The Moving Story Of Christian The Lion

The story of Christian the lion is one of the most surprising regarding the unconditional love that can arise between man and any animal. It is a true story, extensively documented, which poses some unresolved questions.

It all began in 1969 in London. Two young Australians, John Rendall and Anthony “Ace” Bourke, were shopping at Harrods. To their  surprise , they discovered that a lion cub was for sale in the exotic animals section. It was very small and the owner wanted to get rid of it as he had taken out his wares the previous evening.

The boys bought the lion and took it home. Together with some friends, they began to raise him and noticed that he was very sociable and nice. When the little puppy was one year old, it was no longer possible to keep him at home. So they decided to take it to a furniture shop where they worked and which curiously was called “Sophistocat”.

The sad farewell of Christian the lion

Neither Rendall nor Bourke would have ever imagined that their little friend would grow up so fast. Before long, it became impossible to keep it in the furniture store. He no longer entered anywhere and, unwittingly, caused a lot of damage all over the place. They turned to the vicar of the neighborhood and asked him to be allowed to leave it in the parish cemetery. The priest agreed.

Christian the lion continued to grow. He was already an adult and ate with great voracity. Maintaining his diet cost his human friends a fortune. They began to realize  that it would soon become impossible to allow him to live in London. After all, he was a ferocious animal. What if it became dangerous? He was always very friendly, but you never knew …

By chance, two famous actors showed up in the shop and suggested  that  the owners entrust it to George Adamson, a famous environmentalist from Kenya. He would take it upon himself to bring him to his natural habitat and allow him to live like a real lion. The boys accepted, albeit with enormous sadness. It was the best solution for everyone.

Christian returns to the forest

The young men agreed to take Christian to the Kora National Park. It was the ideal place for him to start a new life. The environmental friend put him together with another male lion, older, that everyone called “Boy”. He also joined them with a female to create a new pack. Gradually, the animals moved away from humans, until one day they never returned.

A year later  Rendall and Bourke decided to visit their friend Christian. It was a bit of a crazy idea. He had already returned to his habitat and was now behaving like a normal, common lion. Either way, the kids wanted to at least see him, make sure he was okay. The environmentalist warned them: they had to be very careful, because Christian could attack them.

The young people went around Kora for a while and waited for a while. Then they started calling Christian, but he didn’t show up. Eventually, they saw a lion approach cautiously among the rocks. The boys kept calling him. Quickly, the lion reacted and went out to meet his old friends. Contrary to all odds, he remembered them perfectly. She threw herself at them, hugged them and licked them on the face. All this was captured in a video.

A story with no answers

The following year, an even more extraordinary thing happened. Following the last meeting , Christian returned to the forest.  They had proof that he had become the leader of a pride of lions. Suddenly, however, he disappeared. Nothing was known about him for more than nine months. However, his human friends wanted to return to visit him at all costs.

Without knowing how or why,  one day before the boys arrived, Christian returned to wander around Kora. The following day the same scene from the first meeting was repeated. The lion looked at them first cautiously and then lunged at them, as if he were the same cub they had raised. The only difference was that, since they last saw him, his measurements had doubled.

The story of Christian the Lion and his human friends has turned into a documentary that contains real images. A novel based on his story was also written and countless articles published in different newspapers and magazines around the world. However, there are still no definitive explanations for this unconditional and wonderful relationship between a “beast” and a couple of boys who decided to offer her affection and, more importantly, a future that took into account her needs.