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| Remains of Man Eaters of Tsavo at field Museum in US |
In
March 1898 the British started building a railway bridge across River Tsavo. The project was
led by Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson.
During the construction, two male lions stalked the campsite, dragging Indian workers
from their tents at night and eating them.
The
workers tried to scare off the lions and built campfires and thorn fences, around their camp for protection to keep
the man-eaters out, but strangely, the lions leaped over or crawled through the
thorn fences.
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| Col Patterson With the fist lion |
Many
workers fled from Tsavo, halting construction on the bridge. Lt. Col Patterson set traps and tried several
times to ambush the lions at night from a tree. He shot the first lion on 9
December 1898.
Twenty days later, the second lion was found and killed.
The
construction crew returned and completed the bridge in February 1899. The exact
number of people killed by the lions is not know but estimated to be over 100
people, mostly Indians.
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| Second Lion Killed by Patterson |
After 25 years in Patterson's ownership,
the lions' skins were sold to the Chicago Field Museum
in 1924. The lions' skins arrived at the museum in very poor condition. They were
then reconstructed and are now on permanent display along with the original
skulls.
These treasures are evidence of Kenya’s
history hence our heritage, stolen and sold in America. Their rich history in
regard to the events of rail way construction can be a very important tourist’s
attraction to Kenya.
Tragically, this history is thousands of
miles away from where it happened, America. The ministry responsible for
tourism must demand these lion’s remains back to Kenya, even if it
will mean repurchasing them from the Museum. Am sure we have a tourists’ hotel
at the site of the man eaters but having in such a site wia fully fledged museum
would boost tourist’s visits at the site.
It’s
not unusual if most young generation is not conversant with what happened during
the construction of Kenya-Uganda Railway. Such a museum would also inform
students about the history of the railway.
