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Claims to fame
The Tsavo lions, which live in the dry, scrubby grasslands of East Africa, represent the only well documented population of maneless lions. They attracted international attention in 1996 with the release of the major motion picture The Ghost and the Darkness, which tells the story of two large Tsavo lions that killed and ate more than 130 railroad workers in 1898.

The workers were building a bridge for the British over the Tsavo River in southeastern Kenya when they faced a nine-month Reign of Terror. Construction was halted for several months until the lions were hunted down and killed. The two lions were stuffed and are now one of The Field Museums most popular displays (see Tsavo lions under Quick Links at (http://www.fieldmuseum.org/).

Ironically, manes are so symbolic of male lions that The Ghost and the Darkness used maned lions to represent the two maneless man-eaters of Tsavo. Scientists believe that lions evolved manes because they attract females, deter trespassers, intimidate nomadic males, give a visual sign of a territorial males control, and protect the vital head and neck regions in a fight. Manes serve similar functions as antlers in deer.

But with so many advantages, why do Tsavo lions lack manes something that this research confirmed scientifically for the first time? Some scientists have suggested that male Tsavo lions really do grow manes but that the regions tangled thorn bushes tear away tufts of hair as the lions hunt and chase their prey. This theory was dispelled by observations of maneless male lions in arid grasslands lacking thorn bush. Some have even suggested that the Tsavo lions are a distinct species, but this possibility is unsubstant
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Contact: Greg Borzo
gborzo@fieldmuseum.org
312-665-7106
Field Museum
10-Apr-2002