No matter how much he loved his two-legged roomies, wild animals get bored in such settings. Ultimately, they can get in trouble. They got the lion to Adamson at a perfect time, and Adamson was able to introduce him to a habitat that neither Christian nor his ancestors had seen for five generations.
The reunion that has opened countless tear ducts came a year later. Rendall and Bourke said that everyone asks them if they were scared watching a lion start to approach them, first at a walk and then at a run. What if Christian was so thoroughly rehabilitated he no longer saw them as friends, but as hors d'oeuvres?
He ran toward us with such love and excitement in his eyes, and we felt exactly the same way. We were just so excited to see him, looking so big and healthy. The story had just turned out so beautifully, when it could have had a very different ending. I wouldn't have bought him on my own. I needed John's incredible energy and enthusiasm.
I'm more cautious. It was such a big undertaking. And we'd never dreamt of owning a lion. But he was just there, you know. People say, "Why did you buy a lion? We knew we probably only had about six months before something marvellous - or horrible - happened, like having to take him to a zoo. But we thought we could do as well as anyone else for him.
We both grew up in houses with dogs and cats. That's very different from owning a lion, of course, but we were both good with animals. And with lions you have to be good. You have to be cool, in the real sense of the word. You can't be frantic: you don't make sudden movements. You don't impose yourself on them. He liked jumping on me, and sitting on John.
If John was reading or talking on the phone, Christian would come along and just sit right on top of him. Originally we'd thought about taking him to Longleat [an English safari park run by the Marquess of Bath], but one day Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna [stars of the lion film Born Free] came into Sophisticat to do some shopping. So we took Bill downstairs and introduced him to Christian, and they decided they wanted to make a documentary about him.
People ask, "How could you bear to lose him? We were clever about it, and we never let it become a show of strength, but if he'd wanted to do something, we could not have stopped him. Knocked George over. Adamson saw Christian a few more times over the next several months, but finally lost all contact. The wildlife expert believed that Christian moved north to happier hunting grounds and lived out his natural life. Some have speculated that poachers may have killed Christian, but Bourke and Rendall are convinced that if someone had shot the lion, word would have gotten around.
Christian, they said, was, at pounds, probably the biggest lion in Kenya, and that kind of kill would not have remained a secret.
The experience moved Rendall, who lives in London and Australia, to devote his life to conservation, and he is a trustee of the Adamson Trust. Bourke, who became a dealer in Aboriginal art in his native Australia, is also a supporter of the cause of preserving wildlife. Both hope that the millions of people who have been so moved by the clip contribute to the cause. To learn more about the George Adamson Trust and how you can support the preservation of wildlife, visit wildlifenow.
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Share this —. The grainy film first appeared on YouTube four years ago.
Since then, it has melted millions of hearts: a fully grown male lion hugs two young men like an over-enthusiastic kitten. The moving reunion of the men with their pet took place a year after they had left him in the African bush.
Christian changed the path of our lives. In , Rendall and his friend Anthony "Ace" Bourke, came across a lion cub in Harrods, London, which then traded in exotic animals. They fell in love with him and took him home to their Chelsea flat.
They named the cub Christian, inspired by a biblical sense of irony. He lived with them in a Kings Road furniture shop, SophistoCat, where he had a giant tray of cat litter and rarely ruined the store's furniture.
He played with local children in the walled garden of a churchyard. He was fed steak and taken to restaurants and glamorous parties in the back of their Mercedes cabriolet. The scratchy homemade film, shot in Kenya 40 years ago, has been seen by more than million people, landing Rendall and Burke on Oprah and triggering the reissue of their book and a new Hollywood film with Zac Efron as Rendall [see footnote].
Today, sitting in his African-themed Chelsea flat, Rendall, 65, who is still a laid-back dandy, shows me photographs and bits and pieces from his past. Without him I would not have had such a unique introduction to Africa.
A lot of the memories of our time together faded over the years and sometimes seemed like some sort of secret dream only Ace and I shared.
But this sudden revival of interest in Christian has brought him back to us. I'm really enjoying reliving our experience, falling in love with him all over again and missing him. But I'm concerned [about] where the lions are coming from.
When filming was completed on Born Free , some of the lions were sold to safari parks and zoos. Virginia McKenna, who played Joy Adamson, was mortified.
I'm determined that this doesn't happen to any lions used when filming Christian's story. I'm really looking forward to working with lions again and ensuring people realise that when Christian went to Africa there were , lions.
Today, there are fewer than 20, Rendall laughs, remembering the first time he became aware of the footage surfacing on the internet. It's completely honest. You absolutely couldn't fake that. I've had cats before and after, and have developed the same emotional closeness as I had with Christian.
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