1966. Both were huge worldwide hits.
Joy had set up The Elsa Wild Animal Appeal in 1961, which is now called The Elsa Conservation Trust. The documentary about Christian's rehabilitation and the allotment of Kora for this purpose gave George financial independence from Joy for the first time and a place to live with his lions. Joy resented this, so it was with some trepidation that we drove up to Elsamere, where to our surprise the sofas were upholstered in lion skins. When we dared ask her about them, she brushed our concerns aside with, "There are good lions and bad lions."
Despite her reputation for being difficult and frequently falling out with people, she was reasonably friendly with us, intelligent, and interesting, and curious about Christian's background. She was relieved to hear that Boy was recovering from his injuries, although he was still limping. She was skeptical about Christian's chances of surviving in the wild. "Your stupid fat English lion will be killed, and so will George," she said. Joy was very keen to visit Kora but was annoyed at being excluded from the work there. Despite the huge earnings from Born Free , she never financially supported George's work. When she did visit Kora she was very anxious to be photographed with Christian, but subsequently declared, "It is time for humans to leave the lions alone." This was the conundrum of their lives: the success of their work and the independence and self-sufficiency of the animals made them redundant.
Left: George, Ace, Christian, and John rest in the shade at George's camp.
Bottom: Christian's first night in the African bush, and a reassuring paw on John's face.
Top: A terrifying moment as Boy charges the wire, establishing his dominance over Christian.
Above: The dramatic first meeting of Boy and Christian outside the compound.
Fortunately, Christian reacted correctly and submissively and suffered only a few scratches.
THE REUNION IN 1971
Above: Christian running toward Ace and John when he recognizes them.
Top left: Jumping up to greet Ace and John.
Far right: Christian had doubled in size in the year since Ace and John had seen him.
In 1972, Ace and John returned to see Christian. He had again doubled in size but still remembered them and greeted them with the same affection.
Ace and John with Christian on the rock overlooking George's camp.
Like some people who love animals, she did not see the irony in her often disastrous human relationships or her reputation for harshness with her African staff. She was murdered by one of them in 1980 after a dispute about pay.
On our way through Nairobi, we took a sample of Christian's blood to the vets, Tony and Sue Harthoorn. George had correctly diagnosed tick fever, and the vets told us that there was a slight chance that it would recur, but George had the correct vaccine to combat it. Boy and Katania were also susceptible to this disease just by moving from one part of Kenya to another.
On the long drive back we lost our way in the darkness and were alarmed when our Land Rover was flagged down by what looked like almost-naked, spear-holding warriors. We thought we should stop, but quickly wound up the windows. We were embarrassed to see they were friendly young African children with sticks, merely wanting cigarettes. In English, they directed us to Kora and "Kampi ya Simba, where the white man keeps lions!"
We arrived at George's camp late that night. He was concerned about Christian, who for the first time had not returned with Boy and Katania in the evening. George had looked for him and called him, but he had not appeared.
Within several minutes of our arrival, however, Christian came running toward the camp. We had been away for a fortnight and, wildly excited, he leapt all over us. George believed he must have had a premonition that we were returning. He thinks lions have a sixth sense that humans have either lost or never had. On visits to his other lions after their release
Joy had set up The Elsa Wild Animal Appeal in 1961, which is now called The Elsa Conservation Trust. The documentary about Christian's rehabilitation and the allotment of Kora for this purpose gave George financial independence from Joy for the first time and a place to live with his lions. Joy resented this, so it was with some trepidation that we drove up to Elsamere, where to our surprise the sofas were upholstered in lion skins. When we dared ask her about them, she brushed our concerns aside with, "There are good lions and bad lions."
Despite her reputation for being difficult and frequently falling out with people, she was reasonably friendly with us, intelligent, and interesting, and curious about Christian's background. She was relieved to hear that Boy was recovering from his injuries, although he was still limping. She was skeptical about Christian's chances of surviving in the wild. "Your stupid fat English lion will be killed, and so will George," she said. Joy was very keen to visit Kora but was annoyed at being excluded from the work there. Despite the huge earnings from Born Free , she never financially supported George's work. When she did visit Kora she was very anxious to be photographed with Christian, but subsequently declared, "It is time for humans to leave the lions alone." This was the conundrum of their lives: the success of their work and the independence and self-sufficiency of the animals made them redundant.
Left: George, Ace, Christian, and John rest in the shade at George's camp.
Bottom: Christian's first night in the African bush, and a reassuring paw on John's face.
Top: A terrifying moment as Boy charges the wire, establishing his dominance over Christian.
Above: The dramatic first meeting of Boy and Christian outside the compound.
Fortunately, Christian reacted correctly and submissively and suffered only a few scratches.
THE REUNION IN 1971
Above: Christian running toward Ace and John when he recognizes them.
Top left: Jumping up to greet Ace and John.
Far right: Christian had doubled in size in the year since Ace and John had seen him.
In 1972, Ace and John returned to see Christian. He had again doubled in size but still remembered them and greeted them with the same affection.
Ace and John with Christian on the rock overlooking George's camp.
Like some people who love animals, she did not see the irony in her often disastrous human relationships or her reputation for harshness with her African staff. She was murdered by one of them in 1980 after a dispute about pay.
On our way through Nairobi, we took a sample of Christian's blood to the vets, Tony and Sue Harthoorn. George had correctly diagnosed tick fever, and the vets told us that there was a slight chance that it would recur, but George had the correct vaccine to combat it. Boy and Katania were also susceptible to this disease just by moving from one part of Kenya to another.
On the long drive back we lost our way in the darkness and were alarmed when our Land Rover was flagged down by what looked like almost-naked, spear-holding warriors. We thought we should stop, but quickly wound up the windows. We were embarrassed to see they were friendly young African children with sticks, merely wanting cigarettes. In English, they directed us to Kora and "Kampi ya Simba, where the white man keeps lions!"
We arrived at George's camp late that night. He was concerned about Christian, who for the first time had not returned with Boy and Katania in the evening. George had looked for him and called him, but he had not appeared.
Within several minutes of our arrival, however, Christian came running toward the camp. We had been away for a fortnight and, wildly excited, he leapt all over us. George believed he must have had a premonition that we were returning. He thinks lions have a sixth sense that humans have either lost or never had. On visits to his other lions after their release
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