The Ghost and the Darkness

[treesparrow]

A film from 1996 starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas based on the book The Man-eaters of Tsavo by Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson. The action takes place in East Africa in 1898 during the construction of a railway line and bridge where numerous workers were killed by 2 man-eating lions. (At least 135 died although some suggest it could have been up to 300). The movie depicts a just group of several hundred workers although the actual camp site contained 7, 000.

The lion pair would sometimes strike at night announcing their presence for 3 hours beforehand by continuously roaring adding to the collective terror, then rip a tent or two open and drag off an unfortunate victim. Other nights there would be no such warning, sometimes they would hit the camp in broad daylight. There seemed to be no set 'menu' as regards hunting strategy. Almost supernatural cunning and out right malevolence seemed to be involved. Certainly one of the local tribes and the labourers saw them as demons, evil spirits . (I can't help but wonder if they were in fact possessed).

The film has been 'Hollywoodised' a bit by the inclusion of the character played Douglas - he do not in fact exist - but it does not detract from the overall narrative, I think, it just adds bit more pizazz and excitement.

One more thing - no CGI - just great editing, camera angles and well trained maned lions. (The real lions were without manes)

Another one more thing - most films where creatures are used usually end with a statement saying that no animals harmed during production. In this case I wonder if any of the humans (extras) employed suffered at all - you know the sort of thing - 'I soon as you get your arm out of that lion's jaws - you're fired!!!'

Trailer -

Here's a fascinating documentary of the events -

 

[Wandering Star]

Certainly one of the local tribes and the labourers saw them as demons, evil spirits . (I can't help but wonder if they were in fact possessed).

I think I remember from the movie that they say something like "that's not a lion!", because what that lion was doing was against the normal nature of lions.

So I also think it's possible.

 

[Laura]

I've watched this movie 3 times so far and will probably watch it again. It was EXCELLENT.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

We watched it a couple years ago and loved it.

 

[Natus Videre]

Hmm... were the lions possessed? Was there any element of high strangeness?

The theories for the man-eating behavior obviously only focus on material causes:

Theories for the man-eating behaviour of lions have been reviewed by Peterhans and Gnoske, as well as Dr. Bruce D. Patterson (2004). Their discussions include the following:

• An outbreak of rinderpest (cattle plague) in 1898 (see 1890s African rinderpest epizootic) devastated the lions' usual prey, forcing them to find alternative food sources.
• The Tsavo lions may have been accustomed to finding dead humans at the Tsavo River crossing. Slave caravans to the center of the East African slave trade, Zanzibar, routinely crossed the river there.
• An alternative argument indicates that the first lion had a severely damaged tooth that would have compromised its ability to kill natural prey.[12] However, the general public has generally disregarded this theory. Colonel Patterson, who killed the lions, personally disclaimed it, saying that he damaged that tooth with his rifle while the lion charged him one night, prompting it to flee.[13]

Studies indicate that the lions ate humans as a supplement to other food, as a last resort. Eating humans was probably an alternative to hunting or scavenging due to dental disease and/or a limited number of prey.[14][15]

A 2017 study by Dr. Bruce Patterson found that one of the lions had an infection at the root of his canine tooth, making it hard for that particular lion to hunt. Lions typically use their jaws to grab prey like zebras and wildebeests and suffocate them.

Tsavo Man-Eaters - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[msasa79]

Well, whatever was the actual reason for lions' behavior, that is for attacking humans, the movie was very good in depicting and suggesting possible otherworldly influence, not only on that pair of lions in general, but also when that bird (crow?) attacked Patterson when he was on the machan and got him off it at the exact moment for one of the lions to attack him. I also found a scene with starry African night sky shortly after this attack, with Orion and Cassiopeia constellations shown, as a very nice aesthetic touch.

All in all, very good movie, thank you all for recommendations!

Edit: spelling

 

[Yupo]

I've seen it several times. Excellent movie. Those lions are now at the Field Museum in Chicago, a place dear to my heart.

Tsavo Lions - Field Museum

www.fieldmuseum.org

 

[Keit]

As coincidences go, here is a very recent research (published on 11th of October this year):

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)01240-5

Translated from article in Russian:

A new paper in the journal Current Biology presents the results of analyzing genomic material from hair trapped in dental cavities. It turns out that the lions ate at least two giraffes and a zebra. They also hunted chamois, water goat, gnu antelope, and oryx. Human and lion DNA has been found. Not all the victims could be identified due to incomplete genetic material.

Researchers led by Alida de Fleming from the University of Illinois (USA) have created a database of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of potential victims that lived during the hunting times of cannibalistic lions. This type of mitochondrial genome is maternally inherited and can also be used to analyze ancestry. According to recent work, mtDNA is preserved in hair uncontaminated. There is more of it in cells than nuclear and the sequence size is smaller, making it easier to identify.

Analysis of the lion mtDNA confirmed the earlier theory that the Tsavo cannibals were maternal relatives originating from Kenya or Tanzania. The hairs of wool ended up in their teeth, probably during joint grooming.

The discovery of the genome of the gnu antelope surprised researchers. According to historical records, in the 1890s, their nearest pastures were 90 kilometers away. Attacks of lions on road builders began in April 1898, then the predators disappeared for six months and continued to kill in November. It is possible that during their absence the lions made a long trek in search of more abundant prey.

According to modern observations, lions in Tsavo hunt mainly buffalo, now abundant in the region. But in the late 1890s, their population was almost completely wiped out by a viral infection brought in from India. This may explain the lack of buffalo DNA in the tooth material. Microscopically, only one hair belonging to them was identified.

As for the human DNA, it was possible to determine the maternal haplogroup - K2a. The authors of the article refused from a more detailed analysis for ethical reasons. Descendants of potential lion victims may still live in the region.