Is he having a laugh? The teenage boy who has made friends with a wild hyena

Meet Shandor Larenty - the 16-year-old schoolboy who is so close with his 14 stone Hyena that they kiss, cuddle and even eat together.

Living in Africa means the teenager, of British descent, has taken on a hyena as a pet rather than the puppy dog he might have got if his dad had stayed in Oxfordshire.

Shandor is the son of British lion wrangler Alex Larenty, from the Lion Park near Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Game for a laugh: Teenager Shandor Larenty gives his beloved pet, Thender the hyena, a big hug at the Johannesburg Lion Park in South Africa

Best friends: Thender was rejected by his mother, so Shandor's dad agreed to take him in to live with four other hyenas at his lion park

Puppy love: Shandor may only have had a plain old dog for a pet if his father hadn't emigrated to South Africa from Oxfordshire

And he's such a chip off the old block he was training juvenile lions from the age of eleven.

He has now progressed to hyenas and cheetahs.

But Shandor is closest with his best friend, Thender, the 18-month-old spotted hyena – who will eat out of Shandor’s mouth and even let him clean his teeth afterwards.



Bath time: Thender enjoys some much-needed pampering which he didn't get off his mother

Open wide: Thender is now so accustomed to human contact, Shandor can even feed him using his mouth

Seeing eye to eye: Hyenas are ruthless scavengers who normally eat prey as large as wildebeests, but the pair seem remarkably relaxed in each other's company

Thender was rejected by his mother, so Shandor’s dad, Alex agreed to take him in to live with four other hyenas at his lion park.

