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Field Museum uncovers evidence behind man-eating; revises legend of its infamous man-eating lions Journal article examines hundreds of years of man-eating CHICAGO -Trying to separate science from mythology, two Field Museum researchers have put to rest several longstanding myths concerning the museum's infamous Tsavo lions. They propose alternative scenarios based on comprehensive reviews of historical literature, game department records, unpublished journals, and museum specimens. First, the Tsavo lions were not 'aberrant'. Lions and other big cats have repeatedly turned to man-eating in the face of certain conditions, many of which are manmade. Furthermore, man-eating by lions continues today. "For most of their history, extinct and living humans, have represented little more than a vulnerable, slow moving, bipedal source of protein for big cats," says Julian Kerbis Peterhans, associate professor of Natural Science at Roosevelt University, Field Museum adjunct curator and co-author of a study on man-eating by lions recently published in the Journal of East African Natural History (http://www.naturekenya.org/JournalEANH.htm). Legend has it that in 1898, two Tsavo lions killed at least 135 workers constructing a bridge in Kenya, temporarily stopping the construction of a railroad linking Lake Victoria with the port of Mombasa. Lt. Col. John Patterson eventually killed the lions, which are now on exhibit at The Field Museum, Chicago. Numbers Distorted Thomas Gnoske, co-author of the study, Field Museum assistant collection manager and chief preparator in Birds, points to newly found evidence that challenges the traditional telling of the infamous event. He cites inconsistencies between authentic records and popular treatments, especially regarding the numbers of people allegedly killed by the man-eaters. In fact, three different, ever-escalating, figures, ranging from 14 to 135, were documented by Patterson, himself, during the course of his career. Gnoske believes that Patterson's original published (1907) figure of 28 might represent a more accurate total. "The distorted version, perpetuated by Hollywood and popular treatments, falls more into the category of myth rather than fact. Promoting such fiction can actually have a negative impact on serious conservation efforts focused on preserving lions in the wild," Gnoske says. Man-eating: A Social tradition In a few well-documented, localized incidents, man-eating appears to be a learned behavior. Once lions establish a pattern and begin to prey regularly on humans, they can pass it on to their offspring, along with sophisticated strategies and techniques, such as never returning to the same place two days in a row. "Lions are a social species, capable of transmitting a behavioural tradition from one generation to the next," Kerbis says. "The fact that they can be born and raised to hunt and eat humans means that an outbreak of man-eating usually does not stop until all the responsible lions and their offspring are eliminated." Further supporting this view is the fact that man-eating incidents in Tsavo did not begin with the arrival of railway crews, nor did they end with the destruction of the notorious lion coalition. The authors document killings by lions in Tsavo for several years prior to the arrival of Col. Patterson. Killings continued regularly through WWI when soldiers were picked off on patrol. All of this points to a man-eating culture among Tsavo lions, a phenomenon rarely documented. Unwittingly, man had fed this culture by "provisioning" Tsavo lions with dead humans. A famine of epidemic proportions on the heels of a severe small pox outbreak, local burial 'practices' and hundreds of Indian laborers, dead from disease, all helped supply the Tsavo lions with humans in the 1890s and encourage their attraction to humans as prey. Historic caravans with slaves and porters regularly passed through Tsavo in the second half of the 19th century despite proclamations banning the international slave trade. The authors document the abandonment of sickly or injured slaves and porters in Tsavo. A minimum of 80,000 humans was estimated to have been annually lost along the northern caravan routes, according to historical sources. Man-eaters are able-bodied The authors dispel the centuries-old yarn, championed by noted tiger slayer Jim Corbett, that man-eaters are aged or have damaged teeth, limiting them to a diet of slow-footed humans. Their review shows that problem lions, including man-eaters, are typically sub-adult or prime-ages males without documented injury. In fact the researchers have even used forensic techniques to analyze the last meals of the man-eaters. They discovered hairs from the prey of the lions, still embedded in their broken teeth 100 years later. The Tsavo lions are shown to have eaten 'normal' prey throughout their careers. Although the study is ongoing, no human hairs have been recovered amid the hundreds of hairs reviewed to date. While broken limbs are certainly debilitating and may lead to man-eating, broken canine teeth do not appear to have the same consequences. Factors contributing to Tsavo man-eating Using historical accounts and Patterson's own unpublished journal, the authors reconstruct the Tsavo environment of the 1890's and point to other circumstances, also common to other notorious lion incidents, that are more likely to have contributed to this episode. Prominent among these is the depletion of their 'normal' prey. Between 1891 and 1893, rinderpest struck sub Saharan Africa with devastating results by decimating buffalo, one of the favored natural prey of lions in Tsavo. Although referring to other game, Patterson makes no reference to buffalo, eland, or local domestic cattle in his personal journal, suggesting that these bovine species had not yet recovered from the rinderpest outbreak of 5-7 years earlier. Remarkably, other human behaviors also impacted the dietary choices available to Tsavo lions. The longstanding quest for ivory had eliminated elephants from much of eastern Kenya, including the Tsavo region. This caused a proliferation of dense thorny undergrowth, thereby decreasing the populations of large, social, grazing species such as zebra and gazelle. These thickets further provided ambushing lions with improved conditions to attack humans and to elude pursuit, something that infuriated Patterson. "Since lions are opportunistic hunters and regularly scavenge, all of these factors likely contributed to the outbreak of man-eating in Tsavo," Gnoske says. "Given the circumstances there in the 1890s, instead of asking how so many humans could have been dispatched, we wonder why there weren't more." The two authors state "the same human-carnivore conflict drama, first depicted in France 20,000 years ago by Paleolithic artists, is currently at play in Africa. Competition for the same limited but fast diminishing resources, in tandem with human population explosions, is evident with newly emerging incidents between man and lion. By reacting predictably to changing circumstances, mostly beyond their control, lions are being systematically squeezed out of their final strongholds." http://www.bigcats.org/abc/attacks/tsavo1.html | ||
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Thee's a new book out titled "The Ghosts of Tsavo" that goes into extensive detail into that hypotheseis. It was rst thought that the Tsavo lions were descendants of the European lions and more "hunters" than the plains lions which were labled as "fighters" letting the females do the hunting. All inconclusive in the end, but nevertheless good reading. jorge | |||
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Quote: Unfortunately it order to get PR for a lot of works these days, people also need to create a controversial differing view. Reading the above I don't see ANYTHING new that hasn't been said before. As to the numbers this wasn't just some episode in the bush away from it all. It was the building of a railway of Empire significance and when the building of it was stopped by lions was discussed in the British Parliament. I find it quite upsetting the fact these "researchers" mention "Hollywood" and Pattersons own books and other works in the same breath as fiction. The Hollywood production was fiction and close to complete bullshit, but Pattersons own book is probably closer to his own understanding of the events. Probably more accurate as he WAS FIRST HAND not re-looking at specimens, journals, Hollywood movies, over a hundred years later. As for the Corbett references, again these "paper-work researchers" just dismiss a large amount of first hand observation. Firstly Corbett was not dealing with lions in Africa, but leopard and tiger in India. Secondly as he observed limps, crippled tracks, damaged bite marks before killing the maneaters and confirmed them after killing the maneaters I think his evidence has more credibility than reading journals, newspaper reports etc. Also the local population lived with tigers on a daily basis and mostly were not molested. The cases of maneaters were different in most cases. How to say "new" things and stir up some publicity for a thesis containing things that have been said a dozen times before I think. | |||
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Quote: Remarkable as this was in the 1890's and elephants were still quite common in eastern Kenya. At least Tsavo was still considered an ivory hotspot even 30 to 40 years after !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |||
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One of the first things I noticed when reading Patterson's book and looking at the photos of Tsavo was how dense the thornscrub looked in that area. Not at all like the open plains of the movie. It was no wonder that the lions were easily able to nab the slow-footed monkey! Troy | |||
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I can remember a story in Outdoor Life many years ago now about a maneating lion. This particular cat when killed was found to have a porcupine quill driven nine inches into his nose and it's point was resting against the skull bone. This was also a huge lion that although in a very gaunt condition still weighed 505 pounds. The young male cougar that weighed 110 pounds and that killed the man in California and nearly killed the woman was found to be healthy. | |||
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These are the actual Tsavo lions as displayed in the Field Museum in Chicago. They don't particularly look like maneaters. The plaque below the window said Lt. Col. Patterson traveled to Chicago to make a speech after he killed the lions and ended up selling the pelts and skulls to the museum. | |||
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Were the Tsavo lions essentially mane-less because they were yound animals or were they mane-less because lions living in thornscrub brush don't develop the heavy manes of savannah animals? Or was it a little of both? Troy | |||
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It is a testosterone issue as I recall. Bruce Patterson and his colleagues published something on this in the last year or so in the journal Science. Brent Danielson | |||
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Quote: Well there the debate can begin. They were mature males. It seems that reason for the maneless males is still a matter of debate. There is some evidence that it is the result of the the environment, mainly heavy thorn bush. As maneless males are unknown on the savannahs. There was a book on the subject. I forget the author, but the results were not conclusive. One of the problems is that the powers that control Tsavo refused to allow blood draws thus alllowing dna testing. The other interesting fact is that virtually no zoo in the world has a maneless male. Which again points to the environment. Back to the "recent" article. I am sorry, but apparently they did not read Patterson's book. There were other factors that contributed to the high death count. Certainly slave caravans even 50 years earlier had no impact. The British government at that time had little regard for the lives of the Indian workers. Tens of thousands died in building the "Lunatic Line". All in a race to control portions of Africa. Patterson's lack of leadership cost lives as well. If you can imagine a military leader, who is also an engineer can only come up with piling thorn brush around campsites. The lions easily passed right through it. No doubt the man displayed personal courage, but little common sense. But that is the subject for another thread.... Pete | |||
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As NitroX says, it sounds like somebody re inventing history here to support their views. I doubt that we will ever know the whole "truth" as even if Patterson is being 100% honest in his book, I doubt he knew "the whole truth" either...he is simply relating events as he percieved them and putting his interpretation on them...I gather from his book he actually viewed few of the maneating events himself Further byhis own admission, he was certainly not an expirenced African hunter, so I think that does leave perhaps leave room for a question mark over some of his deductions... One issue I have never seen dicussed is were the lions predation on the workforce used as a scapegoat iw was the engineering project falling behind for other reasons? | |||
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Quote: Quail Wing, The thornbush fence or boma was (perhaps still is) the standard defence against lions for the Masi of Kenya. Patterson was simply following convetion by doing this and as military man, he was probably aware that the benifits might have been more psychological than any thing else. Besides which, on the scale he was dealing with, what else could he have done, or what other materials could he have used? Regards, Pete | |||
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I am glad to see there are others that share my opinion. For me it was an extremely pleasant book to read, and even the movie was a good representation to a degree of the book, good entertainment anyhow. Once I red this article it burst my bubble. In the 1890, central Africa was no place for any sissies, and I could just imagine what Patterson had to endure with those beasts, even if only a few people were attacked and killed. I know I would SH&% myself if found in that situation.. | |||
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Yet another theory, but at least they admit while trying to do history, much of it based on legend of which they "tried" to separate. I recently finished reading "R.O. Preston of the Lunatic Line" by John A. Hunter, Copyright 1954. According to Mr. Hunter, Tsavo was the first place while building the line the crew had good water and adequate supplies but coolies were still disappearing (and assumed walking off) at an alarming rate. Then one coolie who had disappeared left behind a shoe. Another night a coolie had left behind his clothes. It was at that point they decided to track him and found his mostly eaten body by a lion. This theory provided that those who died while working on the line from other causes were to be taken out and buried, but quite possibly the coolies who were assigned this detail were dragging the bodies in the brush and leaving them. The lions then developed a taste for humans. The other point Mr. Hunter had was Tsavo was known prior to this incident and after this for man-eaters, of which he suggested they were lacking salt in their diet of which the human body provided. Also according to Mr Hunter was that R.O. Preston also shot the first lion in the area, besides Col Patterson's two. | |||
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The Field Museum has a nice section online about the Tsavo lions. It can be found at: http://www.fmnh.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/default.htm The Tsavo Lions Cave (1899) The cave known as the "man-eaters' den" was photographed by Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson nearly a century ago. The cave is believed to contain human remains of some of the victims killed by the lions. � The Field Museum z93659 The Tsavo Lions Cave (1997) The location of the cave was rediscovered on April 30,1997 by Tom Gnoske (Field Museum Zoologist) and Julian Kerbis Peterhans (Roosevelt University Professor and Museum Adjunct Curator). The striking resemblence to the picture taken in 1899 confirmed their finding. � Tom Gnoske | |||
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It should be noted that the Tsavo Lions were just rugs for some years. Afterwards they were reconstructed and so some differences can be found from the live animals. | |||
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BFaucett That is a great color picture of the original cave. Was anything mentioned about the contents of the at their rediscovery? CFA | |||
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CAVE CONTENTS Field Museum anthropologist Chap Kusimba and students inside "Man-eaters' Den", Tsavo National Park, Kenya. The Field Museum 98148c Chap Kusimba in the Man-Eaters cave. The Field Museum z981429c Archaeological Excavations of the Man-eaters Den What the Colonel described as �a fearsome looking cave which seemed to run back for a considerable distance under the rocky bank� turned out to be a small cave of 6 m. long by 2 m. wide by 2.5 m. high, a space that can accommodate about five adults. Unfortunately the bones reported by the colonel were not found in the cave. A seasonal stream flowing through the cave has over the years served as a major reservoir for both humans and animals. The river has over the years eroded the roof of the rock and opened up a hole so that water flows directly through the cave. In the last one hundred years since Col. Patterson saw the cave, its contents have been gradually flushed out. Indeed when the cave was first rediscovered, there was no evidence of bones. The situation was made worse when the 1997-1999 El Ni�o rains flooded much of Eastern Africa. Any bones left in the cave would have been flushed out during this episode destroying much of the remaining evidence that would have supported the events witnessed and reported by the colonel one hundred years earlier. Despite a carefully and systematically carried out excavation of the cave over a three week period, that also involved wet sieving of sand, the team were unable to recover any human bone or bone fragments, due to the flushing out of the cave. from: http://www.fmnh.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/kusimba_6.html | |||
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Quote: Pete E, Yes, you are correct. That was / is the standard defense. However, Patterson saw with his own eyes that it did not work. Again, I come back to the disregard that the British had for the lives for the labor force they imported. According to Patterson, in many cases smallish labor gangs were left to fend for themselves at night. Two thoughts occurred to me as I read his account. The first was to deprive the lions of cover. He certainly had the labor force to do that, if the lives of the men were more important than the schedule. The second thought was the tactics of the Romans. The Roman army almost never slept in the open. They built a stockade at the end of a days march. Again, Patterson had the means to do that. My impressions of Patterson are that he was one hell of a courageous man. Not the best military leader, nor a very inventive engineer. Peter Capstick relates how Patterson handled a crude ranking officer when he had command of "the Jewish Brigade". I admire him for that. I admire his raw desire to accomplish the task set before him. I simply think that many of the deaths could have been avoided. He became an international hero as result of his efforts and his book. I doubt most us of realize how highly his generation thought of him. Pete | |||
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Quote: Firstly is this guy for real. Lets just clear hundreds of square miles of African bush!!! Quote: Isn't that just what a boma is??? Man, you've got to get out from behind your desk ccasionally into the real world. Where does your alias "quail wing" come from ? | |||
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Patterson reported seeing small pieces of metal decorations in the cave as well, but some think it was an anciet burial ground, and the metal body decorations were old. However, I'm not sure how you explain that this was a burial ground, and the artifacts lasted untill 1899, but then there have been floods since then that washed them away. Seems like they would have been gone by 1899. Also, Patterson's bridge is still in use, so I'd say he was a pretty decent engineer. | |||
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BFaucett Thanks for the post on the contents of the cave. Sounds like there was good reason not to find any bones. I still find the first part of his book facinating. Patterson might not have done everything right but he was no wimp. CFA | |||
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Crazyquik Quote: Are you sure about that? I would like to think that it was in use, but I seem to think it was destroyed during either WW1 or WW2... Quail Wing, I guess everybody gets something different out of a book when they read it... As i recall from the book, not only did Patterson order the building of thorn fences, but he imposed a curfew after dark and instigated a series of night watchmen to keep fires lighted within the various camps. Remember we are taking a labour force of a few thousand spread over quite a wide area some of which seemed to have very little regard for the danger. In further defence of the likes Patterson, life was very different what we expirience today. If you read accounts of any battles or engineering projects of that era, the casualty rates were always very high, far higher than today. They were a tough lot back then and I suspect that was the price they expected to pay...The very fact that Patterson placed his own life in danager so many times to me demonstrates both his regard for his men and his leadership skills.... Regards, Pete | |||
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Quote: Perhaps it was still in use by local tribes at the time. The above was the logical explanation of the bones, not a lion boneyard which was a little incredible. | |||
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Again, people feel obliged to smear the accomplishments of others. Remember Paterson was from Europe and I believe he didn't have a copy of "shot placement" around and all day to think of shooting lions. He had to control a huge workforce of superstitious workers, oversee the bridge work + in his "free time" shoot man-eating lions...a great accomplishment (if the number is 28 or 280, a man-eater is STILL a maneater dammit!) | |||
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