As darkness falls in the dry Kenyan bush, the construction workers of the
Kenya-Uganda railway sleep soundly. A rustle is heard outside of the tent, when suddenly
a lion rips through the canvas, grabbing the ankle of its screaming victims and
tearing him away into the night. He is never seen again. For years, animal experts have been
baffled by the man-eating lions of Tsavo, and what drove the unique pair to feast on human flesh.
Today on Nutty History, we’re roaring across Africa to examine how and why the man-eaters
of Tsavo earned their namesake. But before we hunt for answers, subscribe to our channel
and let us know what extraordinary historical events you’d like to hear about next.
Construction on the Kenya-Uganda railway bridge had barely begun in March of 1898
when the terrifying attacks began. Lieutenant Colonel John Patterson arrived on site as the
civil engineer supervising the project. Just a few days later, one of his porters went missing. After
a search, his mauled and mutilated corpse was discovered. Fearing a lion might be the culprit,
Patterson set out the following day to find the animal responsible. Instead, he discovered more
bodies. For the next nine months, the railway workers lived in a constant state of fear as
the lion attacks grew more brazen. Overnight, the Tsavo lions would enter the camps in the darkness,
dragging victims from their tents. In this jungle, the lions were definitely not sleeping tonight. As
one worker wrote, “Bones, flesh, skin and blood, they devoured all, and left not a trace behind
them.” The rail workers attempted to mount defenses to stop the terrifying predator.
After all, can’t humans outsmart a couple of big cats? They instituted night curfews and sentinels
to keep watch. Who wants to volunteer for that job? They held campfires and used drum beating
in an attempt to scare the lions away. No luck. They even built homemade barbed wire fences out of
whistle thorn trees, but the lions managed to leap over or crawl through. Chaos and terror reigned.
During one attack, so many workers climbed up into the same tree to escape that the whole thing came
crashing down to the ground. Luckily the lions had already selected a less agile victim that night.
The railroad workers began to flee the area by the hundreds, which seems fair given the
hostile work environment. The British Colonials sent officials to intervene and get the project
back in working order. Apparently they thought paper pushers were their best bet to taking down
two bloodthirsty lions. According to Patterson’s account, a district officer, Mr. Whitehead, and
his assistant Abdullah arrived at the train depot in the evening and were immediately under attack.
Mr. Whitehead, despite his unfortunate name, was lucky, escaping with four claw marks down his
back. Abdullah was killed by the lion, proving that all you have to do is run faster than your
friends. More officials arrived, along with 20 armed Indian infantrymen, to kill the Tsavo lions.
But instead, it was actually project lead John Patterson who was the secret weapon.
Though on the project for his engineering expertise, Patterson had experience hunting tigers
as part of his military service in India. As the lions stalked him, he began to stalk them in
return, setting up traps and hiding out in trees to ambush them. After many unsuccessful attempts,
Patterson was able to shoot one of the lions in the hind legs, but it escaped injured. Finally,
in December of 1898, Patterson killed the first of the man-eaters. The lion clocked in at
9 feet and 8 inches, and required 8 men to bring its body back to camp. Over the course of the next
twenty days, the second lion was shot twice before Patterson was able to kill it with three more
rifle shots. He claimed the animal died gnawing on a fallen tree branch, still trying to reach him.
After the lions were killed, construction resumed and the railway bridge was swiftly
completed within the next two months. Of course, it was then destroyed less than 20 years later
in World War One, proving humans to be the reigning force of destruction once again.
Back in business! Patterson kept the lion skins for a time as rugs in his
home. Talk about a conversation piece! Eventually, he sold the skins and skulls of the Tsavo
man-eaters to the Field Museum in Chicago, where they remain safely and securely in a display.
Still, for years everyone wondered what drove the animals to their strange lust for human blood.
One popular theory held that if the lions were hunting humans, they must have been
lacking their more...traditional food sources. At the time, the Tsavo region was in the midst
of a 13-year drought. The area is generally drier and hotter than other African plains,
one reason that male lions like these two are mane-less. The area was also experiencing an
outbreak of rinderpest, a cattle virus that might have killed off much of the lion’s food supply.
However, scientists later conducted isotopic analysis to determine the lions’ diet, and found
that humans only made up about a third of what they ate. This led them to believe that people
were more of a supplement to the Tsavo lions’ diet, rather than the main source. A human a day
right before you work out! While it’s possible the drought and rinderpest were a contributing factor,
they probably weren’t the main reason the animals turned to human consumption.
The Tsavo River, where the construction work took place, had a dark history before the man-eating
lions entered the scene. It was also a major path for caravans of the Arab slave trade.
The death rate for the slaves was high, especially due to the “sleeping sickness,” a disease
transmitted to humans from the African TseTse Fly. The bodies of slaves that died were dropped
directly on the route, which may have led lions to scavenge the remains. Human remains of the Hindu
railroad workers may also have been in the area from “ritual invitation” which was an abbreviated
cremation process. Both could have caused the lions to develop a specific craving for humans.
The most horrifying theory of all? That perhaps the Tsavo lions simply killed for the fun
of killing. While John Patterson claimed that the lions killed a whopping 135 men,
today’s scientific research concludes that they actually only ate about 35 people between them.
It’s possible the discrepancy is due to a bit of boasting on Patterson’s part.
But it’s also possible that the lions didn’t eat all or any of every person they killed.
Human encroachment threatens a lion’s territory and habitat, and continues to be one of the main
catalysts for lion attacks today. There’s no doubt that the laborers of the Uganda-Kenyan Railway
were behind enemy lines. The lions’ unstoppable hunting of the workers certainly makes it seem
like there was some level of play involved, and lions are one of the few species other than humans
to kill for sport. Tsavo lions in particular have more testosterone than the average lion,
which might be a reason for their notoriously aggressive
nature.So what’s your theory on the Tsavo lions? Was it hunger? Was it supernatural? Was it sport?
Let us know in the comments, along with whatever nutty history you want to know next.