The Tsavo Man Eaters

These were a set of two lions that terrorized railway road construction in Kenya. It is estimated that the lions, killed and mauled over a hundred people during the construction. The workers were mainly Indians who had bee hired to complete the job in what is now Kenya. The bridge that was to pass over the Tsavo River is where all the drama took place. At a point, the construction had to be halted as most workers ran away in fear of the two man eaters that were terrorizing their camp. The British had started building the bridge over the river in 1898. The head of the construction work was Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson.

Two mane less lions would stalk the Indian workers at night, drag them from their beds in the campsite and eat them up. Only a few body parts were found. The workers tried fencing off the sleeping quarters with thorns but the lions would penetrate through them. Even putting up fires the whole night did not scare off these beasts. When the construction came to a halt as the workers fled the area, Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson had to think of a way of eliminating the man eaters.

He started putting up traps for the lions but they would evade them. He would try and to ambush the lions at night from a tree but this was not successful. After a few months and not losing hope, he shot the first lion in December the 9th. The second lion, he shot three weeks later.



Dickson is the Chief Tour Guide and one of the Directors of Adventure Africa Expedition, he has traveled in many countries in Africa where he built the spirit of adventure and discovered nature hidden wonders in especially tailored walking trails like in Kisoro in Rwanda and Bwindi in Uganda both for Gorilla tracking. For more information on his work please visit http://advenafrica.com/index.htm