IN HUNTING literature of times past, the popular reason given for lions turning man-eater was that wounds or injuries rendered them incapable of killing their natural prey; humans were easier to kill and carry off. This dogma was so often repeated that most came to accept it as lore and thought no further. While true in many instances, it is a gross oversimplification. A great many perfectly healthy lions become man-eaters. Moreover, man-eating lions often work in pairs or trios; sometimes entire prides become habitual man-eaters. In the Njombe district of Tanganyika (now Tanzania), between 1932 and 1947, a pride of around 15 lions killed an estimated 1 500 people before game warden George Rushby finally shot them out.
Which raises another question: what explains the fact that certain countries, regions and areas are notorious for their man-eating lions, while others less so, and some hardly at all?
Tsavo area in Kenya became notorious during the late 1890s when lions killed 130 labourers during the building of the railway line from Mombasa to Uganda. In his book, , Col JH Patterson claimed this was the work of just two lions, both of which he shot – ending the killings.
