Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke

was not for him to make the first move.
    Katania finally became bored with the tense situation and wandered toward Christian, and they greeted one another. Boy immediately stood up and charged at him. It was a very frightening moment, intensified by their roars and snarls. Christian rolled over on his back submissively, and, satisfied, Boy lay down a few yards from him. Although they appeared to be fighting savagely, with paws and legs flailing, very little physical contact had been made, and Christian seemed to be unhurt.
    After an interval of about ten minutes, Katania, who had wisely run off during the encounter, again came over to Christian and triggered off another frightening performance. This time Boy walked away, leaving Christian badly shaken and looking miserable. He then came over to us and, comforting him, we walked back to camp, noting a few scratches and a slight limp.
    Although it was an orchestrated situation, we had witnessed a natural introduction between an adult lion and a younger lion. Despite our feelings for Christian, we felt we were intruders in animal society and their protocol. Christian had instinctively known what his role was, and he had followed the conventions of the lion world by his submission. George commented that Christian had shown considerable courage by his determination to face Boy and not flee from him. Christian was obviously growing fond of Katania, but it was Boy's acceptance he was so anxious to win. To gain this, he had to endure some ongoing unpleasant but necessary formalities.
    We could now all live in the same compound. Over the next few days, Christian stayed as close to Boy as he would permit. If Christian was too daring, Boy would charge, but the charges had lost their intensity. Christian concentrated adoringly on Boy and even imitated his movements; he followed him around, sat down when he sat down, and lay in the same position. We often saw him lying just around a corner from Boy, a clever trick to get closer to him than would normally be allowed. He sometimes played with Katania, but she was a poor second to Boy. Christian was still affectionate toward us, but he was definitely a lion's lion.
    Each morning we went walking with George and the lions until they chose some shade in which to spend the hottest hours of the day. Christian followed behind Boy and Katania, but sat down and looked in another direction whenever Boy noticed him. In the afternoons we would find the three lions together, but Christian was always a few yards away, not yet an accepted member of the pride.
    We had an extraordinary human-animal coexistence living with the lions at Kora. It was a potentially very dangerous environment, but expertly created and controlled by George's experience and knowledge of lion behavior. George's confidence in both lions and humans was sometimes questioned over the years by his detractors, but overall, his faith had been justified. We spent ridiculous nights with the three lions often in our tent. While Katania bit our toes or stole our blankets, Christian hid under a bed, and Boy roared thunderously, followed by any number of defiant grunts.
    After a few days Boy greeted us in the same way he greeted George, and his huge head would rub up against us. He had a seemingly placid nature, but a total assumption of superiority. Like all cats, everything had to be his idea, and he did only what he wanted to do. Filming had continued at Kora, and we often had to wait hours until Boy was suitably positioned. In contrast we just carried Christian into the correct position, or simply rolled him over to face the cameras. 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.
    Christian had now been in Africa for several weeks. He was tougher and his pads had hardened and he was growing