Born Free

Category: Born Free | Date: Jul 31 2008 | By: bornfree

A remarkable video documenting a reunion between a lion named Christian and two men who had cared for him early in his life has been making the rounds on the internet and in the media and I wanted to share some additional information about this story because it is very personal to me and central to the being of Born Free Foundation as an organisation.

This lion used to live in my garden.

Christian was bought from Harrods pet store in London and came, via a furniture shop and my garden in England, to live in Africa (Kora in Kenya), where he was returned to the wild by the world-famous George Adamson.

My late dad (Bill) filmed this great adventure.

The film is extraordinary and exemplifies the spirit that underpins Born Free - every individual matters. Even way back in the 1970’s, this was our way of giving Christian a shot at freedom.

This is part of the Born Free legacy. If it wasn’t for Born Free, the film, my dad and mum (Born Free’s founder, Virginia McKenna) would never have met Ace and John (the two young men in the clip) who would never have brought Christian from London to my garden. My dad, Bill, would never have negotiated with the Kenyan government for Christian’s return to Africa. We would never have had this memorable and inspiring story - and Christian would never have had his freedom (see image below © Bill Travers).

Today, the Born Free Foundation (and Born Free USA in the States) carry on the spirit of Born Free - helping wild animals in need, fighting injustice, cruelty and neglect and working to change animals’ lives for good.

You can purchase the film, Christian: The Lion at World’s End from Born Free at http://www.bornfree.org.uk/shop/acatalog/Videos_and_DVDs.html and you can become part of the Born Free family by joining as a member.  I also have my own blog on our Born Free website which you can view at http://www.bornfree.org.uk/blog/.

To watch the clip of Christian that has wowed the world, visit: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/big-cats/about/christian-the-lion/

You can also Subscribe to Born Free Wildlife Direct blog by Email

Thank you.  Do share this story and film clip with your friends.

Will Travers
CEO
Born Free Foundation

P.S. Born Free does not advocate the keeping of any wild animal as a ‘pet’. Christian’s story was from another era and was unique. Today we must do all we can to ‘keep wildlife in the wild’.

John Rendall is based in the UK and still supports wildlife conservation both with Born Free and with the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust. Ace now lives in Australia.

Christian lived the life of a free, successful lion, in and around the Kora area until he was seen no more. It was assumed by George Adamson that he had crossed over the Tana River and out of the Reserve.

Tags: Born Free, Born Free Foundation, Christian, lion, Will Travers

7 responses so far

Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Jul 10 2008 | By: bornfree

Hello from a wet and cold Ethiopia!

Many people think Ethiopia is baking hot all year. In fact, different parts of the country have very different climates. Here in the capital of Addis Abeba, we are 2,400 metres (6,500 feet) above sea level. For the three month rainy season the weather is much like an autumn day in Europe.

A few months ago, Born Free was told about a lion that was being illegally kept as a tourist attraction in a small cage in the town of Dolo on the Ethiopian/ Somali border. For the first four years of his life, the ‘Dolo lion’ had been kept restrained on a chain just one metre long for 24 hours a day. The chain was biting into the lion’s neck and the photo below shows his dejected stance and poor condition.

The Wildlife Department asked the Born Free team to help and the lion was confiscated. However, because our new Wildlife rescue, Conservation and Education Centre has not yet been built, we had to quickly select a temporary home for the lion. The enclosure he is now in at the headquarters of the Awash National Park is by no means ideal, but is the only enclosure we can use until we can build a spacious new enclosure with trees and grass. (Lions that have been raised in captivity can never be released back into the wild because they have lost their fear of humans and can be more dangerous than wild lions that stay away from humans.)

Even after a few weeks on a proper diet and without that restricting chain the Dolo lion had a spring in his step. (see below).

The photo below shows the lion today. His mane is growing, but may never grow around his neck where the chain was.

If anyone wants to help pay for the care of this lion, he costs £10 (US$20) per day to keep.

And, if you’d like to help Born Free raise funds for the new Centre or would like to sponsor an animal please visit www.bornfree.org.uk.

More news in a few days,

James

Tags: Born Free, conservation, Dolo, ethiopia, lion, rescue

5 responses so far

Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Jul 04 2008 | By: bornfree

Welcome to the Born Free Ethiopia blog!

My name is James Young.  Join me as I help create a new Wildlife Centre from scratch!

Many people have the impression that Ethiopia is nothing but desert with endless famine and right now Ethiopia is in the news again because the lack of rains last year meant less grain was harvested and now there are food shortages in some rural areas. However, most of Ethiopia is actually much greener than your might expect and most years it rains solidly for three months! This year, the rains have just started with torrential downpours most days.

You may also be surprised to learn there’s a great variety of wildlife here including elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and over 800 species of birds. Several species are only found in Ethiopia including the Ethiopian Wolf, the Mountain Nyala and the world’s only grazing primate, the Gelada baboon.

As more people learn just how special Ethiopia is, every year more and more visitors come from all over the world to see the wildlife and ancient rock-hewn churches, experience life in an ethnic village, horse ride or walk in the beautiful countryside, and enjoy meeting some of the friendliest people in the world. Many visitors are surprised by the modern buildings in the bustling capital of Addis Abeba and the delicious macchiato and espresso coffee available in the hundreds of cafes.

The country’s protected areas and wildlife are managed by the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, but their resources are very limited. In almost every National Park and protected area there are people living with their cattle and goats, and illegal hunting and trading of wildlife is common.

It’s not just the wild animals that need help. There are 20 lions being kept in small cages in the Addis Abeba Zoo that get prodded with sticks to roar for photographs.

For the last seven months I have been setting up the Ethiopia office of Born Free. You would not believe the number of hours of meetings and the seemingly endless number of forms I needed to fill out and get stamped, but in February 2008 Born Free Ethiopia was given permission to start work in the country.
In partnership with the Wildlife Authority, Born Free is setting up a Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre 25 kilometres (15 ½ miles) outside the capital city. The President of Ethiopia has helped us find a wonderful 80 hectare (197 ½ acre) piece of land and I hope we will sign the leasehold agreement in just a few weeks time. A priority will be to build large enclosures for the first lions. Imagine how good they will feel to live in a grassy enclosure with trees rather than the cement floor they have now.

The new Wildlife Centre will support the Wildlife Authority by caring for orphaned or injured wildlife as well as taking in wildlife confiscated from animal traders. Where possible the animals will be released back into a protected area when they are healthy and old enough to survive in the wild. We will also begin several scientific studies to learn more about Ethiopian wildlife so we can plan ways to conserve the existing Ethiopian wildlife.

I hope you will visit this site regularly and share with me the step-by-step creation of this Centre that is so badly needed.

In my next blog I will introduce you to two orphaned lion cubs that are first in line for a new home.
If you’d like to help Born Free raise funds for the new Centre please donate now through Wildlife Direct or visit www.bornfree.org.uk stating you’d like the funds to go to the WRCEC.

More news in a few days,

James

Tags: Born Free, conservation, ethiopia, lion, wild animal rescue, zoo

9 responses so far