H/T to Fran and Padre Mickey
One of the most memorable days of my life was going into the jungle in Rwanda to visit the gorillas. These are three of my photos – I’m in orange (just in case you can’t tell who is who in the photos!):
Christian’s story. Full ending and original soundtrack to the film “Christian, The Lion at World’s End”. Directed by Bill Travers,Commentary by Virgina McKenna, founders of the Born Free Foundation.
In 1969 a young Australian, John Rendall and his friend Ace Bourke, bought a small lion cub from Harrods pet department, which was then legal. ‘Christian’ was kept in the basement of a furniture shop on the Kings Road in Chelsea, the heart of the swinging sixties. Loved by all, the affectionate cub ate in a local restaurant, played in a nearby graveyard, but was growing fast…
A chance encounter with Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna led to a new life for Christian. He came to live in a huge enclosure and to sleep in a caravan at their Surrey home. Then in 1971 he was flown to Kenya, his ancestral home, and returned to the wild by lion-man George Adamson. Nine months later in 1972, John and Ace returned to Kora in Kenya. This clip is of their reunion at that time.
It was an emotional reunion: “He ran towards us, threw himself onto us, knocked us over and hugged us, with his paws on our shoulders.”
My fave! I still cry when I think of Christian. *sniff*