Tsavo Man-Eaters: Centuries-Old Lion Teeth Reveal Shocking New Details

In 1898, two male lions in Kenya’s Tsavo region gained infamy for killing several railway workers. These two male lions spent months terrorising workers building a railroad bridge across the Tsavo River, sparking tales of “man-eaters.” Recent DNA analysis of animal hairs found inside the teeth of the lions has provided some real answers to not only what they were eating but also why they began attacking humans. The research works to debunk the myths that exist around the Tsavo lions while demonstrating unusual predatory behaviours, showing under which conditions wild animals may start hunting humans.

Researchers from the United States and Kenya used recent breakthroughs in technology for sequencing and analysing old and degraded DNA to analyse animal hairs lodged in lion teeth.

In a new study, researchers report on the exact species eaten by lions.

According to ScienceAlert, insight like this might help us not only fact-check stories about the episode but also better understand what could drive wild predators to behave so unusually.

The first reports of lion attacks began in March 1898, shortly after the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, a British army officer and engineer overseeing the project to connect the interiors of Kenya and Uganda with a railway.

The British had brought in thousands of workers to build the bridge, mostly from India, housing them in camps spanning several miles, Patterson wrote.

Patterson initially doubted reports of two workers abducted by lions but was convinced weeks later when Ungan Singh, an Indian military officer accompanying him, suffered the same fate.

Patterson spent that night in a tree, promising to shoot the lion if it returned. He did hear “ominous roaring,” he wrote, then a long silence, followed by “a great uproar and frenzied cries coming from another camp about half a mile away.”