Christian the Lion
Anthony Bourke
Language: English
Pages: 32
ISBN: 0805091823
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
"In 1971 we wrote A Lion Called Christian, the story of a lion from London who returned to Africa. Forty years later, the Internet's YouTube has introduced a new world audience to Christian." ―Ace Bourke and John Rendall
Through many previously unseen photographs, this picture book follows Christian as he grew from a tiny ball of fur into a majestic lion. Here is the incredible story of the remarkable journey to take Christian back to the wild.
The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World's Poorest Countries
Somebody's Heart Is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa
Politics in Africa: A New Introduction
The Congo and the Cameroons (Penguin Great Journeys)
nervously. Christian noticed John and Ace starting to move towards George. The cub was reluctant to be left alone under Boy's gaze, so he quickly padded after them, pressing himself up against their legs. Suddenly, with a terrible roar, Boy charged. The fence was in the way, so he couldn't actually reach Christian, but the wire bent and shook alarmingly. Luckily the huge lion didn't try to climb the fence to reach Christian; he simply took one last look at the cub before strolling away.
bigger challenge of making friends with Boy. The next day it was their turn to be properly introduced. John, Ace and George waited anxiously as the three lions were led out of their enclosures. If Christian and Boy got into a fight, the younger lion would stand no chance at all. He was far smaller and very inexperienced. Christian had shown that he instinctively knew how to handle some situations — all the men could do now was hope that he would know how to handle Boy too. “Fingers crossed,”
himself stuck, but they soon realized their mistake. Christian was tossing his head about playfully, growling to himself. John and Ace removed the bin, putting it to one side of the room, but Christian chased after it and proceeded to tear it apart. The raffia strands soon joined the bits of teddy bear strewn across the floor! On his second day in his new home, Christian was woken at eight o'clock. “Good morning!” called John as he clattered down the stairs to the basement. To make sure that
mischievously. “No, really, madam,” John said seriously. “Look, we do have …” And as he spoke he pointed down at the lion cub. Christian didn't move a muscle. The poor woman looked down slowly … She couldn't believe her eyes. Shrieking in alarm, she jumped behind the nearest piece of furniture, terrified. Even when John crouched down to give Christian a cuddle and prove how gentle and playful he was, she wouldn't move from her hiding place. Eventually, after a lot of reassurance from John —
every day; now he had a plan! George was upset to hear about lions like little Christian, who were born in captivity and then spent their whole lives trapped in cages, without meeting any other lions or living free — lions are wild animals, after all. He wanted to free a group of lions in a country called Kenya in Africa and let them live together there, just as they were supposed to. George was living in Kenya and he hoped that Christian could be one of these lions. “What do you think?”