An African Horror Story: The Infamous Lions Of Tsavo
If you love a thriller, you'll definitely be interested in this one. Unfortunately, while there is no modern live adaptation of this story (the only movies on this were done in the previous century), just reading the facts should give you chills. It's a story that has been an object of great interest and numerous research in the world of science for more than a hundred years since it occurred. But I'm pretty sure you may not have heard of it still, until you came across this magazine. So here I am, and I promise to do my best to narrate the story in the most precise way possible and help you understand why it is still relevant today.
Workers on the Ugandan Railway circa 1898. Source: The Construction of the Railway in the 1890s from Kenya to Uganda was hindered by several factors, including hostile natives, marauding lions, rough terrain and diseases by ekitibwakyabuganda.
Imagine this: The year is 1898, and you've been taken along with your compatriots to work on a project for the Old British Empire in the Tsavo Region of Kenya. The project, the Ugandan Railway, was to be a strategic link between Uganda and Kenya, which were both under British rule at the time. On a fateful night, while trying to find sleep, you look to the entrance of your sleeping tent and see a lion poke its head in. Slowly, it approaches you as you look on in fear and doubt as to what to do. Your neighbour, meanwhile, is lost in his sleep, enjoying his dreams and absolutely oblivious to reality. The lion stops and looks you in the eye, as though he is sizing you up to determine whether you would make a good meal or not. At this point, the best you can do is pray under your breath, hoping today is not that day. The lion then looks to your neighbour and grabs him instead. He's suddenly awake and struggles with the lion; he has the muscles to do so anyway, but it's too late. The monster already had its hold on him. He's dragged away, leaving a trail of blood and a memory that will forever be in your mind.
This experience was just one of many that occurred on the work site of the Ugandan Railway between March and December of 1898. Two maneless male lions were reported to have continuously attacked and dragged away several workers from their tents at night and even in neighbouring settlements. The project began in March and was to be led by Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson. The workforce was composed of Indians and Africans in different capacities. The lion attacks began shortly after Patterson's arrival at the site, and while at first, he didn't believe it, he chanced to see evidence of one of the attacks, as narrated above by one of the workers. The victim on that occasion was a jemadar named Ungan Singh, who was one of Patterson's trusted men. At once, Patterson began the search for these two beasts that were disturbing the peace. He had to, though, because the workers were not ready to die either. In fact, they did decide to go on strike and not return to work until the lions were killed. But that, of course, was not before many others fell victim to the beasts. A certain District Officer named Mr Whitehead was one who lived to tell the tale of encountering one of the lions, with four claw marks on his back as evidence. His assistant, however, poor Abdullah, wasn't so lucky and only added to the death toll.
The total number of people killed is still up for debate, as different figures have been given by different sources. Lieutenant Colonel Patterson himself, in his book, claimed that as many as 135 people were killed at that time, which is now widely believed to be an exaggeration. A factor to be considered - one that would make it obvious to doubt Patterson's claims-is that there would have been deaths due to other causes, like accidents and sudden disappearances, which, if they could not be confirmed, would have been attributed to the lions. Hence, the need for proper investigation using proven scientific methods. A research study as recent as 2009 estimated that about 35 people might have been killed, based on samples from the lions themselves, and further investigation using genetic tools shows the number of people may have been as high as 72.
We may never know the true number of people who were killed, but one thing is sure: it was a tragedy no one would wish even on their enemy. This doesn't mean the research and studies would stop, as scientists won't stop until all possible questions are answered. One such pertinent question is: why human meat? How did the lions come to develop a taste for human beings? This, as well as the number of victims, has no definite answer. A few possibilities that have been pointed out are as follows: Firstly, there was a Rinderpest outbreak in the 1890s, and it affected and killed most species of herbivores, from cattle to buffalo and even duikers. Basically, it killed the predator's usual food. Initially, this would have been a good thing as the lions would not have had to hunt as much to get food to eat; they could simply feed on the carcasses, and there was no risk of infection by the Rinderpest virus. In fact, it is believed the outbreak would have led to a sharp rise in the population of lions (and possibly other predators) as good nutrition has a direct link to better reproduction. At some point, though, this infinite supply of fresh meat will come to an end, especially as the outbreak dies down and the population of the affected species is decimated. This means the lions will have to look to a different source of nutrition, and what better option than an unprotected and unsuspecting group of humans?
It's quite easy to punch holes in this theory because I'm pretty sure the lions were not the only predators around, and so why were they the only ones targeting humans at such frequency? Another theory is that due to the East African slave trade, the lions might have been used to coming across human bodies left behind at the Tsavo River crossing. The slave traders often left extremely sick and even already dead slaves behind to make their journeys faster, and the lions may have gotten used to human meat through those bodies.
Finally, one of the lions apparently had an injured canine tooth, which is obviously a problem because they use it to tear the meat off the carcass of their meals. This would make it difficult for them to hunt their usual prey, which has much tougher skin. This could have led them to switch to humans as easier prey. Interestingly, a 2017 study seems to support this, suggesting the lions primarily ate soft food. Their diet did include giraffe, waterbuck, zebra, oryx and wildebeest.
Jaw showing damaged tooth of one of the man-eaters of Tsavo (left); Healthy lion jaw (right)
Another question that arises from this is: how were two mature male lions maneless? Well, unlike their counterparts in other parts of Africa, the lions of Tsavo in general lack a mane, which is usually a more familiar sign of maturation, as a form of adaptation to their environment. The lack of a mane is important for them in terms of temperature regulation due to the hot and torrid climate of their environment. A lack of mane would keep them cool, unlike if they had a mane that traps heat that ought to be released. It also makes hunting easier as the Tsavo region is characterised by thorny vegetation. This, for obvious reasons, would not favour the growth of a mane, which would impede movement and potentially cause harm to the lion itself.
At the end of the day, we do know the lions didn’t kill forever, as Patterson was successful in hunting down both, each one about 20 days apart. The first lion was killed on the 9th of December, 1898 and was so heavy, it took 8 men to carry it to the workers’ camp. Patterson, in true hunter’s fashion, had the animals skinned and used them as his floor rugs until they were sold to the Field Museum in Chicago in 1924, where they remain to this day.
Whether you develop a greater fear of the wild or decide to never go near the lions’ enclosure at the zoo, I’ll leave it to you to decide. But one thing is clear: in the wild, every creature will do what it must to survive, even if it’s eating humans. It’s exactly what these lions did, and it speaks to nature’s resilience and ingenuity.
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