News Animals

DNA from old hair helps confirm the macabre diet of two 19th century lions

Strands from the lions' prey collected in their teeth, creating a genetic log of past meals

A museum diorama of two notorious 19th century lions. One is crouched in the foreground in what looks like a hunting pose while the second looks like it is running up to the scene.

The taxidermied Tsavo lions (shown) are on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The two male lions were responsible for many deaths during the late 1890s.

Jeffrey Jung (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Jake Buehler

A pair of male lions that roamed Kenya more than a century ago gained notoriety as the “man-eaters of Tsavo.”