Christian was a lion originally purchased by Australians John Rendall and Anthony 'Ace' Bourke from Harrods department store of London in 1969[1] and ultimately reintroduced to the wild.
Relocation
Rendall and Bourke (erroneously cited in various sources as Berg), with their girlfriends Jennifer Mary and Unity Jones, cared for the lion where they lived in London — until it was a year old. Christian's increasing size and the increasing cost of his care led Rendall and Bourke to understand they could not keep him in London.[1] When Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, stars of the film Born Free, visited Rendall and Bourke's furniture shop and met Christian — they suggested that Bourke and Rendall ask the assistance of George Adamson, the Kenyan conservationist who, together with his wife Joy, was the subject of their movie. Adamson agreed to help reintegrate Christian into the wild at his compound at Kora National Reserve.
Adamson introduced Christian to an older lion 'Boy' and subsequently to a female cub Katiana in order to form the nucleus of a new pride. The pride suffered many setbacks: Katiana was possibly devoured by crocodiles at a watering hole, another female was killed by wild lions, and Boy was injured, afterwards losing his ability to socialize with other lions and humans, and was shot through the heart by Adamson after fatally wounding a man. These events left Christian as the sole surviving member of the original pride.
Adamson continued his work, and over the course of a year the pride established itself in the region around Kora, with Christian as the head of the pride started by Boy.[2]
Reunions
Reunion with Rendall and Bourke in 1972
When Rendall and Bourke were informed by Adamson of Christian's successful reintroduction to the wild (reported in some newspaper articles to be in 1971, and by George Adamson to be 1972[3]), they travelled to Kenya to visit Christian and were filmed in the documentary Christian, The Lion at World's End. According to the documentary, Adamson advised Rendall and Bourke that Christian may not remember them. The film shows the lion at first cautiously approach and then quickly leap gently onto the two men, standing on his hind legs and wrapping his front legs around their shoulders, nuzzling their faces. The documentary also shows the female lions, Mona and Lisa, and a foster cub named Supercub welcoming the two men.
A viral video as well as a remake video of this reunion (both edited from the documentary) received worldwide attention more than 30 years after the event. As of August 2008 various versions have been viewed over thirty million times.[4] Various news sources have tracked down Rendall and Bourke for their current perspective on the events surrounding their life with Christian.[5]
Reunion with Rendall in 1973
Rendall details a final, unfilmed reunion that occurred (reported in some newspaper articles to have been in 1974, and by George Adamson to have been in 1973[6]). This reunion occurred without Bourke, and by this time Christian was successfully defending his own pride, had cubs of his own and was about twice the size he was in the earlier reunion video.[7] Adamson advised Rendall that it would most likely be a wasted trip as he had not seen Christian's pride for nine months. However, when he reached Kora, Christian and his pride had returned to Adamson's compound the day before their arrival.
Rendall describes the visit he and George Adamson made Vorlage:Fact: Vorlage:Cquote
The second reunion lasted until the next morning. According to Rendall that was the last anyone saw of Christian.[8]
Adamson counted the days from the late spring 1973 final reunion. He notes in his memoirs that after 97 days, he stopped counting.[9]
Documentary film
A film titled Christian, The Lion at World's End documented the relocation of Christian from England to Kenya and his successful reintroduction to the wild.
Miscellaneous
BTW he's a Wriblet
References
External links
- Born Free Foundation website, with the uncut ending of the documentary reunion
- Christian the Lion and his family
- Christian the Lion - A true story
- Complete Video Record of Christian, with Documentary and Interviews of Bourke and Rendall
- Christian the Lion and his friends.
- The Lion Who Lived in my Living Room
- MSNBC Interview
- Snopes.com page on Christian the Lion
- Today Show Video Interview of Bourke and Rendall, July 30 2008
- George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust]
- ↑ a b Christian, the lion who lived in my London living room. The Daily Mail, UK, Victoria Moore, 04 May 2007
- ↑ [Documentary, Christian: The Lion at the End of the World]
- ↑ George Adamson, My Pride and Joy, caption to hugging reunion picture, page 224
- ↑ Mike Celizic: Man in ‘hugging’ lion video reveals its secrets, MSNBC Interactive, 30. Juli 2008. Abgerufen am 14. September 2008
- ↑ Meet the Owners of 'Christian the Lion'
- ↑ Adamson, My Pride and Joy, chapter 12 (1971-1973), page 231
- ↑ MSNBC
- ↑ Daily Mail
- ↑ Adamson, My Pride and love, chapter 12 (1971-1973), page 231