The science of man-eating among lions with a reconstruction of the Tsavo events

Kerbis Peterhans and Gnoske compiled historical, ecological, and anatomical evidence to reconstruct the natural history of man-eating in lions, focusing on the Tsavo case. They reviewed records of lion attacks across Africa, prey availability, the role of the late-nineteenth-century rinderpest panzootic that collapsed wild ungulate populations, and the disruption caused by the slave and ivory caravan trade. They argued man-eating is a learnable, sometimes socially transmitted behaviour triggered by opportunity and necessity rather than pathology alone. The synthesis offers a careful, evidence-based corrective to sensational narratives and situates conflict within broader ecological and human-historical context.