The story of the Lions of Tsavo is nothing less than remarkable. Here’s an excerpt from Chicago’s Field Museum exhibit:
"In March 1898 the British started building a railway bridge over the Tsavo (SAH-vo) River in East Africa. Over the next nine months, two large male lions killed and ate nearly 140 railway workers. Crews tried to scare off the lions and built campfires and thorn fences for protection, but to no avail. Hundreds of workers fled Tsavo, halting construction on the bridge."
Read the rest of the story here: Chicago Field Museum - The Tsavo Lions
In The History Channel’s show "Maneaters", the Tsavo Lions are discussed at great length. Here are a couple of the more horrifying stories from the show:
- One night while chief engineer Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson was hunting the lions, he came upon a recent human attack at night. He was close enough to hear the bones of the victim crunching, but could not do anything because it was pitch black.
- The Tsavo lions were seemingly fearless. One story details how one of the lions killed a worker in his tent, and proceeded to devour him only 30 yards from the campsite. The attacks were so frequent and horrific, that many of the workers believed that the lions were demons.
Chicago Field Museum - The Tsavo Lions
The History Channel - Maneaters
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