The Most Ferocious Man-Eating Lions
Africa's lions may usually prey on zebras or giraffes, but they also attack humans, with some lions responsible for over 50 deaths
- By Abigail Tucker
- Smithsonian.com, December 16, 2009, Subscribe
In encounters with the king of beasts, an unarmed person is “one of the most helpless creatures,” notes Charles Guggisberg in Simba: the Life of the Lion. “Man cannot run as fast as a zebra or a gazelle, he has not the horns of the sable antelope or the tusks of the warthog, and he cannot deal terrific blows like the giraffe.” People are, in other words, easy pickings. Even though Africa’s lion populations have been drastically reduced in the past decades, lions still regularly eat people; it’s not uncommon for them to kill more than 100 people a year in Tanzania alone.
Many man-eaters are wounded or old; some have been deprived of natural prey sources; others may simply have developed a fondness for human flesh. Most are nameless, but a few of the most notorious have been rather colorfully christened: Namvelieza, or The Cunning One, killed 43 people near Kasawa, Zambia. Tanzania’s Paper Lion got his name because he seemed to drift from victim to victim randomly, like a scrap of paper floating in the breeze.
This list of the most famous man-eaters includes mostly males, but females are actually responsible for more killings, according to University of Minnesota lion expert Craig Packer. However, lionesses tend to eat people in isolated instances, then return to their normal diet, while males “are more likely to become recidivists,” Packer says. The worst-case scenario, he says, is when a whole pride of males and females starts feeding on people: these lions are the most “persistent” threat to their human neighbors.
Chiengi Charlie
This man-eater—missing half his tail and so light-colored that he was also known as “the White Lion”—haunted Chiengi, the British post on the border of what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), in 1909. “In the district in which he carried on his nefarious practices Charlie (became) a celebrity, almost an institution,” according to one account. “He was alluded to with the almost affectionate familiarity with which some people speak of the devil.” He eventually teamed up with two other males to feed on the inhabitants of several villages. Charlie and his partners reportedly ate 90 people, including the servant of a hunter sent to destroy him. He eluded all manner of traps and the best marksmen in the country (though one village woman managed to beat him off with a firebrand as he clawed through the mud wall of her hut.) He was finally shot in a gun trap.
Osama
Osama terrorized Rufiji, Tanzania, from 2002 to 2004; he was accused of killing more than 50 people from eight villages. Part of a pride of males and females, Osama likely didn’t kill alone, but he was the lion villagers singled out to star in billboard-size depictions of the bloody deeds (according to Tanzanian lion scientist Dennis Ikanda, the lion was named after Osama bin Laden, whose terrorist attacks made headlines even in rural Tanzania.) Osama was just 3 1/2 years old when game scouts shot him in April of 2004. Some have blamed his eating habits on a large abscess on one of his molars, but, according to Packer, whose research team studied the case, plenty of man-eaters have perfect teeth. Osama “probably got started when his mother started eating people,” Packer says.
Msoro Monty
Though historically rich in wild game, the Luangwa River Valley in eastern Zambia has produced a series of fearsome man-eaters. In 1929, one began stalking victims near the Msoro Mission, which furnished his alliterative nickname. “Msoro Monty” never lost his knack for sniffing out traps. After killing a large number of people, he disappeared without a trace.
Lion of Mfuwe
This cat terrorized Zambia’s Luangwa River Valley—near Msoro Monty’s old stamping grounds—in 1991. After killing at least six people, the lion strutted through the center of a village, reportedly carrying a laundry bag that had belonged to one of his victims. A California man on safari, after waiting in a hunting blind for 20 nights, later shot and killed him. The lion was more than ten feet long and, like the famous Tsavo lions, totally maneless. His body is on display at Chicago’s Field Museum.
Tsavo Lions
Hollywood darlings and arguably the most famous of the man-eaters, the Tsavo lions have been the subject of several movies—including Bwana Devil (1952) and The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)—and many books. The pair of males was accused of devouring some 140 workers along Kenya’s Tsavo River, where crews were building a railroad bridge in 1898. Hundreds of workers fled, halting construction; the project’s chief engineer finally hunted down both lions, and the bridge was completed in 1899. Recent analysis of the lions’ hair and bones suggest that the lions likely ate only about 35 people.
The Man-Eaters of Njombe
The most prolific of the man-eaters, this pride of 15 claimed hundreds of lives—perhaps as many as 1,500—of lives between 1932 and 1947 in southern Tanzania. “The renowned man-eaters of Tsavo were very small fry compared to what these proved to be,” wrote George Rushby, the British game warden charged with stopping them. Prior to the pride’s bloody spree, the colonial government had reduced the numbers of prey animals in the area in an effort to control a rinderpest outbreak that was destroying cattle herds. The hungry lions quickly settled on human flesh as a substitute. Unlike most lions, the Njombe pride did its killing in the afternoon, using the night hours to travel as far as 15 or 20 miles to an unsuspecting village. Rushby believed that the cats actually used a relay system to drag bodies into the safety of the bush. He finally hunted down and shot the lions.
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Comments (23)
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why some books which is now hard to find (about maneaters)will not published,books like,1-the mishi man-eater,,2-kima the man-eater. 3-the man-eater of rupaidiha.,i am really intrested in reading about . man-eaters leon,tiger and leopard,this article was really helpful,thank you
Posted by mohammad reza rezaei on April 21,2013 | 01:32 PM
GOOD-O Mea! Sounds as though your employment is exciting and very interesting. I Hope you make the most out of it. I would love to be involved with an exciting and challenging career like yours. However I am a little too old to go traipsing about in the bush. But I have a memory or two, and I dearly love to read about the large cats. Felix.
Posted by Felix Bessler on November 24,2012 | 03:27 AM
Felix u r right , it is bone chilling to be in the bush, let alone a man eater , if a pride of lions near ur tents(as did while we were camping) one feels totally paralysed with fear to say the least. Monkeys are known to drop down from trees out of sheer fright when they hear a lion or a tiger roAr. I was not being philosophical about "man eaters" or a pseudo wild life empathiser ... I was merely talking of the other aspect of what goes into making these beautiful animals take to human hunting. There is absolutely no doubting the curfew man-eaters impose out cof sheer fear in the villages And areas they operate. To quote Jim Corbett (a hunter from India) "the word terror is so often used that it has lost it's actual meaning and effect... When one lays in silence in a fragile mud room hearing a man-eater trying to break in - layer by layer removing the wooden planks nailed together in the name of a door... That is terror" Am from India and almost every other month go into the jungles where tigers rule... Believe me I know that fear.
Posted by Mea on April 12,2012 | 03:35 AM
Since the article is about "maneaters" I suggest you think of that first. I've never 'Hunted maneaters'. I have been to Africa, twice, though. And I have spent much of my free time hunting and just camping "out in the blue" as they say. I suggest you all get out in the bush for a while. Wait till the sun sets and the moon goes down. Then if you hear some large animal breathing outside your tent, say just beside your head and you feel the cold sweat of fear start to run down your armpits and that familiar crawly feeling on the back of your neck, then you'll know how those poor wretches feel in their mud and stick huts. The terror that accompanies that particular set of circumstances must be almost paralysing. It is too easy to comment upon a topic if you are not fully informed about all aspects of it. P.S. Don't take any guns along with you. That wouldn't be cricket, What?
Posted by Felix Bessler on February 23,2012 | 04:10 AM
These incidents of man eating arise out of the man animal conflict for the same habitat. Humans are not on the menu, but if one messes with nature, nature fights back. Too much proximity to the wild leads to fatal accidents. It is unfortunate that the tribals must move through forests for their livelihood , may it be honey collecting, or fir firewood etc. They are the ones at risk and nost vulnerable. When they venture too deep and run into a predator , out if sheer shock and self defense the animal kills the infiltrator . Such events lead to man eating. Of course there are more reasons like injuries, old age or being an outcast from one's pride that leads to the hunting of easy prey like humans. The government should make sufficient efforts to rehabilitate these local people, villagers, tribes from these forests.
Animals are. Driven by instincts and have no sinister motives. The wildest of them is capable of great affection and loyalty as we have seen in many instances in endless stories told by people who raised them. Animals of the wild must be respected . It is the duty of us humans to preserve this most wonderful heritage for the sAke of posterity.
Last but not the least , I salute all those nameless endless rangers who protect this great heritage and are our brave soldiers who risk their lives against all dangers to guard what I call the last bastion.
Posted by Mea chu on December 5,2011 | 04:53 PM
Interesing article, brief, but decent coverage. :)
Now I can't help but toss my two-cents in about how to hangle maneaters. I've never had the pleasure of hunting them myself, but I've done plenty of research on various maneaters of different species and I have this to say: Killing specific maneaters is the only way to keep them out of buisness and keep African bush populations from taking a steep nosedive. Capturing them, as suggested by an earlier comment, is simply impractical. Its hard enough to simply get a shot at a maneater after weeks of hunting, but coaxing one into a trap? Improbable. Maneaters learn their jobs quickly, and any trick used against them they quickly learn to look out for in the future, making them dramatically harder to get the next time. Simply put, they won't fall for the same trick twice. Heck, the Leopard of Rudraprayag pulled stunts that would have stumped a Raptor from Jurassic Park, such as disarming gun-traps attatched to trip wires. Granted, leopards are more brainy than lions, but it sets an important point. I've only heard of one maneater that was ever successfully trapped, and I'm sure that was by more of luck than anything else. Its terrifically easy to spook a lion away from a trap, regardless of how much care is taken. If that sounds pessimistic, I recommend reading about the Tsavo Maneaters and what kind of terrain they were in and how difficult it was to even see one.
As of another note, its claimed that officially the Tsavo Maneaters only killed and ate around 30 people. This is part of a record-keeping bit, as only Indian workers were registered. African workers, while they weren't as many, were not recorded officially at all, but they suffered a much greater death toll. I can only attribute this to the possibility that the majority of Indian workers were moved up with the main track line which is when the big trouble started actually.
I hope my information has been of help!
Posted by Random observer on November 13,2011 | 08:39 PM
Big cats always possessed the capability of killing humans because they are built for the kill. There is a very fine line of big cats diversifying to humans from natural prey and when this thread gets broken the legend of Maneating unleashes.
Bigs cats hesitate from humans due to their structural audacity and its just about their switch over in their point of view. When they start looking humans as their prey then don't find any easiest and relishing one than Supreme creature of God Almighty. This eventually turns out into an enraged conflict between the two creatures of the world.
Posted by Asad Ali on June 15,2011 | 01:33 AM
well not so shorky because in this world today there differed people that train different type of animal eg. in Africa you will see people that train lion/leopard/giant snake/and so on and so folt in Mexico you will see people that train wolf/Python so this man eater animal are mostly cause by people that trained them thank you.
Posted by gift aghanti on March 12,2011 | 07:34 AM
As a life long student of animal behavior,along with being a hunter and wildlife artist/taxidermist, several observations come to mind..Animals along with humans adapt to changing sociological and enviromental conditions. Abundance or lack of food/prey may lead to carnivores to humans as a viable food source. We are not that far removed from a protein rich naked primate. Lions in protected areas ( note the relationship in African parks and reserves...a lesser fear of the constant contact with human tourist's) much easier and potencial prey than Buffalo or other herbivores.Prides break up..lone lions seek new territory and may in certain districts find humans easy prey. As habitat shrinks and responsible game management becomes a lesser priority to African regional govermental affairs, Lions will continue to find Humans as Fast food.. minus the horns and hooves.
Posted by Douglas Campbell on March 1,2011 | 12:22 AM
Joel who is going to educate these poor people. YOU> I doubt seriously you could survive a week with people of africa,and above all else how would you educate the people who have lived with lions and other animals of africa that are dangerous for centuries.
Posted by larry cates on February 26,2011 | 03:00 PM
No i do not believe maneaters should be destroyed but rather captured and imprisoned would be the most humane since it was us who invaded their envirnment and upset the natural balance they were created to function in.Its man who robs and kills out of lust so who is guilty how can you put the blame on an animal whose been handicaped for doing the only thing it knows how survive.
Posted by gabe on December 25,2010 | 12:11 PM
@Joel. I wonder if you would feel the same way if it was one of your children or parent who were dragged out of their dirt hut in the middle of the night killed and eaten by a pride of lions. I believe that the man-eating lions should be destroyed for the safety of the people as well as that of the other lions that are NOT man-eaters. Because I believe that when the people in this area get fed-up and start striking back, they won't bother to discriminate between the man-eaters and the other lions that are eating normal prey animals.
Posted by Sher on July 4,2010 | 03:39 PM
For Mr. Hatch and Mr. Patterson, I provide the following, from an old BBC report. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4160676.stm
"The number of lion attacks has increased significantly since 1990, with more than 563 Tanzanians killed and at least 308 injured by lions in that time...In rural areas, Dr Packer's team reports, "lions pull people out of bed, attack nursing mothers, and catch children playing outside".
You can do a cursory search about this topic and find a wealth of information about the dilemma--people there have to defend their children against lions regularly--often they fail. 'Educating' them won't solve what is a very intricate problem-- a problem that armchair conservationists who have the leisure [and hardware, and financial means]to comment on Internet articles could not possibly understand unless you threw a poisonous snake at their own children.
I will respectfully suggest that you check your facts before mounting personal attacks against other commenters; first of all, it is absurdly easy to do so in the information age, and in part because of that, it reflects quite badly on you when a simple check reveals that it is your knee that has been jerking.
And yes, were it my child, I would shoot the lion without hesitation, and you as well if you tried to stop me.
Posted by meyer kohane on February 23,2010 | 02:39 AM
BTW, Mr. Hatch, simply read the article you cite as "Great" (of which I agree concerning your assessment of it). In there I believe you will find the information you seek concerning the deaths of a great many men, women, and of course, children.
Posted by Dr. George R. Rivera, Jr. on January 20,2010 | 02:51 PM
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