Christian the Lion

This week in Galley Cat, an article mentioned the success of an accidental book trailer scoring 30 million views on You Tube. That homemade video about a pet lion spurred interest in a 1972 nonfiction book called A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall--making it the sixth most wanted out-of-print book of 2008.

I recall reading this book when it first came out, as I had enthusiastically read the Born Free series written by George Adamson.

Reunion with Christian




Full ending by the Born Free Foundation




A Living Legacy has an interview with John Rendell and Ace Bourke 35 years later about the impact the former video has had with viewers while including clips of later meetings when Christian is full grown.




What intrigued me about these videos was the caring between human and animal, and the memories each had despite the years apart. The collective group of big cats and humans lazing about in the heat of the afternoon is touching. Especially when the lionesses and the cub, who were born wild, are accepting of humans because Christian is.

For those bloggers who have difficulty with embedded You Tube videos, I have linked to the titles here to You Tube directly.