KenyaTrue Story of Christian The Lion, Christian the Lion is a true story about the interaction between man and animal, as well as the incredible journey that Christian took from the zoo to Harrods and then to the wilds of Kenya.

Brief history of Christian The Lion

This remarkable true story of love between man and animal sheds light on the profound trust and affection that people have for wild animals, as well as the enduring nature of their romantic relationship. In August of 1969, Christian was born at the Ilfracombe Zoo in Devon. He was a member of a litter that had been rejected by their mother.

The zoo keepers were responsible for the hand rearing of the litter; however, when Christian and his sister were just a few months old, they were sold to Harrod’s, which is a prominent department store in London.

London

Following their recent arrival from Australia, John Rendall and Ace Bourke were working at Sophistocat, an antique pine furniture business in London. They had recently arrived in the United Kingdom. In the course of their exploration of London, they went to Harrod’s and noticed a young lion cub sitting in the window of the store. After giving it little further thought, they went ahead and purchased the cub and brought him back to their apartment in Chelsea.

As a humorous reference to the fact that Christians are fed to lions, they gave the cub the name Christian. Christian was given a place to live in the basement of the antique shop, and the family also lived in the upper level of the shop. Both John and Ace had the experience of growing up with pets, so they took care of Christian and treated him as if he were a large pet and a member of the family. There are certain photographs that have become classic that show Christian driving around London in a car with an open roof, but in general, Christian’s life was steady, and he went for walks in the neighborhood on a daily basis.

The character of Christian was one of gentleness and sociability; but, as is the case with all infants, Christian began to grow in size and became more challenging to manage in the surroundings of London. Through a fortunate turn of events, Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, who had previously been in the film “Born Free,” happened to stop by Sophistocat Antique Shop and happened to see Christian. They were captivated by Christian, and they proposed that Ace and John get in touch with George Adamson in order to rehabilitate Christian and release him back into the wild.

Despite the fact that Ace and John had not truly considered this possibility, they were aware that given that Christian was now an adult lion, he would not be able to remain in London. Consequently, they reached out to George Adamson, who initiated the process of introducing Christian to the African continent by coordinating with Kenyan Wildlife Services.

Kenya

After a number of months, the wheels of bureaucracy in Kenya began to turn, and it took even longer for authorization to be granted that would allow Christians to travel there. During this time, Ace and John decided to leave their careers in London and relocate to a caravan that was located close to the residence of Bill Travers, which was located thirty miles outside of London in the countryside. In this location, Christian had more room to walk about and exercise than in the previous location.

There was a lot of work that needed to be done in order to get the Christian, who was approximately one year old at the time, ready for the wilds of Africa. When he arrived in the English countryside, he was even afraid of a scarecrow, and he showed very little aggression. Christian was brought to the “wilds” for the first time when Virginia and Bill constructed a big compound for him on their property. This was the closest he had ever been to it. Christian appeared to have a good time settling down and appeared to take pleasure in playing outside and exploring his environment.

As a result of the fact that Ace and John were aware that these moments spent with Christian were unique and might be their last, they desired to spend as much time as they could with him. On the other hand, after four months of continual care with Ace and John, a strong link was being formed between the three of them. Christian’s lion instincts were beginning to emerge. The following is an excerpt from an interview that Ace Bourke gave: “He was dependent on us, but he also loved us, as we were the things that were closest to him.” While this was going on, George Adamson was preparing his camp in the Kora Nature Reserve in Kenya to welcome Christian followers. Already working with wild lions that required rehabilitation, George had a small pride of lions that he wanted Christian to meet. He wanted Christian to be introduced to the pride.

Following a lengthy trip, Christian was still required to travel an additional two hundred miles through the rugged terrain of Africa before arriving at the Kora Nature Reserve. Suddenly finding himself in such a different atmosphere must have been such a shock for Christian. They must have been so different. He took Ace and John along with him on his trip to Kenya. He had a terrible experience on his first night in the Kenyan wilderness. The first time Christian came into contact with hippos and crocodiles, he did not exhibit any aggressive behavior but rather a modest interest in them. While John and Ace gave off the impression of being at ease, the truth was that they were actually dealing with a “London lion” in Africa! Christian’s history put him in a precarious position among the wild animals.

Other difficulties included coming face to face with George’s man-made pride of lions and, subsequently, real lions, who were not content with the presence of another male in their territory in the first place. Despite the fact that George was highly inexperienced in this setting, he was able to observe that the natural impulses of Christians were unaltered. During his first year in Kenya, he had a lot of challenges. You have a lot of things to learn.

The period that Christian spent in Africa was chronicled on film by Derek Cattani and George Adamson. Together, they produced movies that were produced by Bill Travers. These videos helped to cover the costs of moving Christian to Kenya. Additionally, they assisted George in maintaining his camp at Kora so that he could continue to rehabilitate other lions. For those interested, the documentary titled “Christian the Lion” is still available from the Born Free Foundation.

After leaving Christian at Kora for a year, Ace and John went back to visit him in 1971, despite the fact that they had received a lot of advise that it would be a trip that would be wasted. They documented this remarkable journey, which consisted of a jubilant reunion between two men and a lion that had become wild.

They had a great deal of uncertainty regarding the manner in which they would be received when they confronted Christian once more, and it was obvious that this might be a very risky situation. After a period of tense anticipation, Ace and John made their way into land that had been occupied by Christians at the time. On the top of the hill, approximately one hundred meters away, George made his appearance, and Christian was right behind him. The two men were the focus of Christian’s attention as he halted and stared at them for an extended period of time. He then carefully made his way down the hill towards them.

Christian came leaping towards them and jumped into their arms, demonstrating a sincere recognition and a joyful reunion. The guys eventually cried out his name, as they were no longer able to bear the anticipation and stress that they had been experiencing. He was not only familiar with them, but he was also looking forward to seeing the men once more. What a remarkable get-together!

In the month of June in the year 1972, Ace and John set out on yet another journey to Kenya with the hope of reuniting with Christian, who was then three years old. After three days of waiting, Christian eventually made his way back to the camp, despite the fact that George had warned them that it was possible that Christian would not even come to camp. When compared to the previous time, he was drastically different this time. He was significantly larger than before and had grown up. He had never lost any of his charisma, despite the fact that he had become much more dignified and had stopped being exuberant in his greetings.

The fact that he would sit with the men for a brief period of time before just getting up and leaving them behind demonstrated that the men were no longer necessary in his life. Christian had stopped being a pet and had developed into a fully fledged lion. The guys, on the other hand, stayed up all night laughing and joking with Christian acting the fool, exactly like he used to do when he was known as the “London Lion.” This occurred on the final night of Ace and John’s return. When morning arrived, however, Christian had already left to go back to the other lions. They did not come upon him again. He was no longer dependent on the two men; he had transformed into an African lion. It was a successful endeavor he had undertaken.

Even though Christian was staying with George at Kora, he was always getting into fights with the lions that lived there during his time there. His departure from the camp began to extend for longer lengths of time, and the last time anyone saw him was in 1973, when he was traveling toward Meru National Park. Ace and John are under the impression that he was able to find his own pride and enjoy a full life as an African lion for at least the following seven or eight years. This is because he had been able to survive this late introduction to Africa and had grown into a full-sized lion. They are hoping that some of Christian’s descendants are still alive and well in Kenya at this time.