The story of Christian the Lion is one of the most amazing true love stories that can occur between man and other animals, it is a true story, documented in various media and raises questions that have not yet been answered.
It all started in London in 1969. Two young Australians named John Rendall and Anthony?Ace? Bourke, shopping at Harrods, one of the world’s most famous department stores, to his surprise, discovered that a lion cub was for sale, was just a puppy and the owner wanted to get rid of it because he had destroyed his merchandise the night before.
“A country, a civilization, can be judged by the way it treats animals. -Mahatma Gandhi.
The young men bought the lion and took it home, with some friends they began raising the puppy and realized that it was very sociable and friendly, when the puppy was a year old it was no longer possible to raise it inside the house. So they decided to take him to a piece of furniture they had and which, curiously, was his name?Sophistocat? (something like you know the cat?).
Rendall and Bourke didn’t think her boyfriend would grow up at such a fast pace, before long it became impossible to keep him in the furniture shop, he’s not going anywhere anymore and he’s inadvertently done a lot of damage anywhere. Then the couple went to see a priest friend of theirs and asked him to leave the lion in the parish cemetery. The priest agreed.
Christian, the lion, continued to grow. He had grown up and ate madly. Maintaining his regime cost his human friends a fortune. They began to realize that it would soon be impossible for Christian to continue living in London. After all, he was a wild animal, what if he becomes dangerous?Christian has always been very kind, but you never know.
Two film actors visited Christian and suggested that the owners entrust him to George Adamson, a famous Kenyan environmental advocate. He would take Christian back to his natural habitat, allowing him to live like a real lion. The youth agreed; even if you feel very sad, this would be the best option for everyone.
The youth agreed to take Christian to Kora National Park in Kenya. It was the perfect place for him to start a new life. The environmental friend put him with another older male lion they all called “Child. “And also with a female, to form a new herd. Gradually, the animals moved away from humans, until the day they did not return.
A year after this event, Rendall and Bourke took the initiative to visit Christian, the idea was considered a little crazy, Christian had already returned to his natural habitat and was now acting like a common lion, anyway, the children wanted to at least see him and know he was okay. The environmentalist warned them to be very careful, as Christian could attack them.
The young men went to Kora National Park and waited a while, then started calling Christian, but he didn’t get here so fast, they finally saw a lion walking cautiously among the rocks, the young men kept calling. The lion reacted quickly and went to meet his old friends. Against all odds, Christian remembered it perfectly. He hugged them and licked their faces, all of which was video-recorded.
A year later, something even more extraordinary happened, after the last encounter, Christian returned to the jungle, the young man discovered that he had become the king of a herd of lions, but suddenly disappeared. Nothing has been heard from him for more than nine months, but his human friends wanted to visit him again.
Not knowing how or why, the day before the young men arrived, Christian again prowled around Kora, the next day the same scene of the first encounter was repeated, the lion looked at them first carefully, then hugged them as if they were the same little one they had raised. The only difference is that Christian had doubled in size since he had last seen it.
The story of Christian and his human friends has become a documentary with real images, a novel based on his story and countless articles has also been written in various newspapers and magazines around the world, there are still no definitive explanations for this beautiful and wonderful relationship between a ‘Beast’ and two young people who decided to give their love and , above all, a future taking into account the needs of the animal.