From the moment Bryan Hawn was a child, animals fascinated him. He and his brother Mark would constantly challenge each other with animal facts, turning their curiosity into something much bigger as Bryan grew older.
“And he calls me and he’s like, ‘I’m getting a hyena.’ And we’re like, ‘What!? A hyena? Like, I mean, you know what a hyena is. You’re getting a hyena, and a spotted hyena at that.’” — Mark Hawn, Bryan’s brother
Bryan’s fascination with wildlife went far beyond simply watching animals. At one point, he even created his own encyclopedia, filling it with animals he knew and writing down interesting facts about each one.
When Bryan was in seventh grade, that passion took him to South Africa on a student ambassador trip. Seeing exotic animals in their natural environment only strengthened his obsession with wildlife, but years later, that fascination would take an unexpected turn.
After a difficult breakup in 2010, Bryan began bringing exotic animals into his Miami Beach apartment. His collection included a chinchilla, two lemurs and even a baby kangaroo, but he eventually found an animal that seemed almost impossible to imagine as a household pet.
“I went on this website and I saw hyenas being sold. And I, my mouth just dropped open.” — Bryan Hawn
The animal was a six week old spotted hyena. There was one major problem: Bryan couldn’t afford the $5,000 price tag, and the animal was in New Jersey, meaning he would also have to make the trip to pick it up.
Determined to make it happen, Bryan worked as a stripper every day for two weeks until he had enough money. He then made the trip and returned home with a baby hyena named Jake.
At first, life with Jake was anything but easy. The young hyena had accidents throughout the apartment, kept Bryan awake with his howling and even chewed through pipes, causing a flood inside the home.
Yet over time, Bryan felt the chaos was worth it. As Jake became more comfortable around him, their relationship appeared to become unusually close.
“I was living the dream. A hyena that loves me. It was beyond amazing, it was definitely, almost a spiritual experience.” — Bryan Hawn
But Jake wasn’t going to remain a tiny baby forever.
As the hyena grew, Bryan gave up his other exotic pets so he could concentrate on raising him. Before long, however, the apartment began to feel less like a home for Jake and more like a cage.
“One of his favorite activities was starting at one end of my apartment, and running as fast as he can, full speed, bam, right into the wall.” — Bryan Hawn
Professor Sam Gosling, a social psychologist, suggested that Jake’s unusual behavior could have been caused by the stress of living in an environment completely different from the one his species evolved to inhabit.
By the time Jake was 11 months old, Bryan realized he could no longer keep him in the apartment. He began calling zoos to see whether any would take the growing hyena, but none were willing to accept him.
There was another problem, too. Bryan didn’t have the license required to legally keep a hyena in Florida.
Eventually, Bryan contacted the Miami Zoological Wildlife Foundation, which agreed to take Jake. The solution seemed simple enough, but moving a roughly 100 pound hyena out of an apartment was anything but simple.
Bryan managed to lure Jake into a transport cage. But when he tried to close the door, the frightened animal suddenly exploded into action.
Jake burst out of the cage, knocking Bryan to the ground and breaking his arm. The situation quickly became a struggle between a frightened predator and the person who had raised him from infancy.
“And my wrist just turned purple. And I’m laying there in tears as I watch my hyena scurry into the bathroom, completely freaked out. I just felt like giving up.” — Bryan Hawn
But Bryan knew he couldn’t leave Jake wandering around the apartment. Despite the pain, he continued trying to get the hyena safely into the cage.
Then Jake struck again.
“And he — bam — his jaws just right on my arm, and I just scream, ahhh, like, and his body drops into the crate.” — Bryan Hawn
This time, the cage was finally secured.
Bryan drove Jake to the wildlife facility and handed over the animal he had spent nearly a year raising. The decision was difficult, but it gave Jake the space and environment that a growing spotted hyena needed.
Even after giving up ownership, Bryan still wanted to remain part of Jake’s life. The bond they had formed was powerful, and Bryan hoped he could continue visiting the animal he once considered his companion.
Videos of Bryan interacting with Jake can make the relationship look surprisingly gentle. At times, the hyena almost seems like an enormous dog, happily accepting attention from the person who raised him.
But that is also what makes the story so complicated. Jake may have trusted Bryan, but he was never a domesticated animal, and as he grew, his instincts and physical power became impossible to ignore.
The experience showed Bryan something he had loved animals enough to learn the hard way: caring deeply for a wild animal doesn’t change what it is.
