The Lions of Tsavo : Exploring the Legacy of Africa's Notorious Man-Eaters
The culmination of a wildlife expert's life-long work on the "man-eating" lions of Tsavo, this deftly written study examines the history of two male lions who systematically hunted, killed and ate 135 railroad workers when the British built a railroad across Africa a century ago. The fascinating and horrifying story of these killings has already be the subject of a popular nonfiction book (The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and other East African Adventures, first published in 1907 and still in print today) and a Hollywood film (1996's The Ghost and the Darkness), but Patterson's book must now be considered the definitive Tsavo lion study. Patterson's research at Chicago's Field Museum and his work establishing the Tsavo National Park-the most important wildlife preserve in East Africa-have established him as one of the world's leading experts on lions as well as an important conservationist. These credentials lend authority to his analysis as he sifts through often competing and inaccurate records about the lions. Patterson also devotes some time to the culture of the railway camps, detailing how the varied burial customs of these multinational communities encouraged lions to prey on corpses. But the author's focus is primarily on the habits and behaviors of lions themselves, and, by describing the "novel social system" of the Tsavo lions, he makes a strong case for the continued existence of the Tsavo National Park, which has turned a "virtual wasteland" into an area where lions now provide important answers to ecological issues related to animal survival.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.