Video: Christian the Lion

This 38-year old-video which shows a lion being reunited with his two childhood owners has already been seen by millions on video sites like YouTube. And now it has come to Green Blog (Yes, we are suckers for cute movies).

The lion named Christian was bought from an exotic animals department in Harrods in 1969 by the two Australians John Rendall and Anthony Bourke for 250 guineas. They took him home and raised him in their flat.

SkyNews reports:

"The urban lion became a popular local figure in their London antiques shop, until he went from a manageable 35 pounds to 185 pounds, a year later.

Christian was moved to the Kenyan wildlife sanctuary featured in the movie Born Free, and after a year living in the wild, was found by his former owners with a pride of his own.

The 38-year-old video captures the emotional moment which shows the lion stalking towards the two men, until they call out his name."

Watch the video:

Christian left the Kora Reserve in 1973. He made his new territory along the Tana river, but when the Wakamba herdsmen kept bringing their livestock to his hunting ground, he moved on. George Adamson said in his autobiography:

"I used to count the days on which we hadn't seen Christian, but when they reached 97, I gave up recording them in my diary."

Because a lion can live from 12 to 15 years in the wild, Adamson believed that Christian ended his days in the Meru National Reserve only a few miles up river.

User Feedback

1 Comment

Recommended Comments

Guest Ann

Posted August 4, 2008

- Report reply
- Share this comment

oh, come on guys. Christian wasn't stalking them. he was just walking towards them - what you don't see unless you go to the bornfree.org website to see the original, George Adamson was walking a few yards right behind Christian!

Quote

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Add a comment...

× Pasted as rich text. Restore formatting

Only 75 emoji are allowed.

× Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead

× Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor

× You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audience is coming from. To find out more, please read our Privacy Policy. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.