The Field Museum of Natural History is one of the largest natural history museums in the world, located in Chicago, Illinois, and home to a professional collection of over 24 million specimens and objects spanning fossils, gemstones, meteorites, and anthropological artifacts from every corner of the globe. The museum draws up to 2 million visitors annually to its permanent exhibitions, which include fossil halls, cultural galleries, and interactive conservation programming. Its origins trace back to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and it is named in honor of its first major benefactor, department-store magnate Marshall Field. Within the museum's Hall of Mammals, visitors come face to face with one of its most storied exhibits: the mounted remains of the two Tsavo man-eaters, a pair of maneless lions that terrorized a British railway camp in 1890s Kenya. Gates traveled to the Field Museum in Season 15 of Expedition Unknown to examine the lions' physical remains and consult with the curators who have spent careers studying them, as part of a broader investigation into how much of the Tsavo legend is actually true.
Museum collections originate from artifacts displayed at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Colonel John Henry Patterson kills the two Tsavo man-eaters and eventually sells their pelts and skulls to the Field Museum.
The lions are mounted and put on display at the Field Museum, becoming one of its most famous and enduring exhibits.
Gates investigates the Tsavo man-eaters exhibit and consults with museum curators for Expedition Unknown S15E02.
Museum curators Julian Kerbis Peterhans and Tom Gnoske have conducted ongoing forensic research into the Tsavo lions' remains at the Field Museum, and their work is central to the episode's investigation. Among the evidence examined is material recovered from the lions' teeth, including what researchers have described as human hair samples — physical traces that help corroborate at least some portion of the man-eating claims, even if the exact number of victims remains debated among scientists.
The question of how many people the lions actually killed has been a subject of genuine scholarly disagreement. Colonel Patterson's famous account placed the death toll at 135, a figure Gates references in the episode, but subsequent scientific analysis of the lions' remains — including isotopic studies of their teeth and bones — has produced more conservative estimates. Mainstream researchers generally accept that the lions were habitual human predators, though the precise scale of their predation is still considered uncertain.
The Field Museum itself is one of the world's premier natural history institutions, with a research faculty engaged in field expeditions and biodiversity studies on every continent. Its collection of over 24 million specimens provides a scientific foundation that lends credibility to forensic reexaminations like the one featured in the episode — this is not tabloid speculation, but peer-reviewed inquiry carried out by the museum's own curatorial staff.
What the Expedition Unknown episode contributes is a rare on-camera synthesis of the forensic evidence alongside a broader field investigation in Kenya — pairing the museum's physical specimens with on-the-ground exploration of the lions' original hunting territory. The episode is careful not to resolve every mystery definitively; instead, it frames the Field Museum as the evidentiary anchor of a story that still has unanswered questions, including the location of the legendary cave den Patterson claimed to have found.
The Field Museum and its collections originated from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago.
The museum's professional collection comprises over 24 million specimens and objects, supporting ongoing scientific research on every continent.
The museum draws up to 2 million visitors annually to its permanent exhibitions.
The museum is named in honor of Marshall Field, the Chicago department-store magnate who was its first major benefactor.
The Field Museum is generally accessible to the public year-round at its location in Chicago's Museum Campus along Lake Shore Drive, adjacent to Lake Michigan. Visitors can view the mounted Tsavo man-eaters in the Hall of Mammals, along with the museum's famous fossil exhibits, gem collections, and anthropological galleries. Check the museum's official website for current admission prices, hours, and any temporary exhibition schedules.
Chicago, Illinois — the museum is located directly within the city, approximately 2 miles south of the Loop.
The museum is an indoor attraction and is enjoyable any time of year, though spring and early fall tend to offer more comfortable weather for exploring the surrounding Museum Campus. Summer brings larger crowds, particularly from school and family groups.
Tsavo, Kenya
The Tsavo region of Kenya is the original hunting ground of the man-eaters whose remains are housed at the Field Museum, and Gates investigates the site as part of the same S15E02 episode.
Tsavo River
The Tsavo River runs through the area where the railway camp attacks occurred, forming the geographic heart of the man-eater story that Gates traces from Kenya back to the Field Museum.
South Africa (Kruger National Park region)
The Kruger National Park region connects thematically as another major African wildlife investigation context featured in Gates' broader Africa-focused episodes.
Historical data sourced from Wikipedia