Nuer porters with lion
35 mm | Negative film Kodak Panatonic
Previous PRM Number:
WT.Southern Sudan.9.00
Accession Number:
2004.130.36018.1
Description:
A group of Nuer porters standing behind a lion shot by Thesiger in Western Nuerland, one of forty lions he shot in southern Sudan.
He later wrote that lions were then considered vermin in the region, and were especially abundant in the Western District.
One of the porters is holding a gun, but is unlikely to have been given it to shoot with.
Photographer:
Wilfred Patrick Thesiger
Date of Photo:
1938
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Wahda
Group:
Nuer
PRM Source:
Wilfred Patrick Thesiger
Acquired:
Accepted as Art in Lieu of Inheritance Tax by H.M. Government and allocated to the Pitt Rivers Museum, March 2004
Other Owners:
n/a
Class:
Fauna , Weapon
Keyword:
Animal Lion , Firearm
Other Information:
In The Life of My Choice (Harper Collins 1987) Thesiger notes (page 273) that 'I know that today it sounds unforgiveable to have shot seventy lion in five years, but that was fifty years ago and circumstances of that time cannot be judged by those of today.
Lion were then rated as vermin in the Sudan, and were especially abundant in Western Nuer District.' Chris Morton [20/9/2004]
Recorder:
Elin Bornemann [11/12/2003] Christopher Morton [20/9/2004] [Southern Sudan Project]
