Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson and the Man-Eaters of Tsavo: The Lions That Stopped a Railway

In the dusty heat of British East Africa in 1898, a railway project of imperial ambition ground to a terrifying halt. Not because of engineering difficulties, political delays, or lack of funds – but because two lions developed an appetite for human flesh.

This is the true story of Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson and the infamous “Man-Eaters of Tsavo” – a pair of lions whose reign of terror has become one of the most chilling predator–human encounters in recorded history.

The Tsavo Project Begins

In March 1898, the Uganda Railway Committee in London dispatched Patterson, then a young Irish-born officer of the British Army, to oversee the construction of a railway bridge over the Tsavo River, in what is now Kenya. The line was part of the so-called “Lunatic Express,” a grand plan to link the port of Mombasa with Lake Victoria – and ultimately connect the Indian Ocean to the interior of Africa.

Patterson, already a skilled marksman from his service in India (where he’d hunted tigers), arrived expecting the usual challenges of colonial railway construction: hostile terrain, intense heat, and the management of a diverse workforce of Indian and African labourers. What he did not expect was to find himself in the middle of one of history’s most extraordinary wildlife manhunts.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson

The First Attacks

Almost as soon as Patterson reached the worksite, men began vanishing at night. Workers reported that lions were entering the camps, dragging sleeping men from their tents, and devouring them just outside the flicker of the firelight. The attacks were bold, almost unnervingly so – the predators seemed utterly unafraid of humans, fire, or noise.

Patterson ordered the building of bomas – thorn barricades around the camps – and insisted on nightly bonfires and curfews. Yet the lions adapted, finding new ways to breach the defences. Within weeks, panic spread through the camp. Whispers of evil spirits began to circulate among the Indian workers, many convinced that the lions were supernatural beings sent to punish them. Patterson himself was not spared suspicion; some believed his arrival had somehow brought the curse.

Work Stops – and the Death Toll Rises

As the months dragged on, the attacks escalated. Official railway records later put the number of worker deaths at 28, but Patterson – and many others – claimed the true toll was far higher, possibly as many as 140 when including unrecorded local African victims. In either case, the losses were horrific enough that the terrified labourers began abandoning the project en masse.

With the bridge’s construction halted, Patterson faced a nightmare: a costly delay, a mutinous workforce, and the real possibility of being stranded in the middle of lion country with no protection.

Why Did They Turn to Man-Eating?

Man-eating lions are rare, and the Tsavo pair were doubly unusual – both were large, maneless males. Several theories have been suggested for their behaviour:

• Scavenger Conditioning – The Tsavo region lay along a historical slave trade route. Bodies of those who had died or been killed on the journey were often left unburied, giving scavengers a taste for human flesh.

• Poor Burial Practices – Patterson himself reported seeing open graves and human remains, which would have been easy pickings for opportunistic predators.

• Decline in Natural Prey – Outbreaks of rinderpest had reduced populations of grazing animals, pushing predators to seek alternative food sources.

• Injury – Modern analysis of the lions’ skulls shows that one had a severely abscessed canine tooth, which may have made hunting typical prey painful and difficult. However, Patterson claimed he damaged this tooth during the hunt.

Whatever the reasons, these lions had learned that humans were slow, vulnerable, and plentiful – and once learned, this preference became lethal.

Fractured teeth and major abscesses may have contributed to this lion’s preference for soft human flesh. Photo courtesy of The Field Museum, Chicago, IL

The Hunt for the Man-Eaters

For Patterson, killing the lions became both a professional necessity and a personal mission. Drawing on his tiger-hunting experience, he set traps, constructed shooting blinds, and spent countless nights in wait. But the lions were cunning, avoiding baited areas and shifting their attacks unpredictably.

It wasn’t until December – after months of failed attempts – that Patterson got his first breakthrough. On the night of 9 December 1898, he finally managed to shoot and kill the first lion. Even then, it took multiple shots to bring the massive predator down.

The second lion proved even more elusive and dangerous. On the morning of 29 December, Patterson wounded it, only for the beast to charge straight at him in a final, desperate attack. In a tense few seconds, Patterson fired again and brought it down.

Each lion measured over nine feet from nose to tail and required at least eight men to carry back to camp.

Hero Status – and a Silver Bowl

When the news reached the camps, Patterson’s status transformed overnight from suspect to saviour. Workers who had once threatened mutiny now hailed him as a hero. Even in London, the incident reached the House of Lords, where Prime Minister Lord Salisbury referenced the events.

Before departing Tsavo, the workforce presented Patterson with a silver bowl engraved with their thanks, reading in part:

“…for your bravery in killing two man-eating lions at great risk to your own life, thereby saving us from the fate of being devoured by these terrible monsters… We all add our prayers for your long life, happiness and prosperity.”

Patterson considered it his most prized possession.

Aftermath and Legacy

With the man-eater threat removed, construction resumed, and the Tsavo bridge was completed on 7 February 1899. Though the original rails were destroyed during the First World War, the stone foundations survived, and the bridge was repaired.

In 1907, Patterson published The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, a first-hand account of the ordeal. The book became a classic of adventure literature and inspired three films: Bwana Devil (1953), Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959), and the 1996 Hollywood movie The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Val Kilmer as Patterson.

The Lions Today

In 1924, while speaking at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Patterson sold the lion skins and skulls to the museum for $5,000, a considerable sum at the time. The skins, originally made into rugs in Patterson’s home, were restored and mounted for display. Though smaller than in life due to trimming, the lions still command a haunting presence in the museum’s Hall of Mammals, their glass eyes forever fixed in a predator’s stare.

The story of the Tsavo lions endures because it’s more than a tale of dangerous wildlife. It’s about the clash between human ambition and nature’s unpredictable power – a reminder that even in an age of railways and empire, two determined predators could halt the march of progress.

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Sources

• Patterson, J. H. (1907). The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures. London: Macmillan.

• Kerbis Peterhans, J. C., & Gnoske, T. P. (2001). “The Science of Man-Eating Among Lions: The History, Causes and Consequences of Tsavo and Njombe.” Journal of East African Natural History, 90(1), 1–40.

• Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago – Tsavo Lions Exhibit Records.

• Bruce D. Patterson & William M. Peters. (2010). “Tooth Damage and Its Role in the Man-Eating Behaviour of Lions.” Journal of Mammalogy, 91(3), 744–753.

• Caputo, P. (2002). The Ghosts of Tsavo: Stalking the Mystery Lions of East Africa. Washington D.C.: National Geographic.