The early sages (Tanaaim) listed the animals which were liable to cause damage, obligating their owners to pay full compensation for any loss caused by these animals. They ruled these animals to be the wolf, the lion, the bear, the leopard, the bardalis and the snake. These animals, by their nature, are destructive so their owners must pay full compensation for any losses they cause.
The scholars tried to clarify the identity of the animal called bardalis by the early sages. Answer: The sage Rav Joseph ruled that the bardalis is the hyena. The scholars asked: When the early sages listed the bardalis they listed, in the same breath, the hyena, showing that the bardalis is not the hyena. Answer: The bardalis listed by the early sages is the male hyena and the hyena they listed is the female. Why did they draw a distinction between the male and female hyena? Because the hyena is subject to change, as the early sages had it: after seven years the male hyena becomes a bat, after seven years the bat becomes an arpad [specific species of bat]. After seven years the arpad becomes a plant known as kimmosh, the kimmosh, after seven years, becomes a thorn, and after seven years the thorn becomes a demon. Seven years after a person’s death his spine turns into a snake. The scholars said this only happens if the person, while alive, did not pray as demanded by Halacha and did not bow down while reciting the prayer “We are thankful to You…” The scholars then asked: From the words of the early sage Rabbi Elazar, who said “also the snake,” we learn that the animals listed above are liable to cause damage, and he added “also the snake is liable by its nature.” In another place, though, his words imply that the above animals, when domesticated and owned, are not liable to cause damage, aside from the snake, for even a domesticated snake is liable to cause damage. Answer: One should interpret the words of Rabbi Elazar so: In place of “also the snake” read “snake.” Only the snake is liable to cause damage but all other domesticated animals, even the lion, leopard, and bardalis are not liable to cause damage.
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Bava Kamma 16a-b)