REVIEWED BY ZACHARY ROSENBAUM
‘A Lion called Christian’ is a remarkable, unique true story that tells the journey of two friends and their unusual and extraordinary pet, Christian. Christian the lion, was born in a zoo called Ilfracombe in Devon and as a young cub was sent to a large department store called “Harrods” to be sold.
Anthony (Ace) Bourke and John Rendall, two university graduates who came to London from Australia in 1969 just happened upon Christian at Harrods. They bought him spontaneously, without thinking about the consequences and the problems that might face them in the future. They were young and they bought Christian because he was such a beautiful lion and he was just so irresistible. He was a good looking lion but the most appealing thing about him was his eyes. His eyes were his most arresting feature. They were expressive and impenetrable and Ace and John couldn’t resist him.
John and Ace had no place for Christian to live but eventually they found an apartment upstairs from a furniture shop called “Sophisicoat” on King’s Road in London. Christian adapted to his new environment very easily and he always came downstairs to the shop to greet people. He was well known on King’s Road. Christian was even tempered, unaggressive, obedient and had a beautiful nature. He was sometimes arrogant and demanding but he was an exceptional lion. He loved to play and subsequently he broke a lot of things in the shop - but the shopkeeper didn’t mind at all.
By April 1970 Christian started to get bored in the apartment. He was already eight months old and he was rapidly outgrowing his home at Sophisicoat. A friend introduced Ace and John to George Adamson who offered them the opportunity for Christian to take part in a project where Christian would live in the wild in Kenya, Africa. George Adamson was featured in the movie “Born Free” and he wanted Christian to live in his compound in Kenya. This was perfect for Christian. John, Ace and Christian flew to Africa on the 22nd of August, 1970. When they got there they were living in small compounds and Christian started to settle in well. George brought two other lions to be rehabilitated with Christian. One was 7 year old Boy and the other 4 month old Katanyia.
It didn’t take long for Christian to start exploring and he really settled in easily. John and Anthony happily went back to England knowing they had done the right thing for Christian. Christian befriended Katanyia and they played together often however he didn’t really like Boy until Katanyia died from an alligator attack around the Tana River and then Boy and Christian became good friends and were inseparable. Tragically, Boy attacked one of the trainers at the camp and George tried to stop him by shooting him in the neck and killing him. Unfortunately, the trainer later died.
In 1971 John and Ace wanted to visit Christian but George warned them that Christian probably wouldn’t remember them, but they decided to visit anyway. When they got to the camp, Christian was at the top of a hill and John and Ace were at the bottom. Christian moved a couple of metres towards them and then a couple more, and when he was about 30 metres away he recognised John and Ace and started to run to them. He jumped up on them and hugged them and licked them - it was the most extraordinary reunion. John and Ace went back to England but visited again in 1972 and again Christian recognised them and they spent more quality time together. Early in 1973 Christian crossed the Tana River to go to a better hunting place and where animals were safer. Christian never returned to the compound and eventually George stopped counting the days of his absence. He was never seen again. It was, in some ways sad, but John, Ace and George all hoped that Christian established his territory, started a pride of his own and lived a long and happy life.
This book is my favourite book. It had a sad ending but also a happy ending as well if we believe like John and Ace that Christian lived a long time. I found it inspirational and at times emotional. I would rate this book 10 out of 10 and I would recommend it to anyone who loves animals and enjoys an exceptional true story. I would also highly recommend watching the YouTube phenomenon which shows of their miraculous and touching reunion.
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