to be that of hyena.
Said bin Saleh, a citizen, said he had once been invited to a reception where hyena meat was served. He said he was surprised to see people relished it.
Abdurrahman Al-Qahtani said he liked hyena meat, which tastes different from any other meat. He said it has a unique taste and that “its effect is stronger than that of any famous stimulant.” Veterinary doctor Khalid Al-Qahtani said the meat of this animal is in high demand. It costs more than that of deer. One kilogram of hyena meat costs SR200 or more, depending on the age of the animal, he said. No health benefits or harmful effects of this meat have been scientifically proved.
A report in ibtimes said hyenas are being threatened with extinction because people across the Kingdom have developed a taste for the wild animal’s meat.
In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the striped hyena as “near threatened” as its population was estimated to be below 10,000.
Eating hyena meat was also permitted by Al-Shabaab militants in southern Somalia last August. A resident of Kismayo told Hiiraan Online that since it was approved, restaurants have begun selling it and the price has risen so much so that it is now only affordable to wealthy people.
Hyena meat is also eaten in areas of Pakistan and Iran, where it is considered halal.
Ahmad Al-Bouq, director of the Wildlife Research Centre in Taif, told media that the threat to the species was dire.
“Hyenas are threatened with extinction in the Kingdom,” Bouq said. “They are classified among the big beasts of prey, aside from the Arabian tiger and lynx.”
Hyenas are noted as scavengers but most are also effective hunters.