Tsavo is a region of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

located at the crossing of the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...

over the

Tsavo River The Tsavo River is located in the Coast Province in Kenya. It runs east from the western end of the Tsavo West National Park of Kenya, near the border of Tanzania, until it joins with the Athi River Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Ke ...

, close to where it meets the

Athi-Galana-Sabaki River The Athi-Galana-Sabaki River is the second longest river in Kenya (after the Tana River). It has a total length of , and drains an area of . The river rises in the Gatamaiyo Forest as the Athi River and enters the Indian Ocean as the Galana Riv ...

. Two

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s, Tsavo East and Tsavo West are located in the area. The meaning of the word ''Tsavo'' is still unclear, but because of tribal conflicts, the

Kamba people The Kamba or Akamba (sometimes called Wakamba) people are Bantu peoples ethnic group who predominantly live in Kenya stretching from Nairobi to Tsavo and northwards to Embu, Kenya, Embu, in the southern part of the Eastern Province, Kenya, f ...

used to refer to the region as the place of "slaughter". Until the British put an end to the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

in the late 19th century, Tsavo was continually crossed by caravans of

trans-Saharan slave trade The trans-Saharan slave trade, also known as the Arab slave trade, was a Slavery, slave trade in which slaves Trans-Saharan trade, were mainly transported across the Sahara. Most were moved from sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa to be sold to ...

rs and their captives.

Flora and fauna

Typical flora of the region includes: *

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

Myrrh Myrrh (; from an unidentified ancient Semitic language, see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a few small, thorny tree species of the '' Commiphora'' genus, belonging to the Burseraceae family. Myrrh resin has been used ...

Baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...

Typical fauna of the region includes: *

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), also known as the African savanna elephant, is a species of elephant native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of three extant elephant species and, along with the African forest elephant, one ...

Giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...

African buffalo The African buffalo (''Syncerus caffer)'' is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. The adult African buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head, referred to ...

Gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, ' ...

Klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zi ...

Kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

Cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...

Cultural depictions

Tsavo has many myths and legends such as The Ghosts of Tsavo, which tells of two brothers, one the Ghost, and the other The Darkness. It was said that these brothers will forever be reincarnated as two lions. The 1996 film ''

The Ghost and the Darkness ''The Ghost and the Darkness'' is a 1996 American historical adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. The screenplay, written by William Goldman, is a fictionalized account of the Tsavo man-eater ...

'' depicts a fictionalized account of the

Tsavo Man-Eaters The Tsavo Man-Eaters were a pair of large man-eating male lions in the Tsavo region of Kenya, which were responsible for the deaths of many construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway between March and December 1898. The lion pair was ...

, which were killed by

John Henry Patterson John Henry Patterson may refer to: * John Henry Patterson (author) (1867–1947), Anglo-Irish soldier who wrote ''The Man-Eaters of Tsavo'' which was made into the film ''The Ghost and the Darkness'' in 1996 * John Henry Patterson (NCR owner) ...

in 1898.

References

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/man-eaters-of-tsavo-11614317/
Field Museum of Natural History – Tsavo Lion Exhibit

Guide to resources related to the Tsavo Lions
at th
Field Museum Library

Journal: man-eaters of Tsavo
nbsp;– ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

'', November 1998 (via FindArticles.com)
Man-Eating Lions Not Aberrant, Experts Say
nbsp;– ''

National Geographic News The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

'', 4 January 2004
Tsavo National Park
Regions of Kenya Geography of Kenya {{Kenya-geo-stub

Flora and fauna

Cultural depictions

See also

References