Tsavo Maneaters

Taken at the Field Museum, Chicago, IL

July 10, 2011

Are these the actual Lions that were the 'Maneaters of Tsavo'? Or just a 'recreation' ? That would be really interesting to know.

They look like very young males- or just very motheaten...

Supposedly these are the real individuals.

http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/default.htm

The Tsavo lions were naturally maneless adults. And their skins supposedly arrived at the museum in poor condition.

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsavo_maneaters]Tsavo maneaters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

I have known they were at this museum, but never actually seen a photo. Thanks for sharing.

I have read three books on the topic and the best of the three is the original written by Colonel Patterson himself.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Man-eaters-Tsavo-John-Henry-Patterson/dp/146107830X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319738606&sr=1-2]Amazon.com: The Man-eaters of Tsavo (9781461078302): John Henry Patterson: Books[/ame]

Apparently "man" is not a very nutritious diet

Colonel Patterson sold the skins to the Field Museum but they had been made into rugs which means that some of the skin is removed to make a three dimensional skin lay flat. So preparators at the museum had to add some pelt and stretch the existing pelts. Recent analysis of the hairs of the two maneaters found that the one hundred and thirty five humans supposedly eaten by the maneaters was more on the number of thirty and that one lion hunted while the other, due to horrible dental abscesses, fed off the remains that the other brought it. I thought that was rather cute. The skulls which are on display in front of the Tsavo Maneaters are catalogued as FMNH 23970 (Ghost) and FMNH 23969 (Darkness).
Downstairs, under the stairs and across from the Maasai warrior statue, is the Maneater of Mfuwe, which is a modern taxidermy from 1991.

Interesting !