1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from house 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: I'm Holly from and I'm Tracy D. Wilson. And so 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: in our last episode, we discussed the incidents that happened 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety in Tsavo, Africa during construction of the 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 1: Uganda Railroad. Two lions, who came to be known as 7 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: the Ghost in the Darkness because many of the men 8 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: and camp believe them to be supernatural, killed in eight 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: dozens of workers, eventually shutting down work on the bridge 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: until the pair were killed by Lieutenant Colonel John Patterson, 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: who was a civil engineer that was hired to work 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: on the construction projects. So we need to have a 13 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: note about names before we go on today. That's that 14 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: we're going to be talking a good bit about the 15 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: work of a researcher named Bruce Patterson, and he has 16 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: no relation to the John Patterson who killed the lions. 17 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: So when we refer to Patterson by last name only 18 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: in the second part, we are talking about Bruce Patterson, 19 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: the researcher. So the first question that comes up in 20 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: research when people discuss these lions uh is why did 21 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: they develop a taste for human flesh. And there are 22 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: a number of possible contributing factors. So one of them 23 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: is that there may have been a scarcity of other 24 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: food sources in the late eighteen nineties render pest, which 25 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: we talked about in a Listener Males segment related to 26 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: our episode about smallpox. Turns out smallpox is not the 27 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: only illness that mankind has ever eradicated the only human illness. 28 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: The render pest really was doing some ravaging of livestock. Yes, 29 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: render pest was a very serious live stock disease that 30 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: was eradicated in two thousand and eleven, and it might 31 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: have been responsible for completely devastating the buffalo population, which 32 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: significantly reduced to the prey options of the Savo lions. 33 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: And uh smallpox and famine were also ravaging the region 34 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: and affecting humans. There was also a slave and ivory 35 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,559 Speaker 1: caravans that were traveling the area, and as people would 36 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: die of smallpox, famine, or just slaves that would die 37 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: of exhaustion on these caravans would drop, the bodies were 38 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: usually just left, so this may have easily given these 39 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: lions a taste for human flesh. Because corpses were readily available, 40 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: and most animals, even hunting animals, will go for the 41 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: easiest possible food source. They like to conserve their energy exactly, 42 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: which is also going to come up a little bit later. 43 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: There's also the same factor that's often part of animals 44 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: attacking humans, which is loss of territory. We talked about 45 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: that a little bit at the end of the last episode. 46 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: As people move into wild areas, the animals that live 47 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: and hunt there are displaced or they find that their 48 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: entire ecosystem has been unbalanced as a result, and that 49 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: often leads to sudden behavioral changes as species try to 50 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: adapt to these new conditions. And because there were problems 51 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: with lions attacking humans prior to the famous incidents that 52 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: were described in Tsavo as part of this bridge building 53 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: uh and attacks have continued since then, animal behaviorists have 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: theorized that man hunting may in fact be a learned 55 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: behavior that's been passed down through multiple generations of this 56 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: lion group. So there have been many many studies conducted 57 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: about the Tsavo lions through the years. In particular, the 58 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: team at the Field Museum where the Ghost and the 59 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: Darkness live on as taxi Army Displays has been highly 60 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: involved in multiple research projects about why these lions do 61 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: what they do. Their work has focused mostly on the 62 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: lions social grouping, why they don't have mains, the ecological 63 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: influences of the area, and even their dental health. And 64 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: we're actually gonna talk about dental health first because this 65 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: one is really fascinating. There. It's all really fascinating to me. 66 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: But this one I had not heard of before. But 67 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: there was a study released in two thousand and they 68 00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: had examined the teeth of both of the lions from 69 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: the eight nine incidents, because we have their skulls at 70 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: the Field, as well as a third line that the 71 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: Field Museum acquired uh as part of its taxidermy display, 72 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: and that line killed six people in Mufui, Zambia in 73 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: and when they looked at all of these skulls of 74 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: these lions, they all had severe dental issues. One of 75 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: the Savo lions had severe root tip abscesses. The other 76 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: had so much damage and so many missing teeth that 77 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: it would have been hard for it to deliver any 78 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: kind of killing bite to a one of its typical 79 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: prey animals. In the case of the line from Zambia, 80 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: there was evidence of chronic jaw infection, and that led 81 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: to the examination of the possibility that all of these 82 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: lions might have turned to hunting humans because they're much 83 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: easier prey than most of the other animals that they 84 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: would normally hunt. Yeah, aside from the fact that we're 85 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: humans are not as fast. Our skin is saw bite 86 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: through paired to a high I was going to say, 87 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: we were much softer and more delicate than a will 88 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: to be were squichier, It's true. Uh. And this study 89 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: actually built on the work of a tiger hunter that 90 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:12,840 Speaker 1: worked in India in the nineteen thirties named Jim Corbett, 91 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: and he had put forth this uh, what was called 92 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: the infirmity theory about beasts that hunt humans as prey. 93 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: So when he was working in the thirties, he was 94 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: often hired as a hunter to track and shoot tigers 95 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: that targeted villagers in India. And then many of the 96 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: cases that Corbett handled after he would uh, you know, 97 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: collect his prey, after collect a tiger after it had 98 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: been killed, almost all of them had some physical ailment, 99 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: and this led him to believe that you know, it 100 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: was the old or the injured animals that were going 101 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: after humans again because we're easier to catch than uh 102 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,039 Speaker 1: normal wild animals. Yeah. It ties into what we were 103 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: saying earlier about how even a predator will scavenge things 104 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: because it's easier path of least resistance. Yeah, and so 105 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: when the animal has less energy to start with, that 106 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: makes the easier prey and even more delicious target. So, 107 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: since only the skulls of the lions were preserved, all 108 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: the rest of the components that make up the taxid 109 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: army display at the Field Museum are not original to 110 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: the side of the lions, and even the hides are replacements. 111 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: Because the originals were damaged by being rugs, researchers don't 112 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: really know if the lions had other health issues besides 113 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: their bad teeth. Uh. However, there have been studies that 114 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: have been conducted on modern quote problem lions in the 115 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,679 Speaker 1: Tsavo area. Uh. When these lions are killed by rangers 116 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: outside the Tsavo East National Park, Uh, they're collected and 117 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: then examined, and these examinations have not supported this theory. 118 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,359 Speaker 1: Bruce Patterson, who is uh the macars Are Curator of 119 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: Mammals at the Field Museum and his team examined twenty 120 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: three of these lions that were known to attack humans, 121 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: and less than twenty of them them we're found to 122 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: have dental issues, so the majority of them were actually healthy, 123 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: young males. Another point of interest is that in conducting 124 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: forensic studies of the animals jaws, researchers were able to 125 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: retrieve the hair of some of their prey which had 126 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: been stuck in their teeth for more than a years, 127 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: and none of that hair was human. So it shows 128 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: that the lions did also eat other animals. I would 129 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: also kind of explain what was going on during the 130 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: long lapses in when they weren't attacking, were frequently they 131 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: were eating something else. So how we think about that? 132 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: Do you want to stop for a second and here 133 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: a word from our sponsors, or all right, let's do 134 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: it and now back to lions. The next thing that 135 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: has been studied a whole lot is a really unique 136 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: characteristic of uh the lions in this area, which is 137 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: that the males do not grow mains. Prior to modern research, 138 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: there had been sighting of these mameless males before, but 139 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: it had always been unknown if they were just an 140 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: adolescent that had not grown in their main or if 141 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: they had a medical problem which would somehow lead to 142 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: them not being able to grow this wolf, or that 143 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: they had lost it. The Ghost and the Darkness are 144 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: estimated to have been between eight and ten years old 145 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: when they were killed, and normally a lion's mane would 146 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: grow in by the age of five, but neither of 147 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: them had a main correct. One had some kind of 148 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: tufting which has been seen on lines in this area 149 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: where they have had a little whiskey bits of fur, 150 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: but it's nothing compared to what you would normally see 151 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: like in a Serengetti lion. Uh So, Bruce Patterson and 152 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: his colleague Roland Kayes, who is the Senior Scientist of 153 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: Zoology at New York State Museum in Albany, set out 154 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: to study these lions and their hair growth, and they're 155 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 1: certainly not the only researchers to examine this aspect of 156 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: the cats. Scientists are actually still trying to figure out 157 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: why any lions grow mains in the first place. It's 158 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: kind of an odd thing in terms of hair patterning. 159 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: So to lure the lions in caves, played the sound 160 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: of a wounded baby buffalo that he had recorded on 161 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: an earlier outing and lo and behold, the lions came 162 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: right out and they came close enough to the vehicle 163 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 1: for the researchers to be able to see the tiny 164 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: nicks and scratches that helped distinguish one animal for another. Yeah, 165 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: they were suddenly very interested in the wounded baby buffalo noise. 166 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: UH and the team immediately upon getting this spectacularly close 167 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: up view. UH noticed a significant difference between the Tavo 168 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: lions and their Serengetti counterparts, and it was not about 169 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: their hair, even though that's what they had initially gone 170 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: primarily to study. UH. Whereas a pride in the Serengetti 171 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 1: would normally have six or seven females and anywhere from 172 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,719 Speaker 1: two to four males, Tsavo prides often had seven or 173 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: eight females and only a single male. Patterson and Kay's 174 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: also observed another unusual behavior that they had never seen 175 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: another lion groups, and those are troops of three or 176 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: four males living and hunting together outside of a normal 177 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: mixed sex tribe. And worth noting is the fact that 178 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 1: the ghost in the Darkness actually fell outside either of 179 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: these group behaviors that Patterson and Kay's have witnessed. Uh, 180 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: they were two mature males that were hunting together, So 181 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: they were older than these young males that they were 182 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: finding in groups of four, and they did not seem 183 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 1: to have females with them at all. Patterson and Kay's 184 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: theorized that these unusual behaviors and the manlessness trade are 185 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,680 Speaker 1: all linked directly to the animals hormones, So their theory 186 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: is centered around the idea that the male only groups 187 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: are probably immature males who haven't had hormonal peaking. Once 188 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: they reach full maturity, they'll probably lose their ability to 189 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 1: tolerate each other, and they'll form their own prides by 190 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: attracting females. This theory also includes the idea that the 191 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: higher than normal testosterone levels may account for not having manes, 192 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: similar to how male pattern baldness is also linked to 193 00:10:54,440 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: high testosterone. Yeah, but they haven't been able to um 194 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: conclusively determined if that's the case. Uh, you know, it's 195 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: tricky to capture such a beast and test it, ah, man, 196 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: would you want to? Well? And because because people's hormones 197 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: are not like static things exactly, it's not a constant. Yeah, 198 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: you you would have to capture them and test their 199 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: hormones repeatedly, and then the act of capturing and testing 200 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: would also be a stressor that would influence that it 201 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: would be kind of uh. There was one thing that 202 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: I read that said that, like, really to get a 203 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 1: full comparison of like a Tsavo lion versus your standard 204 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: Sherengetti lion, you would have to somehow capture two as cubs, 205 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: take them away from you know, their pride or their 206 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: their parents, raise them side by side in identical circumstances, 207 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: and then do testing. But it is both difficult and 208 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:52,959 Speaker 1: has a lot of question marks about whether that's a 209 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: good thing to do. Also, just as a side note, 210 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: I find that the mainless males to look really freaky, 211 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: Like like, as a kid, you learned that that male 212 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: lions have manes and lionesses do not, that you don't 213 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 1: really think of their bodies being dissimilar other than that, 214 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: like that's sort of the key marker that we learned 215 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: as little kids. And their bodies actually are pretty different, 216 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: and them so huge and muscular, and it's like the 217 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: main and other lions is kind of hiding some of that. 218 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: They look like thugs, they they're they look just so 219 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: they're beady yet the mainless male lines. If you have 220 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: not seen their videos, we have them on the website, 221 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: and they strike me in a very They're frightening. They're 222 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: frightening to me. And at one point, all of this 223 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: discussion about the different behaviors from other lions and the 224 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: different physical traits leve researchers to suspect that they might 225 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: actually be a distinct species, different from other lions, and 226 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: that that would explain the mainlessness and these behavior variations. 227 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:02,319 Speaker 1: Unlike the hormone question, genetics proved this to be wrong 228 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: pretty easily. Genetic sequencing revealed that Tavo lions are exactly 229 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: the same as any other East African lions, so genetically 230 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: they should be able to grow mains. There's no DNA 231 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: reason for them to be behaving differently. And it's possible, 232 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: of course, that the lack of the main is actually 233 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: a response to environmental conditions. The thorny terrain of Tsavo 234 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: would make a long main inconvenient, and Tsavo is also 235 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: lower and warmer climate than the Serengetti, so lions in 236 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: this hotter region may simply have adapted without means because 237 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: the heat makes that additional hair a huge handicap to 238 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: both their comfort and their health. It would make it 239 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: really difficult for lions in search of food or mates 240 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: to travel long distances because that extra heat generated by 241 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: the blanket of their main would cause them to need 242 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: more frequent water stops, which are not always available in Tsavo. 243 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,079 Speaker 1: There's just not as many opportunities for kind of refreshment. 244 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: So it could be entirely just a and environmental adaptation. 245 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: Now let's talk about whether they actually ate all those people. Yeah, 246 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: this also is a science to the rescue situation. Yeah, 247 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: so the famous lions of John H. Patterson's account did 248 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:18,119 Speaker 1: indeed kill and eat people. But the number originally reported 249 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: of a hundred and thirty five deaths, which I just 250 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: stuns me, that's been reevaluated in recent years. Yeah. Patterson 251 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: uh uses that number in his book. And scientists at 252 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: you see Santa Cruz examined samples from the Field Museum's 253 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: display and they compared isotopes in samples collected from the felines, 254 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: bone collagen, and Hairkeratin says, we know what you eat 255 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: shows up in your collagen and your hair and your hair. Uh. 256 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: They compared that with the ice hoopes that were found 257 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: in their normal prey zebra, buffalo, willed the beast, and 258 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: they also compared it to the remains of Kenyans from 259 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: the nineteen century to get a better idea of what 260 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: the animals had actually consumed. So they're basically comparing all 261 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: of these tiny eat batty microscopic you know, atomic level 262 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: proteins and keratins with all of the other possible things 263 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: they could have eaten. And Uh, just in case you're 264 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: wondering where those human samples of Kenyons from the nineteenth 265 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: century came from. Uh, they actually used material that had 266 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: been gathered by anthropologist Louis Leaky during an expedition in 267 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: so just a couple of decades after the killings that 268 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: were going on as part of the big Ghost in 269 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: the Darkness event. So theoretically those canyons would have had 270 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 1: similar diets and their isotopes would be the same as 271 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: the ones twenty years prior. Yeah, the same basic process 272 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: is what we talked about in our episode about the 273 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: cannibalism at Jamestown. When they were trying to figure out 274 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: who this person was and where she had come from, 275 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: they had looked at the isotopes that remained as a 276 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: result of her diet, and in this case, the findings 277 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: indicated that one of the lions probably eight twenty four people, 278 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: so that would be about half of its diet during 279 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: the last months of its life. The other one ate 280 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: only about eleven people and seems to favor middle sized 281 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: herbivores for the majority of its food. So yeah, quite 282 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: a bit short of one. That is still still a 283 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: lot of people were still in the dozens. Arena Railroad 284 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: Company records indicate that twenty Indian nationals were killed by 285 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: the lions, and there was an unknown number of Africans, 286 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: so they had shipped in Indian nationals and they had 287 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: much better records on them, which is why we know. Uh. 288 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: And these records, combined with the data that the UC 289 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: Santa Cruz team compiled from doing this isotopic comparison, have 290 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 1: led many to wonder if John Patterson didn't kind of 291 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 1: inflate the number to one thirty five in his book 292 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: as sort of a hunter's boast or even a way 293 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: just to drum up book sales. Although to me, I 294 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: think if you say these lions killed thirty five people, 295 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: that's pretty shocking. I don't know why you have to 296 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: add a hundred more to it? Well, and then the 297 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: editor and me goes Or did somebody just accidentally type 298 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: out a one in front of the rest and no 299 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,360 Speaker 1: one caught it? I wondered about that too. So many 300 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: of the researchers who study the Savo lions have asserted 301 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: that this group is no more inherently likely to attack 302 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 1: people than any other lions, but the circumstances just led 303 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: to their selection of people as prey, and the humans 304 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: love of a good story has continued to put them 305 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,879 Speaker 1: forth as this kind of legendarily bloodthirsty man eating pack 306 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: uh and the kind of close out on that mindset. 307 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,359 Speaker 1: Zoologist Dennis King, who has studied the Savo lions for years, 308 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: once told journalist Philip Caputo, quote, people don't want to 309 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: give up on mythology. I am so sick of this 310 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: man eater business. Patterson has made a hell of a 311 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:52,880 Speaker 1: lot of money off that sort of story. But Tsavo's 312 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: lions are no more likely to turn man eater than 313 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 1: lions from elsewhere. So his thing is like, we shouldn't 314 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: be demonizing this one group of lions. Yeah, we're kind 315 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: of creating the perfect set of circumstances for them to 316 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: have developed this taste for humans. Well, the story keeps 317 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: reminding me of Jaws. Jaws made sharks be terrifying in 318 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: people's minds in a way that they were not before. 319 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: This story of these specific lines, Yeah, makes them quite 320 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: more terrifying than lions on their own already are being 321 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: big apex predators. Yeah. Again, thirty five would have been 322 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: fine to be terrifying, especially when you get to the 323 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: part where they're just dragging people off in the night. Yeah. 324 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: I mean it's scary, and they were genuinely scary. I 325 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: don't want to play down the fact that, like, yes, 326 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: they really did kill and eat people, and they were 327 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: extremely um crafty in the way they went about their hunts, 328 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: and they were stalking humans as though they were any 329 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: other prey. Uh. But we have to look at the 330 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: bigger picture of the circumstantial scenario that they found themselves 331 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: in that led them to that behavior. Yeah. Well, and 332 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,479 Speaker 1: I don't intend to victim blame by pointing out that 333 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: there were there were people in the lion turf, but 334 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: that is also a consequence of Yeah, it's a factor. 335 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: So that's the scoop on the Tsavo lions, which I 336 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: love to read about them. Um, anytime there's a new 337 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: behavioral study or research study, I'm always excited. Well, And 338 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: I think the last time we got an email from 339 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:26,879 Speaker 1: somebody asking us to talk about them, I remember, like, 340 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: we have a hard time answering our email. We have 341 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,959 Speaker 1: lots of email that is as yet unanswered. Yeah this 342 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,120 Speaker 1: is one. Yeah, this is one where the email came 343 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: in and there was this immediate answer for it. It 344 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: was like, I totally want to talk about those. I 345 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: do because I love that story, and it is one 346 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,199 Speaker 1: because I'm crazy animal lady and I really have a 347 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: thing for cats obviously, um, but just you know, I 348 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: sort of, if I had not gone into my career field, 349 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: one of the things I considered was animal behavior. So 350 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,160 Speaker 1: it's a little pet zone of mine. Yeah, and they're 351 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: just so majestic and beautiful. And I remember the first 352 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:01,719 Speaker 1: time I aw them at the field like kind of 353 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: gasped and just they're very quietly and yeah, I can't 354 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: help but have sort of a respect and fear at 355 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,680 Speaker 1: the same time. It's literal awe. That word has been 356 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,360 Speaker 1: kind of turned into something other when people say it's 357 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: awesome it means something different than one is an interestingly meant. 358 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 1: They are truly awesome, like they inspire all that. It 359 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: made me sad that when I was in Chicago, the 360 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: one time that I've been to Chicago, I did not 361 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,159 Speaker 1: go to the Field. I went to the Museum of 362 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,360 Speaker 1: Science and Industry, which is also also spectacular. But yeah, 363 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 1: I was kind of like, I wish I had managed 364 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: to make my trip one more day longer. They have 365 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: an entire huge taxidermy wing that's really mind blowing. They've 366 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: done such a beautiful job with it. So if you 367 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 1: are into that, highly recommended, The Field is a well, 368 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: it's one of my favorite museums. Do you have some 369 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: listener mail? Do you? And it's actually similar to the 370 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: listener mail we had in our last episode, because it 371 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: turns out everyone is related to a Heshan. Maybe not everybody, 372 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:00,400 Speaker 1: but a lot of people are and it's really cool 373 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: because they've kept really interesting family record. Uh So this 374 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 1: one comes from our listener Amanda, and she wrote us 375 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,439 Speaker 1: on Facebook she said, Hi there, I love listening to 376 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: the show, especially during my morning commute. I recently listened 377 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: to the Hessian's episode and it triggered a memory of 378 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:18,240 Speaker 1: a genealogy book of my paternal grandmother's family. Johann Schwam 379 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: was a Hessian who fought and was captured in the 380 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: Battle of Trenton. He was then taken to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 381 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,359 Speaker 1: my hometown, as a prisoner of war, and was sold 382 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 1: basically as an indentured servant to work on a local farm. 383 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: Once his service was completed, he made his way to Uh, 384 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: the county in Pennsylvania that ended up being where my 385 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: grandmother was born. I've also heard the term Hessian used 386 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,120 Speaker 1: to describe a group of click or click of rough 387 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: hooligan teenage boys. I had never heard it that way, 388 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,040 Speaker 1: but I kind of love that. I'll appropriate historical terms 389 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: for immediately labeling suppose at times with care. Uh. Yet, 390 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: as long as we're not appropriating oppressed minority groups, Yeah, nothing, 391 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: that's that seems like a fun and lighthearted nobody gets hurt. Uh. 392 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: In the genealogy book, we found that one of Johann's 393 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,919 Speaker 1: descendants was a witness to the execution of William Kehoe, 394 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: the leader of the Molly McGuire's Possible podcast topic. Uh. 395 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: That is a really cool story, Amanda. You don't hear 396 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: much about the ones that were sold off as servants. 397 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: That's one we did not get very many emails about. 398 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: We got a lot more. Yeah, we got a lot more. 399 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: You know, my ancestor was ash and he deserted. Or 400 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 1: my ancestor was a Heshan who stayed after the war. 401 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: Not so much. Mine was captured and sold a prisoner 402 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: of war who was sold into ind injured servitude. But 403 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,360 Speaker 1: it seems like it worked out. Hey, service was completed, 404 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: he ended up settling in the Lovely area, and that's 405 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: how Amanda came to be. So it worked out just fine. 406 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: If you would also like to write as you can uh. 407 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: We are at History Podcast at Discovery dot com. If 408 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: you want to easy email. If you would like to 409 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: connect with us on Facebook, you can do so at 410 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,679 Speaker 1: Facebook dot com, slash history class. Stuff at missed in 411 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: History will get you to us on Twitter. Missed in 412 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,639 Speaker 1: History dot Tumbler dot com is our Tumbler address, and 413 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 1: we are also on Pinterest. You can just do a 414 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 1: search for stuff you missed in History class will brand us. 415 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: If you would like to learn more about a topic 416 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: tangentially related to what we talked about today, you can 417 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: go to our website type in the word little lion 418 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: and you will get an article on how lion taming work. Incidentally, uh, 419 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: if you watch any of the movies, particularly the most 420 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: recent one that started up Dal Kilmer and Michael Douglas 421 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: about the Ghosts in the Darkness, you will notice that 422 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: those lions have mains. That's because it is hard to 423 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: capture and team a savo lion. The lions working in 424 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: Hollywood all have mains. So uh, that is how it's 425 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: connected to lion taming. But if you would like to 426 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: learn about almost anything else that you can think of, 427 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: you should do that at our website, which is how 428 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:53,120 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. For more on this and thousands 429 00:23:53,119 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 1: of other topics, is it how stuff Works dot com. 430 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,200 Speaker 1: Netflix streams TV shows and movies directly to your home, 431 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: saving you time, money, and hassle. As a Netflix member, 432 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: you can instantly watch TV episodes and movies streaming directly 433 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,679 Speaker 1: to your PC, Mac, or right to your TV with 434 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: your Xbox three, sixty P S three or Nintendo we 435 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,680 Speaker 1: console plus Apple devices, Kindle and Nook. Get a free 436 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,440 Speaker 1: thirty day trial membership. Go to www dot Netflix dot 437 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 1: com and sign up now.