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The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is the second-largest mammalian carnivore in sub-Saharan Africa.� This species has historically played an important role as scavenger and predator in wildland ecosystems, but as native habitats and prey have disappeared alongside steady encroachment of humanity, hyenas have adapted to a variety of human-dominated settings to find suitable den sites and food resources.� This includes shifts to preying on livestock and livestock carrion in pastoral areas and rummaging in refuse of growing cities and towns.� Ethiopia is an excellent example of this dynamic. And in some extreme cases where hyenas and people have shared resources for long periods of time, there is evidence from the literature that the hyena-human interaction can develop into a form of mutualism.� As part of a pilot assessment of hyena-human interactions in Ethiopia, we wanted to gain insights into hyena-human linkages concerning household economics, culture, and health.� We held focus groups and key informant interviews that incorporated feedback from 170 citizens residing in three distinct parts of the country: Mekelle, Harar, and Arba Minch.� Participants represented a wide array of religious, economic, and educational backgrounds and lived as urbanites or rural dwellers.� Results suggest that the hyena-human dynamic is highly variable across these locations.� While all participants recognized the importance of hyenas as scavengers to maintain a clean environment, there was pronounced variation in cultural perspectives�for example, while the people of Harar revere hyenas in spiritual terms, in Arba Minch they are regarded as nuisance animals. While hyenas are universally respected as a formidable predator, reports of livestock depredation and attacks on humans were few. This is despite that in Harar and Mekelle hyenas and humans co-occur at high densities and frequently encounter each other.� We conclude by exploring the implications of these findings for hyena management in Ethiopia.