Synopsis:
Buffy's class takes a field trip to the zoo. Kyle, Rhonda, Tor, and Heidi, a group of mean kids known as the Pack, ridicule other students. In front of the hyena house, the Pack corners a bookish, nerdy student named Lance. Xander moves in to intercede on Lance's behalf. Buffy and Willow are about to join him when they are stopped by the zookeeper. With a menacing glint in his eyes, the zookeeper says the hyenas have just come in from Africa and are under quarantine. Lance is pulled toward the hyena cage by the Pack, but Xander arrives to save him. He and Kyle are poised to fight when they are stopped cold by a horrific hyena cackle. Lance runs off. The hyenas' eyes flash yellow, followed by yellow flashes from the eyes of each of the remaining students.That evening at the Bronze nightclub, Xander appears both more graceful and more wary than usual. When the Pack arrives, their appearance has undergone a similar transformation. They seem to share a primal connection with Xander. At school the next day, Herbert, the pink pig that serves as the mascot for the Sunnydale High Razorbacks, screams in terror when Xander walks by. A few minutes later Xander and the Pack surround Herbert's cage and decide to do lunch. Principal Flutie finds out what happened and calls the Pack into his office. As Mr. Flutie begins to lecture them, they surround him, growling and barking. Mr. Flutie soon meets the same fate as Herbert. Meanwhile Giles begins researching animal possession. He tells Buffy and Willow that in parts of northern Africa, hyenas are able to possess a human spirit, and if left unchecked they will take control of a human's soul.Buffy and Giles go to see the zookeeper. He confirms that the new hyenas are a very rare breed that is capable of taking over the spirit of humans. Giles and the zookeeper combine their information and plan a reverse trans-possession. They need to get the possessed students to the hyena cage to begin the ritual. The possessed students become less intelligent as they become more like hyenas. That night they attack a family of three as they get in their car. Xander and the Pack are no longer capable of speech. The possession of the hyenas has reduced them to snarls and growls.Buffy comes to the rescue of the family and gets the possessed students to follow her away. She leads them to the zoo, where Giles and the zookeeper have prepared the ritual for reverse trans-possession. As they approach, the zookeeper turns on Giles and knocks him unconscious with a club. The zookeeper has modified the trans-possession so that when Buffy leads the students into the hyena house, their spirits are transferred into him instead of the hyenas.The zookeeper approaches Buffy, his body infused with the demonic hyena spirits. Buffy grabs his legs and hurls him over the wall to the real hyenas. The animals feed. After recovering, Xander feigns a loss of memory concerning his nasty behavior while possessed. Giles privately tells Xander that there is no record of demonic hyena possession causing memory loss, but his secret is safe.