Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke Page A

Park and saw many animals in their natural environment, yet we were only fifteen miles from Nairobi and the Hilton Hotel was clearly visible on the horizon. Bill had the opportunity to show George and several other people the rough-cut of the English sequences in the film, and George was particularly interested to see a lion filmed in slow motion for the first time.
    Within two days Christian had fully recovered from his flight, so early next morning we left Nairobi in several Land Rovers for the first stage of the journey. Christian traveled in the back of George's Land Rover, and to our concern, he paced relentlessly and quickly rubbed bare patches on his nose and forehead from the wire barrier between him and the front seats. We stopped frequently to give him water and to try to pacify him, and George probably thought that we were unnecessarily worried about our pampered lion. On one of these breaks George warned us that Christian could run off if we let him out of the vehicle, and we were very proud when much to George's surprise he obediently jumped back in.
    As the day progressed it became increasingly hot, dry, and desolate. We had been depressed by George's description of Kora, and now we could see for ourselves the nature of the country that Christian was to live in. We drove two hundred miles, and just before nightfall arrived at a temporary camp, where we were to spend two nights, prepared by the safari company engaged to look after us. Christian was exhausted, and we led him into a small compound that had been built for him. We decided to put our beds in with him, and he promptly climbed onto one of them and fell asleep. His first night in the African bush!
    In the stillness and refreshing coolness of the African evening, we sat down to a superbly set table where Africans in flowing blue kaftans and red boleros and caps served us a delicious three-course meal. It was a surreal but pleasant surprise. At dinner George relaxed and asked us to call him "George," and he told us about the other lions that were to be rehabilitated with Christian. For his man-made pride George already had two other lions waiting at Naivasha, and in a few days he would have to return to collect them. One was Katania, a four-month-old lioness, who had been found and given to George, her mother being presumed dead. The other was Boy, a seven-year-old lion who had led an extraordinary life.
    In 1963, when they were young cubs, Boy and his sister, Girl, were abandoned or lost and were found by Colour Sgt. Ryves of the Scots Guard Regiment based near Nairobi. They were lovingly raised by his wife, Hildegarde, and their two young daughters, Jenny and Patricia. The cubs were so friendly and popular that they became the regimental mascots. When the regiment returned to the U.K., there was even a suggestion that Boy and Girl would go with them, but luckily they were given to Joy and George Adamson for rehabilitation. Before being returned to the wild, the cubs were to be used in the film Born Free , and Girl played Elsa. Most of the other lions used in the filming were sold to zoos and circuses, which angered Joy, George, Bill, and Virginia, and created controversy. In April 1965, Boy and Girl moved with George to Meru National Park.
    Their rehabilitation had been successful, but in October 1969 Joy had quite by chance found Boy emaciated and badly injured, perhaps by a buffalo. He was operated on by the experienced wildlife vets Dr. Tony Harthoorn and his wife, Sue, and during the complicated operation they inserted a steel pin into one of Boy's legs. Joy and George nursed him for nine months at Naivasha, where Joy lived. It was a fortunate coincidence that Bill had contacted George about Christian at the time when Boy was almost well enough to be released again. George would leave our camp in a few days to collect Boy and Katania from Naivasha.
    Next morning Christian had his first walk in Africa. We symbolically took off his collar, now