Media Alert
Contact: Field Museum PR Department
(312) 665-7100, media@fieldmuseum.org
Study Finds Field Museum's Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo Did Not Consume Nearly as Many Men as First Believed
Likely They Ate About 35 — Not 135
| What: |
The two man-eating lions of Tsavo (pronounced SAH vo) have long been a favorite Field Museum exhibition and were the subject of a popular 1996 movie, The Ghost and the Darkness. In 1898, Col. John H. Patterson shot and killed both lions after they attacked railroad workers in Kenya. At the time, Patterson said the lions had eaten about 135 men. Now, scientists at The Field Museum and the University of California, Santa Cruz have determined through analysis of the lions' hair and bones that the infamous lions devoured far fewer men – a total of only about 35 during the final nine months of their lives (one lion ate about 11 men, and the other about 24.) This finding will be published Nov. 2 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For years, the actual number of humans eaten by the lions has been in dispute. Patterson (perhaps wishing to boost his reputation) said the lions ate 135 men, but the railway company (perhaps hoping to minimize the number of victims) claimed the number was just 28.
Through this recent research, scientists concluded that during the final months of what Patterson called the "reign of terror" about half of one of the lion's diet was made up of humans, while the other lion ate far fewer. The balance of their diets consisted of grazing animals such as gazelles and impala. The scientists add that they have no way of telling how many men the lions killed; they can only determine how many were eaten.
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| Where: |
The Tsavo lions are on exhibition at
The Field Museum,
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL.
Call Field Museum PR Dept. to arrange free parking (312-665-7100). |
| When: |
Appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. |
| Details: |
For a complete press release detailing the scientific study, please contact Field Museum Public Relations at media@fieldmuseum.org or call 312-665-7100.
Bruce Patterson, PhD, co-author of the study and MacArthur Curator of Mammals at The Field Museum is available for interviews at the Museum starting Nov. 3. Prior to that, he is reachable via email. (Dr. Bruce Patterson is no relation to Col. John Patterson, the man who shot the lions.) |
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