Chief engineer Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson had to take action in order to convince the workers to return to the site and resume work on the bridge. After many failed attempts, he managed to shoot both of the lions, and the bridge was completed soon after. Patterson sold the lions' skulls and skins to Chicago's Field Museum in 1924, where they were stuffed and mounted and are still on display today.

The Tsavo lions were unusual in many ways. Physically, they were slightly larger than most lions � one measured 9 feet, 8 inches from nose to tail; eight men were needed to carry its carcass after the lion was killed by Patterson. And although both were male, neither had much of a mane. Their behavior was also strange. Lions generally live in family groups made up of several related females, their cubs and one or two males. The females do most of the hunting. These two lived alone, hunted together, and preyed on humans and water buffalo rather than a lion's typical diet of zebras, gazelles and wildebeest.

These lions also had the peculiar habit of dragging their victims back to a cave, where they could feast without interruptions. The photo on the left was taken in 1899 by Patterson, while the other was taken in 1997.