Research overview: maneless Tsavo lions and the biology of conflict-prone populations

This overview examines the distinctive biology of Tsavo lions, including the prevalence of maneless or sparsely maned males, higher testosterone hypotheses, smaller more transient coalitions, and arid-environment ecology, and how these traits intersect with conflict. It synthesises studies of Tsavo social structure, prey base, and ranging behaviour relative to better-watered savanna populations. The survey considers whether Tsavo's harsher, prey-limited conditions select for behaviour that occasionally brings lions into contact with people and livestock. It frames the famous man-eaters not as anomalies but as products of a particular ecological and physiological setting, linking population biology to the propensity for human-lion conflict.