WHY do some lions become maneaters? A popular theory has it that only sick or injured lions attack humans and our livestock because they are unable to snag fleet-footed prey such as zebras and gazelles. But it turns out that most man-eating lions are young males in good physical health.
In 1898, two lions famously terrorised railroad workers building a bridge over Kenya鈥檚 Tsavo River, killing and eating nearly 30 people. The Tsavo maneaters are on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and have been the subject of several books, movies, and scientific studies.
Previously, zoologist Bruce Patterson at the Field Museum and dentist Ellis Neiburger presented evidence at a meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists that both Tsavo lions had broken teeth and jaws (New 杏吧原创, 1 July 2000, p 18). He theorised that tooth damage and dental disease 鈥� serious problems for big cats that surprise their prey and grab them by the neck 鈥� could make lions hunt for slower, less wary humans.
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His findings supported those of hunter Jim Corbett, who had also noted broken teeth, missing claws and other handicaps in man-eating tigers. It was Corbett who championed the theory that injured carnivores pose the greatest danger to humans.
Patterson and his team wanted to see if the infirmity theory held for modern attacks on humans in the Tsavo area. But after examining the teeth and jaws of 23 鈥減roblem lions鈥� killed by rangers outside the borders of Tsavo East National Park, they found that less than a quarter had damaged teeth (Journal of Mammalogy, vol 84, p 190). With the exception of one old female that had killed and partially consumed a child, and two others euthanised for injuries caused by buffaloes, the majority of Tsavo鈥檚 troublemakers were healthy males under five years of age caught on farms and ranches bordering the park.
Patterson, who is conducting several research projects on Tsavo鈥檚 lions, says that young males expelled from their natural prides are leaving the park鈥檚 boundaries in search of a territory and encountering a growing population of humans and livestock. It may all be too much for a young lion to resist.
Meanwhile, reports of gruesome lion attacks continue to emerge from other parts of Africa. 鈥淭here have been a fair number of attacks on humans in the last couple of years, including some in South African camps,鈥� says Craig Packer, director of the University of Minnesota鈥檚 Lion Research Center in St Paul. 鈥淭he problem is, there are a growing number of ecotourist camps that are putting people in the bush right next to lions.鈥�