Lion Called Christian (11 page)

We had always wanted to see Christian's parents at Ilfracombe Zoo in Devon, and because of the long delay at Leith Hill, we now had the opportunity to visit them. The zoo was typical of the many small country zoos scattered around England at the time, most of which have since closed. Because Ilfracombe is a popular holiday resort, there were accommodation chalets attached to the zoo. There was a rather tacky fairground atmosphere, and depressingly small and basic cages for an assortment of chimpanzees, llamas, birds, and even a few scruffy kangaroos. The lions were the star attraction, and Christian's parents, Butch and Mary, were the most magnificent lions we had ever seen. Despite their restricted living conditions, they looked very healthy. Unlike lions in the wild, which rest between kills until hungry again, Butch and Mary were fed daily so that they did not roar at night and disturb the vacationers in the nearby chalets. Christian looked very like his handsome, heavily maned, three-year-old father. They were an affectionate couple, but they incessantly paced the cement floor of their small cage. The owner of the zoo was prepared to sell them for PS500, but we did not dare ask Bill if Butch and Mary could come to Kenya, too.

We asked the owner about Christian's sisters, and he told us the name of the animal dealer to whom he had sold them. We contacted this dealer, but as he had sold 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 research and information, providing standards and advice on the conservation and care of animals in captivity, for people all over the world.

We began to think how we could have designed a more sympathetic compound for Christian that would have resulted in his feeling less restricted. Why do so many animals in zoos have to live in compounds and cages that have such monotonous symmetry, no variety, practical but cold cement floors, and no evidence of any imagination in their design? Why not have compounds where humans walk through an enclosed corridor into the center and where the animals have the freedom to walk almost entirely around the humans? There would be at least some transference of the feeling of restriction. Looking back, we are happy to note that some of these ideas have been incorporated into the redesigning and building of some enclosures, and the animals' well-being has become a priority. Frankfurt Zoo in Germany has been a leader in this field, and at Taronga Conservation Society Australia, some imaginative enclosures have been designed.

We waited for so long at Leith Hill that Christian outgrew his crate. We noticed that when he was shut in, he sometimes frustratedly pawed the vertical bars and rubbed his pads quite raw. For his next-larger crate, we requested that the bars be placed horizontally, which would make it impossible for him to injure himself in this way. Although the company that made the crate had been supplying zoos and animal dealers for many years, they had never been asked to make this very obvious improvement. This seemed indicative of just how insensitive animal traders were.

After three months at Leith Hill, we were beginning to despair that George would ever find a suitable site for Christian's rehabilitation, and we dreaded any alternative we might be forced to consider. We were depressed by the ongoing delay and the cramped living conditions. By now we were less starstruck, and we questioned how we were being portrayed in the film. We feared Christian was becoming just another animal in another Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna wildlife documentary. But Christian's story was unique. He was the undoubted star of the film, and we were all bit players. As in London, when the situation with Christian seemed to be approaching breaking point, the next stage in his life emerged just in time. A cable arrived from George Adamson. Christian would be leaving England for Kenya in a few days.

A
t 3:30 P.M. on August 22, 1970, Christian was led into his crate, not for the customary few minutes, but for at least fifteen hours. Pouring rain was to be his last memory of England. He was fed mild tranquilizers in pieces of meat, and then we carried his crate to the van that was to take him to London's Heathrow Airport. Lions have no luggage, and we could leave his leash behind as there would be no further use for it. Unity had of course come to Leith Hill to say good-bye to him and tearfully promised to visit him in Kenya.

Following Bill and Virginia in their car, we traveled to the airport in the van with Christian, who was confused but not alarmed. The car with our cameraman was stopped by the police for filming without a permit, for cutting across traffic, and causing an obstruction. But the combination of Virginia McKenna and a lion on his way to Africa persuaded the surprised policeman to be lenient, and the convoy was allowed to proceed. At Heathrow we drove straight out onto the tarmac and parked beside the East African Airways plane. Burlap was tied around the crate as insulation against the cold on the long night flight. The tranquilizers were proving effective, for Christian was quite relaxed, despite the noise from other aircraft and the curious crowd that had gathered. At 5:30 P-M., Christian's crate was forklifted into the small pressurized hold of the plane. It was a dramatic and worrying moment when we all realized there was a possibility that in the hold, alone among the luggage, Christian could die.

We left England at 7:00 P.M. with Bill and the film crew, and with Christian somewhere underneath us. The only scheduled stop, before Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Kenya, was in Paris one hour later. We were allowed to climb into the hold, where to our great relief we found Christian sleepy and calm. We decided that it was unnecessary to give him more tranquilizers, so we just slipped pieces of meat through the bars to him and refilled his water bowl. But the most demanding and longest part of the flight still lay ahead.

We landed in Nairobi at 7:00 A.M. Uninterrupted sunshine is assumed in Africa, as it is in Australia or Los Angeles, but it was overcast and cold. While we had checked that it was not the rainy season, we had overlooked that it would be winter. On the tarmac we anxiously waited for Christian's crate to be unloaded. He had survived! His ordeal was nearly over, but no longer tranquilized, he was very agitated. George Adamson was there to meet us, and he arranged for Christian to be wheeled off to an animal-holding compound, where he waited while we went through Immigration and Customs. Christian was relieved to be let out of his crate, and greeted us affectionately. George described him as "a handsome, friendly little fellow." Though he was uninjured and unmarked, Christian walked unsteadily and looked totally exhausted. His eyes were bleary, his coat had lost condition, and he seemed thinner. We could just not believe that after all the delays and frustrations Christian was safely in Kenya, and had escaped the fate of a life of captivity in the United Kingdom.

At last we had met George Adamson, who had first rehabilitated Elsa and knew more about lions than anyone else in the world, and who was to introduce Christian into the wild. He was a surprisingly small and dapper figure wearing a stiffly laundered safari suit, and he had neatly trimmed gray hair and a pointed goatee beard. He was soft-spoken but had piercing blue eyes that seemed to examine us, and in his Foreword he says he immediately had confidence in Christian but was not so sure about us! Only after a few days did he relax in our company. He was intelligent and amusing and admitted to his excitement and enthusiasm for the challenge of rehabilitating Christian.

The area allotted by the Kenyan government for this purpose was at Kora, near Garissa, two hundred and eighty miles northeast of Nairobi. To reach Kora, a final track of twenty miles had been cleared through the bush by George's brother, Terence Adamson, with an African labor force. Bill and George decided to make the journey in two stages in order to provide sufficient time for the camp to be prepared for our arrival. It would also be easier for Christian.

Kora had been offered because no one else wanted it. George described it as a desolate, unattractive part of Kenya. Few Africans live there, there were disease-carrying tsetse flies, and in the wet season it could be inaccessible. The game, while not abundant, would be adequate for Christian and the other lions in the pride that George intended to form. For the exclusive use of this unwanted land the film company had to pay PS 750 a year.

Christian remained in the holding compound at the airport for two days. We stayed in Nairobi, and several times each day drove out to see and feed him. He was apparently content to sleep if we were not there, but the flight seemed to have exhausted and disoriented him. Our visits attracted enormous crowds of Africans, and we realized that most of them had never seen a lion or many other indigenous animals. Until the early 1970s, only tourists could afford to visit the game parks. Each time Christian walked toward the gate of the compound, the crowd stepped back apprehensively. As we talked to various officials at the airport, it was apparent that they did not see the point of trying to rehabilitate a lion, let alone flying one from England at such expense.

We visited Nairobi National 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.