It was pouring down rain on Monday, and I was watching the Ghost and the Darkness, again. Got to admire Patterson. He had brass.
It got me to wondering, how they got here in the US. Does anyone know how those old scruffy Tsavo monsters ended up in the Chicago Museum?
Bfly

I just read an article about this.
I'll check my stack of magazines & let you know soon.

The Jan.-Feb. issue of Sports Afield, page 106, titled The Lost Lions.
Seems Patterson had them made into rugs with the skulls still intact.
The museum in Chicago purchase them from him & then had the taxidermy work done.
They had to do some creative taxidermy since some of the skin had been trimmed off in making the rugs.

Maybe that's why they look so ratty.

I believe that they were rugs first also caused the mounts to be quite smaller in the body than in real life.

Ratty or not, it would be very easy to imagine a scenario where the skins never left Africa, and after all these years folks like us who had read Patterson's story would be wondering why no one had the forethought to preserve them. I saw them many years ago after reading Patterson's book and was happy to have had the opportunity.

They look more like dogs to me!

In pretty good shape for a 100 yr old mount

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
They look more like dogs to me!

See them up close and you wouldn't say that! They are quite, quite scary,

Actually, while significantly smaller than when shot, because there had been indeed loss of hide when made into rugs, the taxidermy job was a good one.

Why? Because it was Marshall Field, benefactor of the Field Museum of Natural History and owner of the great department store, who talked Patterson into selling them to him so they would have a permanent home in Chicago. Until then, Patterson had been dragging them all over the world on his lecture tours.

Before The Ghost and the Darkness was released in 1996, I asked the staff to mount a promotion signaling presence of the mounts in the museum, where I had seen them many times. They confirmed that they were planning to do so.

The lions are both male, but maneless. I've heard that attributed to the thorn bushes throughout the Tsavo area. Others claim it was genetic. Needless to say, these lions had become quite fearless of men.

Like the lions, my original edition of Maneaters of Tsavo (acquired at H&H in London) had the cover ruined in my travels (shipping to Japan), but fortunately it has excellent, clear photos of the lions and the region.

I have seen the display on several occasions, they are impressive looking. Granted, I have never seen a wild lion in person. I was under the impression that maneless lions were common to that area.

Tom