For any and all of the members on this forum that might be intersted. It seems like a really good site for info and images.

http://www.fmnh.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/default.htm

Enjoy !

Lynn D

Lynn,

Thanks for that, its a very interesting site especially so the photo gallery.

Two things that struck me are:

1) Despite the bext efforts of the museum staff, those mounts look aweful! Thats not a crack at the museum as they were working with skins that had been cut down and dried out before they got them. Personally, I think I would have prefered to have seen them kept as rugs as Paterson originally had the them done. The museum could have used two other Lions for depiction purposes in the exhibit.


2) The Ghost and the Darkness is one of my favourite films, and looking at those pictures i would say the Producers did a pretty good job of catching the atmosphere of the place. Just wish Micheal Douglas had not "created" such a big part from himself!

Regards,

Pete

Thanks LynnD for your very informative location!

Yeah, good movie....never heard of the famous "Remington" before....maybe he died because he didn't have a CRF rifle??

It is certainly worthwhile to vist the Field museumto see the Tsavo lions, for the historical value and knowing what they did in life. However, as others have noted, they are, as is now, not very impressive. Estimates are they are about 1/2 their original size due to their treatment over the years before the Field stuffed them.
There is a second man-eating lion display. I don't remember if it was called Mfume or not. And, while the website mentions a second man-eater called Mfume I could find no info on it on the site.
The second exhibit is of much more recent vintgage. A large male was eating the natives. It had already eaten several. When the town officials were notified, they decided to locate a hunter willing to pay to take the lion on license. That took several days to weeks. In the meantime, the lion ate several more. Local folks just considered it the price of doing business. My wife was disgusted that I choose to discuss my opinion of their local "value sytem" in a loud voice. Although sad it is, at the same time, a clear statement of the value of life vs money in that locale. And,to quote Forrest Gump, "That's all I want to say about that."

Boghossian,

I seem to recall a reference in the book to a hunter who was after the lions, but who was himself killed and eaten as he arrived on the scene in Tsavo.

I certainly don't recall the book naming him as "Remington" and I would love to know what made the movie writers stray so far from the original book, when in others aspects they had done a decent job by Holywood standards!

Regards,

Pete

Having only recently re-read Patterson's accounts, I do not recall any other hunter and certainly not Remington. You must admit, however, that Micael Douglas was a star in the movie. Screen writer license. He played the part well. I have to say that even though I think his politics stink.

Redbird,

I just had a flick through my copy and "Remington" seems to be be a composite of a couple of charaters in the book with a bit (ok, a lot!) of artistic license thrown in as well.

In his ventures against the first maneater, Patterson was assisted quite a lot of the time by Dr Brock who had arrived to take medical charge of the district. This includes the episodes in the "hospital" ect. With regards the mutiny, it seems that Patterson dealt with two attempts to kill him before sending for the District Officer, a Mr Whitehead along with the railway police to resolve matters. Patterson says that on recieving his telegram Whitehead marched his men 25 mile by road and that his propt action alone saved him from being attacked later that night. The Rail Way Police turned up a couple of days later and took away the ringleaders for trial.

Whitehead also figures later on when Patterson ask him to return to assist him with the Maneaters. It is Whitehead who was attacked as he approached the camp but luckily survived. Patterson also mentions a few other people who over the months came to try to bag the maneaters including a "Captain Haslem" who met "a tragic fate shortly afterwards"... I think it was possibly him I was thinking of although I can't see anywhere now if Haslem demise was actually due to the maneaters or not.

Regards,

Pete

When Wayne Hosek donated the "Maneater of Mfuwe" to the Field Museum,there was a great story about the hunt in the Chicago newspaper. If I remember correctly Charl "Chunky" Beukes was the P.H. The story of hunting this maneater was almost as exciting as the Maneaters of Tsavo.

Kathi

kathi@wldtravel.com

Another maneater at the Field Museum?

In September, 1991, while on a hunting safari to Zambia, Africa, Wayne Hosek was asked by the locals if he could help hunt down a maneating lion that had been terrorizing the town of Mfuwe. Wayne agreed to take on the task. With some serious effort put forth, the lion was finally shot about two weeks later. It turned out to be a spectacular specimen-- the largest man-eating lion ever recorded. Like the Tsavo maneaters, it, too was a maneless male. Wayne, well aware of the story of the Tsavo maneaters, and their less-than-perfect mounting job, saw to it that this lion's skin was properly collected and dried. Later, Wayne had this lion mounted (taxidermy work done by the noted taxidermist Bob Snow). He then donated it to the Field Museum. It went on display in 1999.

All in all, the Maneater of Mfuwe was responsible for eating at least six people.

The Maneater of Mfuwe is not on display with the Tsavo maneaters. Instead, it is in the museum's lower level, near the children's exhibits. Going down the staircase from near the Egypt exhibit, you will find the Maneater of Mfuwe under the staircase. This kind of odd location displays the lion in the best possible way. It is possible to closely examine the lion from all angles. The first impression one gets from looking at this lion is that it is HUGE! One also notices that this mount is properly proportioned, giving you an idea of what a large male lion looks like without the mane. All notoriety aside, this is a fine specimen to study. In any case, this lion is worth a good, long look. (While in the lower level area, also check out the fine statues there by Carl Ackley.)

Kathi

kathi@wldtravel.com

Interesting sight but the lions look more like dingos than anything else.

Pete and others,

I am all too familiar with that exhibit and others at the Field Museum. I along with colleagues conducted a pretty extensive study there a few years ago to understand the factors influencing the degradation of publically displayed mammal mounts. We made extensive measurements for a one year period that included time lapse photography on the Somalian Wild Ass exhibit (another one with degrading hides). I won't bore you with the details but much of the damage is (obviously) irreversible. The causes are a combination of environment and chemical attack. The bottom line is that the conditions that led to the irreversible deterioration of those exhibits is preventable and steps are being taken at the Field Museum to protect the entire collection (of which about 1% is viewable by the public). It is an extremely complex facility with many priceless artifacts.

As an aside, one of my colleagues couldn't understand why the staff there wouldn't go out and just "shoot a new one." Well for most of the exhibits, the value is not in the speciman itself but the significance of the one who mounted it. That cannot be said about the Tsavo exhibit (both are important). If anyone wants more details, send me a note.

douglast