A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall.
Title: A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion.
Author: Anthony Bourke and John Rendall.
Genre: Non-fiction, animals, memoir.
Country: U.K.
Language: English.
Publication Date: 1971.
Summary: A remarkable story of how Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity. But the lion cub was growing up. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of “the father of lions” George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions.
My rating: 9/10
♥`We had not told Christian that he was a lion. We thought this knowledge would only lead to regrettable lionlike behavior. We avoided using the word lion in front of him, but occasionally had to spell out L-I-O-N to ignorant people, who thought Christian was a leopard because of his spots. He enjoyed looking at himself in the large mirrors at Sophistocat, so while he must have been confused as to what sort of animal he was, he knew exactly what he looked like. He often accompanied us in the car, and as there are possibly more sculptured lions in London than there are live ones in Africa, we decided to tell him the truth, before he discovered it himself and asked awkward questions. We drove him to Trafalgar Square to see the lions at the base of Nelson's Column. He was delighted to be such an obvious symbol of nobility. Fortunately, this information did not alter his behavior, for he had, like all cats, assumed superiority over us from the beginning. But too much knowledge could be dangerous or confusing, so we asked the Moravian minister not to tell Christian that the early Christians had been fed to the lions.
♥ He had a variety of toys, a new tire, and several shrubs to play lions behind. He was content, and we found him irresistibly entertaining. Considering his size, he played extremely gently with us and remained easy to manage. It was perfectly safe for any of our visitors to come into the compound with him, except for children who could accidentally be knocked over. A lion prepared to play "wheelbarrows" must have, in addition to a sense of humor, a love for the human race.
♥ We found ourselves describing Boy as a "marvelous" lion, and physically he was, but compared with Christian's youthful exuberance, he seemed to have less personality. Our praise of Boy was really just relief that he had eaten neither us nor Christian.
♥ Forty years later George's work is still continuing, and Christian's magic is again inspiring us to think about the interrelationship of all living creatures, and the urgency of action for wildlife conservation. If all of us touched by Christian's story came together to address some of the issues faced by the global community, what could we achieve together in the spirit of Christian's love and love of life?