Nov 2, 2009 6:37 pm US/Central
Lions Of Tsavo Ate Far Less Men Than Reported
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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New research suggests the man-eating lions of Tsavo reportedly ate far less than 135 men before being killed.
CBS
The film was suspenseful, but the true story even more chilling. The man-eating lions of Tsavo reportedly ate some 135 people before being killed. The lions are on display at The Field Museum.
Now researchers are learning the accounts of the lions' appetites may have been greatly exaggerated. CBS 2's Vince Gerasole tracked down the truth.
It turns out the lions may have noshed on barely three dozen humans. Scary enough.
The revelation comes from researchers at The Field Museum, using new advances in science to determine the colonel who gunned them down, in spite of having a tale to tell to begin with, most likely overestimated their hunger.
Past the main exhibits in The Field Museum's Great Hall, in cases beside horned and long-snouted animals, you'll come face to face with legend: the infamous man-eating lions of Tsavo.
"The public really freaks out when they hear about man-eating, "says The Field Museum Collection Manager Bill Stanley.
The pair was purchased by The Field Museum in 1924, and the tale of their hunger for human flesh, eating as many as 135 railway workers, has captivated visitors for generations.
"The story has taken on mythical proportions," said Stanley.
The lions even inspired the 1996 Val Kilmer thriller, 'The Ghost and The Darkness.'
But new scientific research suggests the pair may not have been as hungry as we once thought. English Colonel John Patterson, who lived through the terror, formulated the original head count.
What's not disputed is the fact he put an end to an alarming number of deaths by bagging the lions, who were stalking his workers building a railway through Kenya in 1898.
"These two lions, regardless of how many people they killed, essentially held up Great Britain," said Stanley.
Now The Field Museum scientists, by analyzing the bones and hair from both hides for human traces, have determined the pair ate far fewer men; at most 35 during their nine-month rampage.
"What's even more interesting, the results seem to indicate one lion ate more humans than the other," said Stanley.
Curators are now busy readjusting the display, replacing fiction with fact.
"Maybe it takes some of the melodrama out of it, but it does give us an opportunity to showcase what the science can do now," said David Foster, Vice President of Exhibitions at The Field Museum.
The pelts hung for years in Patterson's home.
Curators say their stare and threatening stance will continue to mesmerize visitors no matter how many humans they really ate.
"I couldn't say that I get scared, but I feel their eyes on me if I have my back to them," said Stanley.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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