Free Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke Page A

fifty-eight lion cubs in 1969 and kept no detailed records, he could only say that they had been sold to a circus. Christian's sister at Harrods, who had been called Marta, had been purchased with a fraudulent check, and immediately resold to an undisclosed person. The following letter sent to the Harrod's buyer Roy Hazle provided some explanation:
    December 26, 1969
    H.M. Prison
    Jobb Avenue
    Brixton
    London SW 2
Dear Sir,
I have been told that you and the lady that works with you have been worried about the lion cub I got from you. May I put your mind at rest and tell you that it is now in a very nice home where it has a very nice shed which is heated and a big garden to play in. Two nice girls are looking after it as it is the family pet and it gets the best of food to live on. It has a dozen eggs and fresh milk every day and plenty of meat, it's in the home of a film star. So please don't worry about it and tell the lady who used to look after it that it could not get a better home. This will give her a little comfort because I know she liked her very much. So please don't worry it's being well looked after.
Yours sincerely
J. R. Styles
    Despite this letter and further efforts to locate Marta, no trace of her was ever found.
    Ironically, many dogs and cats have pedigrees, yet then it was almost impossible to trace a lion's history as so few records were kept. Major national zoos now protect gene pools and keep precise records of individual animals. Butch had been purchased from the Rotterdam Zoo and may have been related to Elsa, because Joy and George Adamson had sent Elsa's sisters to the Rotterdam Zoo from Kenya in 1956. Christian's family history was de-pressingly typical of animals in captivity, and by buying Christian we had unwittingly participated in this trade.
    Inevitably we compared Christian's future with the life of his parents--freedom, instead of cement, bars, and boredom. Neither of us had visited a zoo where we believed that animals were both successfully and happily confined. Zoos should be constantly monitored, and certain standards maintained. We feel that being anti-zoo is unrealistic and that zoos today are doing invaluable scientific and genetic research, which will ensure the preservation of endangered species. Species such as the Arabian oryx, the white rhinoceros in South Africa, and the black rhinoceros in Kenya and Tanzania, which are almost extinct in their natural habitat, have been saved. Christian had awakened in us a general feeling of responsibility toward all other animals. Bill and Virginia both said that their association with the lions during the filming of Born Free had had an enormous influence on their lives, and we frequently discussed with them the whole question of the conservation and protection of wild animals. We realized for the first time how drastically short-sighted man has been. Many of these issues have since become even more urgent, with the competition between man and wildlife for habitats and resources, including water, the degradation of the environment, and the ramifications of global warming. What has become even more obvious to us is the interrelationship between man and the natural environment, and how holistic any solutions will have to be.
    Sitting in our caravan at Leith Hill, we decided to create the best zoo in the world. Our zoo would be an example to all others, provide the best possible living conditions in captivity, and make accessible the most up-to-date information about animal life. World experts would work in conjunction with leading architects and designers to create an environment of the most sensitive and sophisticated nature. In addition to our perfectly exhibited, healthier, and happier animals, we would provide lecture halls where zoologists and other specialists lectured, and cinemas to show wildlife documentaries about animals in their natural state. We would have bookshops, and a library of books and films. Our zoo would become a center of