In The Heart Of Africa, The Night Belonged To Lions

In 1898, while British engineers were building the Kenya-Uganda Railway near Tsavo, two large maneless male lions began dragging workers from their tents at night – without fear of fire, fences, or human presence. The attacks were so relentless and terrifying that construction halted entirely, and hundreds of laborers fled in fear.

Official records claim the lions killed 28 people. But survivors and workers reported many more unaccounted for, and some estimates claim as many as 135 victims fell prey to the pair. These weren’t ordinary predators – they were coordinated, bold, and terrifyingly patient.

Eventually, the lions were hunted down and killed by Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson after months of failed traps and narrow escapes. Their skins were later turned into rugs, and eventually mounted at the Field Museum in Chicago, where they remain today – silent reminders of a railway built through terror.