More than a hundred years ago, East Africa was a British colonial possession, and in order to facilitate the British launch of the Uganda Railway Project, an engineer named Patterson was ordered to Tsavo to take over the railway project, which was supposed to be an interesting journey, but encountered two notorious ogres.
The local railroad workers fought the ogre for more than nine months, convinced that the ogre was not a real animal, but two evil demons in lion's skin, the dead spirits of two local chieftains, and a revenge for blocking the railroad from passing through their land.
These two man-eating lions roamed Tsavo, their strange and adventurous manners, eating 28 railway workers and several local indigenous people. By December 1898, terrified workers had gone on strike en masse for nearly three weeks, and the situation was very serious.
First encounter with a man-eating lion
Not only was Patterson a brilliant railway engineer, he was also a lieutenant colonel officer in Britain and an experienced hunter. A few days after he arrived in Tsavo, he heard that one or two workers had been dragged away by lions and eaten.
At first, he thought it was a scoundrel who was coveting workers' money, but one morning in the third week, after an Indian officer named Wengan Sinha was dragged away, he determined that the lion had done it.
At that time, the Indian officer shared the tent with the other 6 people, according to witnesses, Sinha slept by the door, and at midnight, the lion probe came in and bit his throat, he put his arms against the lion's neck and resisted desperately, but to no avail, he was dragged away in an instant, and then from time to time there were miserable cries, he must have died a terrible death.
Patterson traces the past based on the traces left by lions, and the sight before him is terrifying: blood on the ground, flesh and bones, a mess, and traces of lion fighting. And Sinha's head is not far from the wreckage, his eyes are round, his expression is terrified, and he is not blind.
Patterson did not expect that his first encounter with the man-eating lion would be such a terrifying sight, and after dealing with Sinha's wreckage, he vowed to hunt these two murderous man-eating lions at any cost. As everyone knows, it is not easy, and trouble is also expected.
The man-eating lion repeatedly avoided Patterson's ambush
That night, Patterson was crouching in a tree not far from Sinha's tent, rifle and shotgun in hand. The lion's roar came as promised, approaching, and then there was nearly two hours of silence, and he knew that the lion had entered the hunting stage and had to pay full attention.
At that time, the workers' tents were scattered about eight miles on either side of Tsavo, and the lions had more opportunities to attack. Indeed, there was a noise in the tent half a mile away from him, and Patterson knew that someone had been dragged away by a lion.
Pictured: Scattered worker camps
The next night, Patterson continued to crouch, this time using goats as bait, hoping that the lion would drag away the low-hanging fruit. Desperately, the man-eating lion avoided him again, and when cries and cries of grief came from the other tents, he knew that another life had fallen.
Man-eating lions seem to have the mysterious ability to see into human schemes, because no matter how tempting traps humans set, they can accurately avoid them and continue to drag people away in other camps.
The jungle around Tsavo is dense, and Patterson follows the man-eating lion's footsteps all the way during the day, hoping to find their nest. However, the dense forest full of unknowns and the rugged terrain everywhere made him retreat, and the man-eating lion seemed to have already calculated his retreat.
It seems that hunting them during the day is no easy task.
In the days that followed, the lion suffered several failures, which made everyone's tense heartstrings relax a little.
Once an Indian merchant was attacked by a lion when he was on his way late at night, but fortunately the clanging sound of the oil tank on the donkey's neck scared the lion away, and he escaped.
Another time a Greek contractor was sleeping in a tent when a lion mistakenly dragged away a mattress, and he saved his life.
On another occasion, the lion broke into the tent and grabbed a worker by the shoulder and tried to drag it away, presumably acting in a hurry, failing to grasp it, and mistakenly dragging away a bag of rice, and the worker survived.
Just when everyone thought that the lion attacked people was just like this, as everyone knows, this is all the temptation and groping of the lion in the early stage. Humans are just a kind of food that they have locked in for a long time, and they can find a way to break any obstacle that prevents them from getting food. At this point, the first confrontation between Patterson and the man-eating lion officially came.
The first thrilling clash between Patterson and the man-eating lion
Previously, Patterson's tent was camped in an open field, unprotected around it, and one night, the camp rope tripped over something, and he was shocked to see it the next day, and the camp tent was actually visited by lions.
Pictured: The tent where Patterson first set up is relatively open
Patterson then moved to camp and lived with a doctor in a small hut made of palm leaves, surrounded by a local thorny fence called "Parama." Afterwards, the lion also patronized, but the hedge was solid, and the lion could not get by.
Patterson called on the workers to also put up a thick hedge, which was lit up at night, and added night watchmen to drive away lions by keeping empty cans sounding.
However, everything was in vain, and the lion, under constant groping, learned to be smart. They began to look for flaws in the hedge, drilled them when they saw them, and every few nights workers were successfully dragged away by it.
Pictured: Workers are called upon to use the hedged fence wall erected by "Bema"
Patterson turned on Vigil again, and the lion seemed to be aware of his presence and evaded his ambush each time. Once, the encounter of a water picker in the hospital made him reacquaint himself with the man-eating lion.
At that time, the water puller was sleeping with his head in and feet out, the lion broke into the tent and bit his foot, dragging him outward, the water man desperately dragged a heavy box with his hand, but the box was stuck on the edge of the tent, and he was forced to let go. Then he clung to a rope until it was pulled abruptly, and he did not leave the lion's mouth.
The lion seemed to be tired of playing, it swooped forward, bit the throat of the water picker, and after several hard shakes, the water picker did not move. Subsequently, the lion carried the corpse of the water picker, like a cat holding a mouse, running back and forth in the hedge, and soon found a breakthrough and jumped over, leaving only the clothes and skin and flesh fragments of the water picker on the hedge.
After the death of the water picker, the fate of the water man was as tragic as that of Sinha, after which Patterson used hedges, tents, cattle, and a boxcar to design a brilliant trap for the lions to arrive.
Pictured: A trap carefully designed for lions
That night, Patterson and the doctor hid in a boxcar and ambushed, and the lion managed to enter the trap, while it carried its livestock in the hedge and did not leave, and then disappeared.
The dark night was dead silent, and Patterson was wondering when suddenly a huge body quickly pounced on them, "Wow! It's a lion! They quickly shot under the exclamation, and the sound scared away the lion, and it was really life and death in an instant.
The bullet marks they fired were only an inch or two short of the lion's footprints, and without hitting the lion, the first head-to-head confrontation between Patterson and the man-eating lion was over.
Man-eating lions frequently dragged away workers, scaring them into a collective strike
Patterson was also actively overseeing the construction of the railroad and quelling a rebellious worker commotion. The man-eating lion has not visited the Tsavo railway line for the next few months since it was last repulsed by gunfire. But Patterson had a hunch that they would make a comeback.
At the same time, Patterson was not idle, and he used railroad rails, sleepers, cable wires and a pair of heavy chains to build a fairly solid trap.
The trap is divided into two spaces, built on the principle of a mousetrap, one space with workers as bait, and the lion wants to drag away workers, it has to enter from the other space. As long as it enters, it will step on the spring mechanism, and the designed iron bar door will close in response, using the card slot to jam the door, and the lion cannot escape.
Pictured: Traps designed for man-eating lions
After months of peace, the workers let their guard down, but unbeknownst to them, the man-eating lion was back.
This time, the man-eating lion targeted a group of workers sleeping outside the tent, the workers were attacked, and everyone hurriedly threw stones, sticks, torches and other items at the man-eating lion.
The two man-eating lions have a clear division of labor, one head is responsible for dragging people, and the other is on guard outside. After the incident, they circled outside the fence, and this time, instead of going away, they began to feast on the realm about thirty yards from the victim.
The sound of tearing flesh and bones was clearly visible, and everyone shuddered. Even when an officer shot at them, they remained indifferent until they ate pot-bellied and the two man-eating lions disappeared into the jungle.
In the past, man-eating lions attacked people and had a habit of eating "repeat customers", but this time, Patterson continued to keep vigil for ambushes. However, they went to another camp, and as last time, they dragged people away and went not far away, choosing to gnaw on the spot.
Pictured: Patterson hides in a tree and squats to guard the man-eating lion
It is clear that these two man-eating lions have become more terrifying, and they can silently pass through layers of designed hedges, becoming fearless and no longer afraid of human counterattacks. The act of eating on the spot is like promoting that this is their own hegemony, and stupid humans cannot help them.
This was also proven by the fact that no matter how many additional vigils were sent, these two daring man-eating lions seemed to have mastered some ability to avoid the sentry, and they were able to cleverly dodge each time and successfully drag the workers away. Once, even gnawed by Patterson's tent, this is a naked provocation.
Later, the man-eating lions changed their strategy again, from the original "one attack and one defense" to "simultaneous attack", they entered the "Boma" hedge, each dragged away the workers, fearless, and was able to overcome all obstacles in front of them.
Once, two man-eating lions sprang out again and managed to drag one away, and a railway inspector fired no less than fifty shots in the direction of the lion's biting sound, but they were not afraid at all, and continued to eat happily until they were full and left.
It was a never-ending fear, and the workers throughout the camp had already been terrified of the gods, and on December 1, 1898, the workers all protested against the strike.
The workers did not want to be enough food for the man-eating lions, and they began to flee en masse, hundreds of people lying on the tracks and stopping the train, rolling into the carriage, they did not want to stay in this ghost place for a moment.
After that, the entire railway line was shut down for three weeks, during which time the remaining warriors dug holes under their tents to hide, huddled in trees tied hammocks to sleep, and took a nap on the water tower, using all means to avoid the attack of the man-eating lion. However, people were dragged away.
Two man-eating lions were successfully hunted one after another
Patterson, the overseer, could not sit still, he invited many helpers, and on the evening of December 3, a strong lion hunting team was finally formed.
The trap designed in his free time finally came in handy, and Patterson used two Indian soldiers with guns as bait, and a man-eating lion entered the door and was successfully closed. I thought that I could successfully kill this time, but the result was not satisfactory.
At that time, the lion found the middle sleeve, it began to violently hit the iron fence, I don't know if the Indian soldiers were frightened by the sound of clanging or what, they actually froze, stalemated for several minutes and forgot to fire.
When they were reminded, they remembered shooting, bullets flew randomly, their marksmanship was very magical, they actually cleverly avoided the lion, and coincidentally helped the lion break the latch and help the lion escape successfully. People who don't know what to do think about it are the accomplices of the lion.
The lion hunting team chased the lion, searched for three days in the dense and thorny jungle, only heard the roar of the lion, but disappeared, and finally returned in frustration.
Many helpers are temporary transfers, everyone has a task in hand, three days without results, basically finished. On the morning of December 9, a Swahili man pointed in the direction and excitedly told Patterson: "Simba! Simba! "The man-eating lion finally showed up during the day.
Patterson coordinated the round-up personnel, he personally picked up the heavy rifle and rushed over, and through everyone's cooperation, he finally saw a male lion without a mane on an open road. It was the first time Patterson had actually aimed at a man-eating lion, and he couldn't contain his joy.
Patterson waited until the man-eating lion was within fifteen yards of him before aiming his rifle at its head, and the man-eating lion saw him, leaned down and roared, ready to attack him. Patterson pulled the trigger to shoot, but did not expect the striker to malfunction and encountered a dud.
Patterson was so panicked that he forgot to deal with the bullets, but the drum noise made by the workers in the rear distracted the man-eating lion and jumped into the woods, otherwise Patterson would become the new revenant.
In the daytime, even the guns could not help them, which made everyone think that these two man-eating lions were the embodiment of evil demons.
At night, Patterson continued to make decoys, this time tying the donkey's carcass to a tree to attract man-eating lions. By late at night, a grunt came from the grass, rustling closer, and the man-eating lion spotted Patterson and emitted a lion roar.
The man-eating lion did not rush to eat the donkey's carcass, but quietly approached Patterson, and in the two-hour tug-of-war, the man-eating lion circled around Patterson's hiding place and approached little by little. Patterson didn't dare to be a little distracted.
The man-eating lion crept towards Patterson, who had roughly seen its silhouette and could no longer get any closer. Patterson aimed at it, gunshots rang out, mournful roars came, man-eating lions scurrying around, and Patterson knew he had hit it.
The man-eating lion roared and jumped into the bushes, Patterson listened to the position and shot violently in the direction of the call, and then a series of roars turned into heavy gasps, and then turned into silence, and Patterson knew that the man-eating lion was not long dead.
To be on the safe side, Patterson did not immediately go to look for the body, and at dawn the next day, Patterson followed the blood trail and finally saw the man-eating lion lying behind a bush.
The man-eating lion was 1.14 meters tall and about 2.95 meters long from the tip of its nose to its tail, and two bullets hit it, one of which hit the left hind shoulder and penetrated the heart, which was fatally wounded, and the other hit the hind leg. Patterson was so excited that it took him eight strong men to carry it back to the tent.
One of the notorious man-eating lions finally died, and all parties sent congratulatory messages to Patterson, calling him "the savior". However, Patterson is well aware that there is still a man-eating lion that is still dangerous.
Soon, a second man-eating lion appears, and Patterson uses the carcass of a sheep as bait. Obviously, this is also a "veteran", he uses every cover to sneak close, and even if Patterson hits it with a gun, it rushes towards Patterson as fast as possible when he is injured.
Fortunately, Patterson hurriedly climbed the tree, and the man-eating lion had a leg injury, otherwise Patterson would have been swallowed by the man-eating lion's entrance. Later, Patterson and the man-eating lion fought many times, and the man-eating lion pounced on him many times, and finally, one shot hit the man-eating lion's chest and one shot hit the brain, which was regarded as a complete solution to the man-eating lion's life.
The man-eating lion, who was not blind, also viciously bit a branch that fell to the ground. The second man-eating lion is about 2.93 meters long and stands up about 1.14 meters. Like its companions, the fur is covered with deep marks caused by the hedge.
Eat 28 railway workers and a bunch of unverifiable local natives, and restore the truth of cannibalism afterwards
Patterson fought two man-eating lions and successfully hunted him, and everyone called him the "Demon Killer", and he deserved this honor. At this point, the striking workers returned one after another, and the construction period that had been delayed for three weeks began one after another, and after more than nine months, everyone finally came out of the haze of fear.
The construction of the Tsavo Railway was successfully completed, and the adventurous Patterson explored several hills southwest of Tsavo. There, under a bank wall, he found a gloomy cave.
Seeing the deep winding path in the cave, Patterson found that the cave was not far away covered with dead bones, surrounded by copper bracelets unique to the local aborigines, presumably this is the nest of the two man-eating lions.
According to statistics, the two man-eating lions devoured at least 28 Indian workers, as well as a bunch of unverifiable local African indigenous populations. According to later scientific analysis, the two man-eating lions attacked and ate at least 135 people, if not more.
Later, Patterson sold the skulls and furs of the two man-eating lions to the Chicago Museum of Natural History, which roughly restored the truth of their cannibalism.
First, the reason why they are male lions without a mane is because after the Europeans entered Africa, they were very obsessed with the mane and head of the male lion, and the presence of this object in the home was a symbol of king and power. Therefore, Europeans hunted frantically for a hundred years, almost killing all the male lions with manes on their heads, and in the long run, the surviving male lions evolved not to grow manes.
Second, there were often traffickers and slaves trading in the area of the Tsavo River, and these people were tortured and died on the way, and the lions were fortunate enough to eat human flesh, and gradually, the taste of human flesh was engraved in the lion's genes, and by the time these two man-eating lions were completely exploded.
Third, two man-eating lions may have dental disease, and it is well known that carnivore teeth are key to successful hunting, and once the teeth are defective, it will be difficult to subdue the prey. In the eyes of lions, humans are easy to capture, and once the lion accidentally opens Pandora's box, it will get out of control.
summary
The tragedy caused by the two man-eating lions also happens to be the result of human wantonness, without excessive involvement, without overexploitation, there will be no contact with human taste.
Animals in nature, in the process of thousands of years of evolution, have long been well versed in the way of survival, they have their own territory, as long as human beings do not interfere too much, fear nature, believe that animals can coexist harmoniously with humans.
This is also fully proved from the tragic situation of many animals attacking human beings to death, animals have no intention, but human beings have intentions, tragedy and good and evil, perhaps in a single thought.
Reference: The Ogres of Tsavo by J.H. Patterson