close
也許大家都看過這則新聞和這段影片了
不過我還是重新整理了一次
有需要的人請自行轉走吧！
以下內容包含：
1.人獅重逢影片
2.人間福報報導
3.當事人接受美國NBC晨間新聞TODAY獨家專訪影片
4.TODAY照片集
5.TODAY網站的2則英文新聞
我決定先把影片拉到最前面
因為我覺得這是最觸動人心的部分(至少對我而言是...)
2008.07.29 人間福報
人獅重逢 感動相擁
英雄獅當貓養 風塵僕僕回歸非洲 30年老影片創600萬點閱率
【本報綜合外電報導】一頭成年雄師與兩名年輕人相見後，不但沒有發動攻擊，還與兩人如老友般擁抱。這段影片在YouTube網站上當紅，已創下超過六百萬次的點閱率。
一九六九年，約翰‧倫德爾和安東尼‧伯克兩名澳洲年輕人在英國倫敦一間家具店工作。某天他們在哈洛德百貨看到一頭被關在籠子裡的幼獅，兩人覺得牠可憐，用兩百五十個英國舊金幣買下，取名為「克里斯汀」。
他們把克里斯汀當寵物，經常帶牠去公園玩足球、有時帶牠上餐廳。出遠門時，克里斯汀就待在轎車後座。兩人一獅的組合，成了當地特殊「景緻」。
一年後，克里斯汀成了體重八十四公斤的大傢伙，約翰和安東尼意識到，他們沒辦法繼續把獅子當貓咪養。兩人正為此苦惱時，一對演員夫妻光顧他們工作的家具店，這對夫妻才剛完成電影《獅子與我》的拍攝工作，該片根據動物學家喬伊‧亞當森的著作改編，講述母獅艾爾莎回歸自然的真實故事。這對夫妻建議約翰和安東尼與在肯亞的喬治‧亞當森（喬伊的丈夫）聯絡。
兩人帶著十八個月大的克里斯汀，風塵僕僕抵達肯亞野生動物保護區。他們留在那邊配合喬治，幫助克里斯汀恢復野性。他們確認克里斯汀已有在野外求生的能力與安全的生存空間後，便返回英國。此後，他們一直與喬治保持聯繫，後來又數次重返肯亞，從遠方眺望克里斯汀的身影。
一九七四年，喬治一度有三個月追蹤不到克里斯汀，約翰和安東尼得知後，決定重返肯亞，希望能見到克里斯汀最後一面。
克里斯汀彷彿感應到老友將來訪，在他們抵達肯亞前晚現身保護區，牠就蹲在喬治帳篷外的岩石上。喬治警告約翰和安東尼，別太靠近克里斯汀，牠已回復本性，稍有不慎，可能命喪獅口。
第二天，約翰和安東尼在保護區叢林外等待克里斯汀出現。克里斯汀遠遠看見人影，先是慢慢走近，接著好像是認出了他們，於是飛奔向兩位前主人，一把抱住他們。牠把前爪搭在約翰肩上，像以前那樣舔他的臉頰，約翰也張開雙臂擁抱克里斯汀，牠又轉身摩蹭安東尼，就像是三位多年不見的老友互相擁抱、問好一樣。
克里斯汀此時已有了伴侶，甚至把母獅介紹給牠們，母獅顯得有些小心翼翼，但也接受約翰和安東尼的撫摸。喬治提醒兩人到了離開的時候，他們向露營帳篷走去，克里斯汀卻一直跟隨在後，一直待到晚上大家都回到帳篷裡。翌日，克里斯汀與母獅返回叢林，從那之後，人們就沒再看過克里斯汀的身影。
現住澳洲的約翰說，他不知道是誰把這段三十年前的錄影放到網路上，不過他不介意。「這是個充滿了愛的故事，人們對牠有興趣，我們很開心。」約翰希望藉此能讓更多人關注野生動物保護課題。
這影片其實在2008年7月22日
也被美國NBC晨間新聞TODAY播出片段
8天後 7月30日
TODAY找到了當事人 並且做了獨家專訪！
TODAY網站上同時整理了這個事件的照片集
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25928422/displaymode/1107/s/2/
那頭獅子長大後臉還是一樣可愛 都沒變欸 〒△〒
另外 TODAY網站也發了2篇報導
以下都是英文原文:
‘Hugging’ lion’s ex-owners reflect on his legacy
Men who reunite with Christian in hit video call it ‘an extraordinary story’
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 10:48 a.m. ET July 30, 2008
The years have been kind to the two young men who cavorted around Austin Powers-era London with a pet lion named Christian, creating an enduring legacy that has deeply touched millions through a medium undreamt of then: the Internet. Today, John Rendall and “Ace” Bourke are as dashing as they once were hip — and they remain as devoted as ever to preserving the world’s endangered wildlife.
“This is Christian’s legacy. It’s an extraordinary story,” Rendall told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira from Sydney, Australia, Wednesday after he and Bourke watched the heartwarming film of their reunion with Christian that’s garnered millions of hits on YouTube.
Christian had been in Africa for a year when the video was shot. Raised in a London furniture shop, he was introduced into the wild by George Adamson, who, with his wife, Joy, had raised and then rehabilitated an orphaned cub named Elsa — an experience Joy turned into a book that became the hit movie “Born Free.”
But it was Christian, not the famed Elsa, who inspired Adamson’s associate, Tony Fitzjohn, to establish the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust when Adamson was murdered by bandits in Kenya in 1988. Out of the trust grew the Mkomazi Preserve in Tanzania, which has established the first breeding program for the endangered black rhinoceros.
“If we hadn’t made that spontaneous decision to buy Christian, have him in London, take him to George, [get him] successfully rehabilitated, the George Adamson Trust would not really have existed,” Rendall said. “And now there is a game park — a national park — as a direct result of Christian’s life. It’s a wonderful, wonderful endorsement.”
►Overwhelming response
Rendall and Bourke are silver-haired now. With scarves knotted loosely around their necks, they spoke from beneath the soaring arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, delighted to talk about a story that’s at once 39 years old and forever new.
“It is pretty extraordinary footage and quite humbling. But it is sort of very beautiful, the response,” Bourke told Vieira. “I suppose, 35 years later, to find that people are so fascinated by it and have so enjoyed it, is slightly overwhelming … and all the comments on the YouTube site, they’re so positive. It is marvelous that so many people are getting so much enjoyment out of it.”
They retold the story of going to London's Harrods department store in 1969 out of curiosity. A friend had told them she had asked the manager of the exotic animal department if she could buy a camel, and with classic British aplomb, he had dryly asked, “Would that be one hump or two, ma’am?” The two young men, who had grown up in Australia and recently graduated from college, were keen to see such a place.
At the store, they spotted a 35-pound lion cub in a little cage. Like kids enthralled by a puppy in a pet store window, they had to have him.
“It was an irresistible sight,” Rendall said. “We were rather shocked when we saw this cub in Harrods in a department store in a very small cage. Not only was he totally entrancing, we must be able to do something better for him. He can’t stay in a cage this size,” he remembers thinking.
They named him Christian and took him home to their pad in the Kings Road, the hippest address in the hippest part of London — Chelsea.
►A happy cubhood
Pictures from those days show the juvenile lion chewing on a basket, eating off a woman’s plate and lounging in the back of a Mercedes convertible. (Last year, Bourke and Rendall had told The Daily Mail in London that Christian also toured town in a Bentley.)
“We were working in a pine shop, which was a very trendy furniture shop at the time in a very trendy part of London, the end of the ’60s, the beginning of the ’70s,” Rendall said. “It was a very creative, a very exciting time to be living in London. It almost seemed natural to be living with a lion and to have him sitting in the back of a car going up and down the Kings Road.”
But after a year, Christian had grown to 185 pounds and could not stay much longer as a house pet. No matter how much he loved his two-legged roomies, wild animals get bored in such settings. Ultimately, they can get in trouble.
Bourke told TODAY that they were fortunate enough to meet Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, the married actor and actress who had portrayed the Adamsons in “Born Free.” Through them they got an introduction to George Adamson. They got the lion to Adamson at a perfect time, and Adamson was able to introduce him to a habitat that neither Christian nor his ancestors had seen for five generations.
The reunion that has opened countless tear ducts came a year later. Rendall and Bourke said that everyone asks them if they were scared watching a lion start to approach them, first at a walk and then at a run. What if Christian was so thoroughly rehabilitated he no longer saw them as friends, but as hors d'oeuvres?
►Love and excitement
“We had such a beautiful relationship with him,” Bourke said. “There was such trust between us and such love. He ran toward us with such love and excitement in his eyes, and we felt exactly the same way. We were just so excited to see him, looking so big and healthy. The story had just turned out so beautifully, when it could have had a very different ending.”
Rendall referred to the film in describing the reunion. “You can see in that clip his body language,” he said. “When he first starts seeing us, he’s looking, looking. Is it us? Is it us? And then suddenly, he says, ‘Right, this is them.’ And down he comes. And there wasn’t a moment that we ever doubted that it was going to be a wonderful greeting … we never doubted it.”
Bourke and Rendall saw Christian a final time in 1974, by which time he had doubled in size and was now king of the jungle, with a pride of lionesses and a batch of cubs.
“He still recognized us,” Rendall said. “He was with wild lionesses. He had a litter of cubs and his genes had been passed on back into the wild. After that time we saw him, he was never seen again. It was like a final farewell … he was completely integrated back into the wild.”
The experience moved Rendall, who lives in London, to devote his life to conservation; today he is a trustee of the Adamson Trust. Bourke, who became a dealer in Aboriginal art in his native Australia, is also a supporter of preserving wildlife.
Both hope that the millions of people who have been so moved by the clip contribute to the cause.
“We’re just hoping that people who have enjoyed this clip — it’s a phenomenal number — if they would want to contact the George Adamson Trust through www.wildlifenow.com and support us and support conservation, it would be wonderful to contribute to George’s memory,” Rendall said.
To learn more about the George Adamson Trust and how you can support the preservation of wildlife, visit wildlifenow.com.
Man in ‘hugging’ lion video reveals its secrets
One of animal’s owners tells story that still tugs heartstrings after decades
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 8:59 a.m. ET July 30, 2008
The decades-old footage of a full-grown lion joyously embracing two young men like an affectionate house cat has made myriad eyes misty since it recently landed on YouTube. What is it about the old, grainy images that has attracted millions of clicks around the globe?
Is it simply that a lion, whimsically named Christian, remembered the two men who raised it and then released it into the wild?
Is it nostalgia for a simpler time 39 years ago, when you could walk into Harrods department store in London, stroll through the “exotic animals” section, and buy a live lion cub?
Is it a longing for the swinging Austin Powers-era London of 1969, when you could take the beast home to a basement flat, play soccer with it in a walled garden — and even take it out to restaurants in the back of a Bentley?
The answer may be all of the above. But it may be something more: the indelible image of a creature that could kill a man in seconds behaving like a pussycat with two men it obviously loves, smack in the middle of the African bush.
TODAY played part of the video last week with little comment or introduction, and when the grainy footage, originally shot on 16-mm film, was finished, Meredith Vieira was among many in the studio wiping away tears.
►Swinging London
The video is the work of Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall, two Australians who in 1969 were living in a hip section of London. Nearly 40 years later, Rendall expressed astonishment that one video of his reunion with his former pet had drawn more than 6 million hits as of this writing. (Two other versions of the video on YouTube have drawn another 6 million hits combined.)
“Oh, my God,” Rendall exclaimed from Australia when told how popular the video has become. “If it’s made people more aware and more interested in conservation and the protection of the environment, we’re very pleased.”
Back in ’69, Rendall was living on Kings Road, in the Chelsea section of London. The center of London’s counterculture at the time, Kings Road seethed with creativity and fashion. Even Mick Jagger once resided there.
“It was more of less the center of that music, art, publishing, hairdressing world,” Rendall said. “It was a very exciting time to be in London.”
In the lingo of the day, it was wild. And it was into that milieu that Rendall and his friend Bourke would introduce something even wilder: A real, live lion.
►One hump or two?
Going to London was sort of rite of passage at the time. “We finished university in Australia,” Rendall explained. “In those days, everybody in Australia went to England as soon as they got out of university.”
Having grown up in Australia’s sparsely populated outback, the young Rendall was agog at the capital of the British Empire. Where he came from, there was one store where you could buy any color shirt you wanted — as long as it was white. “If you asked for a blue one, they said, ‘Get lost,’ ” he said, but in slightly more colorful language.
So when a friend came back from a trip to Harrods, London’s famous department store, and told a story about her trip to the pet department, Rendall was understandably fascinated.
“Harrods has always claimed that they could find anything,” he explained. “Anything you’d want, Harrods could get for you.”
His friend decided to test that. “She said she’d like a camel,” Rendall said. “Without batting an eye, the manager said, ‘Would that be one hump or two, ma’am?’ I had to see the department store that was so cool.”
So Rendall enlisted Bourke to go to Harrods with him. “We thought we’d have a laugh at this,” Rendall said, “and there were these beautiful lion cubs.”
►Love at first sight
The two cubs were in tiny cages in the exotic animals section. Like a kid enthralled with a puppy, Rendall instantly became smitten and determined to rescue one of them.
“I grew up in the bush in Australia,” he told TODAY. “I was pretty shocked to see this animal, even if it was three months old, in this tiny cage: ‘This isn’t right. We really have to do something about this.’ And right there [we] decided to buy him.”
The notion that one could buy a lion and move it into an urban neighborhood seems preposterous today. But in 1969 London, the improbable was not impossible.
Bourke and Rendall did have to go through a long process to prove they could care for the animal, and there were others who wanted to buy the cub. But the two friends prevailed, and soon the basement of the custom furniture store where they worked had a new and exotic housecat.
“We persuaded the owners of the shop that it would be great publicity for the shop if we had the lion live there,” Rendall explained.
“It’s something that can never be done again,” he admitted. “You couldn’t have a lion in central London.”
►The lion whisperers
Inspired by the Bible and a sense of irony, Rendall and Bourke named the lion “Christian,” and the beast soon became a celebrity. Rendall said they took a “horse whisperer” approach to raising the animal, never restraining it and never using physical force of any kind. Instead, they indicated with their tone of voice what was appropriate and what wasn’t.
“He could tell by the tone of our voice,” Rendall explained. “He knew that we wanted him to calm down, not now, let’s go, that sort of thing. We were very fortunate that we got it right. We ended up with a wonderful animal. He never bit anybody.”
The shop’s bottom floor became Christian’s den. “He had the whole of the basement. He had these toys down there — rolled-up old mattresses,” Rendall told TODAY. “He had his own kingdom downstairs, that’s where he slept.”
But when Bourke and Christian went out, Christian went with them, riding in style in the back seat of a Bentley. He even accompanied his human friends into restaurants. For exercise, they took him to a large, walled-in garden next to the furniture shop. Christian’s favorite pastime? Soccer.
►Growing pains
After a year, Christian had grown from 35 to 185 pounds. Rendall said he and Bourke knew the lion couldn’t stay with them much longer. They weren’t worried about Christian attacking anyone, he said. It was more that he was so big he could break a window just by leaning on it. Who knew what other damage he could accidentally cause when he grew even bigger?
Fortuantely, actors Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna dropped into the furniture store one day, looking for a writing desk. They had just finished filming “Born Free,” the famous story of Elsa, a real lioness who was reintroduced to the wild. In the hit movie, the married actors played real-life naturalists George and Joy Adamson (Joy Adamson wrote the book on which the film was based).
Travers and McKenna suggested that Rendall and Bourke contact George Adamson. Soon Rendall, Bourke and Christian were all on a plane to Kenya, where they and Adamson introduced Christian to something he had never seen before: his natural habitat.
When the two friends felt sure Christian had a new family and a safe territory, they went back to their lives in London. But they kept in touch with Adamson and made a few visits to Kenya to see Christian from afar.
►Emotional reunion
Their first reunion was in early 1972, a year after Bourke and Rendall left Christian with Adamson. It is this event that is shown in the grainy film that has become such a sensation on YouTube (although the captions on at least one version of the video misidentify the event as taking place in 1974.)
The now-famous footage shows the cat approaching the two men, cautiously at first. Then, as recognition begins to dawn, the lion picks up his pace and leaps into the arms of his old roomies.
The film is color, but has no sound. Subtitles have been addded to tell the story, but they’re hardly needed. There are two men in flared jeans and shaggy hair, and there is a lion. The huge carnivore approaches from a distance, slowly at first. Then recognition sets in, and soon everyone — men and beast — are hugging and crying.
Also in the original film are two lionesses named Mona and Lisa. They had been trapped elsewhere in Africa and given to Adamson to rehabilitate. Unlike Christian, Mona and Lisa had never set eyes on Bourke and Rendall before, but they came over to meet the two men anyway. If Christian vouched for them, these humans were apparently OK guys.
►A last farewell
But in 1974, Adamson lost touch with Christian for three months. When he told Rendall and Bourke, they decided to make one last trip to Kenya to try to say goodbye to their old friend.
The night before they landed, according to Adamson, Christian suddenly reappeared and sat on a rock outside the naturalist’s camp — as if waiting for his pals.
There was another tearful reunion and another romp. The next day Christian walked back into the bush, where his lionesses were waiting. He was never seen again — but the power of the Internet guarantees he will never be forgotten.
Now Rendall hopes that the sudden popularity of the old film will help wildlife conservation efforts. He has remained an active supporter of the Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania and the George Adamson Trust. Tragically, Adamson himself was killed during local unrest 14 years after the video was shot.
Rendall doesn’t know who posted the first video on YouTube, but he doesn’t mind that they did. “It’s a lovely story and we’re delighted people are interested in it,” he said. “If they want to support the George Adamson Trust, we’re delighted.”
To learn more about the George Adamson Trust and how you can support the preservation of wildlife, visit wildlifenow.com.
不過我還是重新整理了一次
有需要的人請自行轉走吧！
以下內容包含：
1.人獅重逢影片
2.人間福報報導
3.當事人接受美國NBC晨間新聞TODAY獨家專訪影片
4.TODAY照片集
5.TODAY網站的2則英文新聞
我決定先把影片拉到最前面
因為我覺得這是最觸動人心的部分(至少對我而言是...)
2008.07.29 人間福報
人獅重逢 感動相擁
英雄獅當貓養 風塵僕僕回歸非洲 30年老影片創600萬點閱率
【本報綜合外電報導】一頭成年雄師與兩名年輕人相見後，不但沒有發動攻擊，還與兩人如老友般擁抱。這段影片在YouTube網站上當紅，已創下超過六百萬次的點閱率。
一九六九年，約翰‧倫德爾和安東尼‧伯克兩名澳洲年輕人在英國倫敦一間家具店工作。某天他們在哈洛德百貨看到一頭被關在籠子裡的幼獅，兩人覺得牠可憐，用兩百五十個英國舊金幣買下，取名為「克里斯汀」。
他們把克里斯汀當寵物，經常帶牠去公園玩足球、有時帶牠上餐廳。出遠門時，克里斯汀就待在轎車後座。兩人一獅的組合，成了當地特殊「景緻」。
一年後，克里斯汀成了體重八十四公斤的大傢伙，約翰和安東尼意識到，他們沒辦法繼續把獅子當貓咪養。兩人正為此苦惱時，一對演員夫妻光顧他們工作的家具店，這對夫妻才剛完成電影《獅子與我》的拍攝工作，該片根據動物學家喬伊‧亞當森的著作改編，講述母獅艾爾莎回歸自然的真實故事。這對夫妻建議約翰和安東尼與在肯亞的喬治‧亞當森（喬伊的丈夫）聯絡。
兩人帶著十八個月大的克里斯汀，風塵僕僕抵達肯亞野生動物保護區。他們留在那邊配合喬治，幫助克里斯汀恢復野性。他們確認克里斯汀已有在野外求生的能力與安全的生存空間後，便返回英國。此後，他們一直與喬治保持聯繫，後來又數次重返肯亞，從遠方眺望克里斯汀的身影。
一九七四年，喬治一度有三個月追蹤不到克里斯汀，約翰和安東尼得知後，決定重返肯亞，希望能見到克里斯汀最後一面。
克里斯汀彷彿感應到老友將來訪，在他們抵達肯亞前晚現身保護區，牠就蹲在喬治帳篷外的岩石上。喬治警告約翰和安東尼，別太靠近克里斯汀，牠已回復本性，稍有不慎，可能命喪獅口。
第二天，約翰和安東尼在保護區叢林外等待克里斯汀出現。克里斯汀遠遠看見人影，先是慢慢走近，接著好像是認出了他們，於是飛奔向兩位前主人，一把抱住他們。牠把前爪搭在約翰肩上，像以前那樣舔他的臉頰，約翰也張開雙臂擁抱克里斯汀，牠又轉身摩蹭安東尼，就像是三位多年不見的老友互相擁抱、問好一樣。
克里斯汀此時已有了伴侶，甚至把母獅介紹給牠們，母獅顯得有些小心翼翼，但也接受約翰和安東尼的撫摸。喬治提醒兩人到了離開的時候，他們向露營帳篷走去，克里斯汀卻一直跟隨在後，一直待到晚上大家都回到帳篷裡。翌日，克里斯汀與母獅返回叢林，從那之後，人們就沒再看過克里斯汀的身影。
現住澳洲的約翰說，他不知道是誰把這段三十年前的錄影放到網路上，不過他不介意。「這是個充滿了愛的故事，人們對牠有興趣，我們很開心。」約翰希望藉此能讓更多人關注野生動物保護課題。
這影片其實在2008年7月22日
也被美國NBC晨間新聞TODAY播出片段
8天後 7月30日
TODAY找到了當事人 並且做了獨家專訪！
TODAY網站上同時整理了這個事件的照片集
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25928422/displaymode/1107/s/2/
那頭獅子長大後臉還是一樣可愛 都沒變欸 〒△〒
另外 TODAY網站也發了2篇報導
以下都是英文原文:
‘Hugging’ lion’s ex-owners reflect on his legacy
Men who reunite with Christian in hit video call it ‘an extraordinary story’
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 10:48 a.m. ET July 30, 2008
The years have been kind to the two young men who cavorted around Austin Powers-era London with a pet lion named Christian, creating an enduring legacy that has deeply touched millions through a medium undreamt of then: the Internet. Today, John Rendall and “Ace” Bourke are as dashing as they once were hip — and they remain as devoted as ever to preserving the world’s endangered wildlife.
“This is Christian’s legacy. It’s an extraordinary story,” Rendall told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira from Sydney, Australia, Wednesday after he and Bourke watched the heartwarming film of their reunion with Christian that’s garnered millions of hits on YouTube.
Christian had been in Africa for a year when the video was shot. Raised in a London furniture shop, he was introduced into the wild by George Adamson, who, with his wife, Joy, had raised and then rehabilitated an orphaned cub named Elsa — an experience Joy turned into a book that became the hit movie “Born Free.”
But it was Christian, not the famed Elsa, who inspired Adamson’s associate, Tony Fitzjohn, to establish the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust when Adamson was murdered by bandits in Kenya in 1988. Out of the trust grew the Mkomazi Preserve in Tanzania, which has established the first breeding program for the endangered black rhinoceros.
“If we hadn’t made that spontaneous decision to buy Christian, have him in London, take him to George, [get him] successfully rehabilitated, the George Adamson Trust would not really have existed,” Rendall said. “And now there is a game park — a national park — as a direct result of Christian’s life. It’s a wonderful, wonderful endorsement.”
►Overwhelming response
Rendall and Bourke are silver-haired now. With scarves knotted loosely around their necks, they spoke from beneath the soaring arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, delighted to talk about a story that’s at once 39 years old and forever new.
“It is pretty extraordinary footage and quite humbling. But it is sort of very beautiful, the response,” Bourke told Vieira. “I suppose, 35 years later, to find that people are so fascinated by it and have so enjoyed it, is slightly overwhelming … and all the comments on the YouTube site, they’re so positive. It is marvelous that so many people are getting so much enjoyment out of it.”
They retold the story of going to London's Harrods department store in 1969 out of curiosity. A friend had told them she had asked the manager of the exotic animal department if she could buy a camel, and with classic British aplomb, he had dryly asked, “Would that be one hump or two, ma’am?” The two young men, who had grown up in Australia and recently graduated from college, were keen to see such a place.
At the store, they spotted a 35-pound lion cub in a little cage. Like kids enthralled by a puppy in a pet store window, they had to have him.
“It was an irresistible sight,” Rendall said. “We were rather shocked when we saw this cub in Harrods in a department store in a very small cage. Not only was he totally entrancing, we must be able to do something better for him. He can’t stay in a cage this size,” he remembers thinking.
They named him Christian and took him home to their pad in the Kings Road, the hippest address in the hippest part of London — Chelsea.
►A happy cubhood
Pictures from those days show the juvenile lion chewing on a basket, eating off a woman’s plate and lounging in the back of a Mercedes convertible. (Last year, Bourke and Rendall had told The Daily Mail in London that Christian also toured town in a Bentley.)
“We were working in a pine shop, which was a very trendy furniture shop at the time in a very trendy part of London, the end of the ’60s, the beginning of the ’70s,” Rendall said. “It was a very creative, a very exciting time to be living in London. It almost seemed natural to be living with a lion and to have him sitting in the back of a car going up and down the Kings Road.”
But after a year, Christian had grown to 185 pounds and could not stay much longer as a house pet. No matter how much he loved his two-legged roomies, wild animals get bored in such settings. Ultimately, they can get in trouble.
Bourke told TODAY that they were fortunate enough to meet Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, the married actor and actress who had portrayed the Adamsons in “Born Free.” Through them they got an introduction to George Adamson. They got the lion to Adamson at a perfect time, and Adamson was able to introduce him to a habitat that neither Christian nor his ancestors had seen for five generations.
The reunion that has opened countless tear ducts came a year later. Rendall and Bourke said that everyone asks them if they were scared watching a lion start to approach them, first at a walk and then at a run. What if Christian was so thoroughly rehabilitated he no longer saw them as friends, but as hors d'oeuvres?
►Love and excitement
“We had such a beautiful relationship with him,” Bourke said. “There was such trust between us and such love. He ran toward us with such love and excitement in his eyes, and we felt exactly the same way. We were just so excited to see him, looking so big and healthy. The story had just turned out so beautifully, when it could have had a very different ending.”
Rendall referred to the film in describing the reunion. “You can see in that clip his body language,” he said. “When he first starts seeing us, he’s looking, looking. Is it us? Is it us? And then suddenly, he says, ‘Right, this is them.’ And down he comes. And there wasn’t a moment that we ever doubted that it was going to be a wonderful greeting … we never doubted it.”
Bourke and Rendall saw Christian a final time in 1974, by which time he had doubled in size and was now king of the jungle, with a pride of lionesses and a batch of cubs.
“He still recognized us,” Rendall said. “He was with wild lionesses. He had a litter of cubs and his genes had been passed on back into the wild. After that time we saw him, he was never seen again. It was like a final farewell … he was completely integrated back into the wild.”
The experience moved Rendall, who lives in London, to devote his life to conservation; today he is a trustee of the Adamson Trust. Bourke, who became a dealer in Aboriginal art in his native Australia, is also a supporter of preserving wildlife.
Both hope that the millions of people who have been so moved by the clip contribute to the cause.
“We’re just hoping that people who have enjoyed this clip — it’s a phenomenal number — if they would want to contact the George Adamson Trust through www.wildlifenow.com and support us and support conservation, it would be wonderful to contribute to George’s memory,” Rendall said.
To learn more about the George Adamson Trust and how you can support the preservation of wildlife, visit wildlifenow.com.
Man in ‘hugging’ lion video reveals its secrets
One of animal’s owners tells story that still tugs heartstrings after decades
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 8:59 a.m. ET July 30, 2008
The decades-old footage of a full-grown lion joyously embracing two young men like an affectionate house cat has made myriad eyes misty since it recently landed on YouTube. What is it about the old, grainy images that has attracted millions of clicks around the globe?
Is it simply that a lion, whimsically named Christian, remembered the two men who raised it and then released it into the wild?
Is it nostalgia for a simpler time 39 years ago, when you could walk into Harrods department store in London, stroll through the “exotic animals” section, and buy a live lion cub?
Is it a longing for the swinging Austin Powers-era London of 1969, when you could take the beast home to a basement flat, play soccer with it in a walled garden — and even take it out to restaurants in the back of a Bentley?
The answer may be all of the above. But it may be something more: the indelible image of a creature that could kill a man in seconds behaving like a pussycat with two men it obviously loves, smack in the middle of the African bush.
TODAY played part of the video last week with little comment or introduction, and when the grainy footage, originally shot on 16-mm film, was finished, Meredith Vieira was among many in the studio wiping away tears.
►Swinging London
The video is the work of Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall, two Australians who in 1969 were living in a hip section of London. Nearly 40 years later, Rendall expressed astonishment that one video of his reunion with his former pet had drawn more than 6 million hits as of this writing. (Two other versions of the video on YouTube have drawn another 6 million hits combined.)
“Oh, my God,” Rendall exclaimed from Australia when told how popular the video has become. “If it’s made people more aware and more interested in conservation and the protection of the environment, we’re very pleased.”
Back in ’69, Rendall was living on Kings Road, in the Chelsea section of London. The center of London’s counterculture at the time, Kings Road seethed with creativity and fashion. Even Mick Jagger once resided there.
“It was more of less the center of that music, art, publishing, hairdressing world,” Rendall said. “It was a very exciting time to be in London.”
In the lingo of the day, it was wild. And it was into that milieu that Rendall and his friend Bourke would introduce something even wilder: A real, live lion.
►One hump or two?
Going to London was sort of rite of passage at the time. “We finished university in Australia,” Rendall explained. “In those days, everybody in Australia went to England as soon as they got out of university.”
Having grown up in Australia’s sparsely populated outback, the young Rendall was agog at the capital of the British Empire. Where he came from, there was one store where you could buy any color shirt you wanted — as long as it was white. “If you asked for a blue one, they said, ‘Get lost,’ ” he said, but in slightly more colorful language.
So when a friend came back from a trip to Harrods, London’s famous department store, and told a story about her trip to the pet department, Rendall was understandably fascinated.
“Harrods has always claimed that they could find anything,” he explained. “Anything you’d want, Harrods could get for you.”
His friend decided to test that. “She said she’d like a camel,” Rendall said. “Without batting an eye, the manager said, ‘Would that be one hump or two, ma’am?’ I had to see the department store that was so cool.”
So Rendall enlisted Bourke to go to Harrods with him. “We thought we’d have a laugh at this,” Rendall said, “and there were these beautiful lion cubs.”
►Love at first sight
The two cubs were in tiny cages in the exotic animals section. Like a kid enthralled with a puppy, Rendall instantly became smitten and determined to rescue one of them.
“I grew up in the bush in Australia,” he told TODAY. “I was pretty shocked to see this animal, even if it was three months old, in this tiny cage: ‘This isn’t right. We really have to do something about this.’ And right there [we] decided to buy him.”
The notion that one could buy a lion and move it into an urban neighborhood seems preposterous today. But in 1969 London, the improbable was not impossible.
Bourke and Rendall did have to go through a long process to prove they could care for the animal, and there were others who wanted to buy the cub. But the two friends prevailed, and soon the basement of the custom furniture store where they worked had a new and exotic housecat.
“We persuaded the owners of the shop that it would be great publicity for the shop if we had the lion live there,” Rendall explained.
“It’s something that can never be done again,” he admitted. “You couldn’t have a lion in central London.”
►The lion whisperers
Inspired by the Bible and a sense of irony, Rendall and Bourke named the lion “Christian,” and the beast soon became a celebrity. Rendall said they took a “horse whisperer” approach to raising the animal, never restraining it and never using physical force of any kind. Instead, they indicated with their tone of voice what was appropriate and what wasn’t.
“He could tell by the tone of our voice,” Rendall explained. “He knew that we wanted him to calm down, not now, let’s go, that sort of thing. We were very fortunate that we got it right. We ended up with a wonderful animal. He never bit anybody.”
The shop’s bottom floor became Christian’s den. “He had the whole of the basement. He had these toys down there — rolled-up old mattresses,” Rendall told TODAY. “He had his own kingdom downstairs, that’s where he slept.”
But when Bourke and Christian went out, Christian went with them, riding in style in the back seat of a Bentley. He even accompanied his human friends into restaurants. For exercise, they took him to a large, walled-in garden next to the furniture shop. Christian’s favorite pastime? Soccer.
►Growing pains
After a year, Christian had grown from 35 to 185 pounds. Rendall said he and Bourke knew the lion couldn’t stay with them much longer. They weren’t worried about Christian attacking anyone, he said. It was more that he was so big he could break a window just by leaning on it. Who knew what other damage he could accidentally cause when he grew even bigger?
Fortuantely, actors Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna dropped into the furniture store one day, looking for a writing desk. They had just finished filming “Born Free,” the famous story of Elsa, a real lioness who was reintroduced to the wild. In the hit movie, the married actors played real-life naturalists George and Joy Adamson (Joy Adamson wrote the book on which the film was based).
Travers and McKenna suggested that Rendall and Bourke contact George Adamson. Soon Rendall, Bourke and Christian were all on a plane to Kenya, where they and Adamson introduced Christian to something he had never seen before: his natural habitat.
When the two friends felt sure Christian had a new family and a safe territory, they went back to their lives in London. But they kept in touch with Adamson and made a few visits to Kenya to see Christian from afar.
►Emotional reunion
Their first reunion was in early 1972, a year after Bourke and Rendall left Christian with Adamson. It is this event that is shown in the grainy film that has become such a sensation on YouTube (although the captions on at least one version of the video misidentify the event as taking place in 1974.)
The now-famous footage shows the cat approaching the two men, cautiously at first. Then, as recognition begins to dawn, the lion picks up his pace and leaps into the arms of his old roomies.
The film is color, but has no sound. Subtitles have been addded to tell the story, but they’re hardly needed. There are two men in flared jeans and shaggy hair, and there is a lion. The huge carnivore approaches from a distance, slowly at first. Then recognition sets in, and soon everyone — men and beast — are hugging and crying.
Also in the original film are two lionesses named Mona and Lisa. They had been trapped elsewhere in Africa and given to Adamson to rehabilitate. Unlike Christian, Mona and Lisa had never set eyes on Bourke and Rendall before, but they came over to meet the two men anyway. If Christian vouched for them, these humans were apparently OK guys.
►A last farewell
But in 1974, Adamson lost touch with Christian for three months. When he told Rendall and Bourke, they decided to make one last trip to Kenya to try to say goodbye to their old friend.
The night before they landed, according to Adamson, Christian suddenly reappeared and sat on a rock outside the naturalist’s camp — as if waiting for his pals.
There was another tearful reunion and another romp. The next day Christian walked back into the bush, where his lionesses were waiting. He was never seen again — but the power of the Internet guarantees he will never be forgotten.
Now Rendall hopes that the sudden popularity of the old film will help wildlife conservation efforts. He has remained an active supporter of the Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania and the George Adamson Trust. Tragically, Adamson himself was killed during local unrest 14 years after the video was shot.
Rendall doesn’t know who posted the first video on YouTube, but he doesn’t mind that they did. “It’s a lovely story and we’re delighted people are interested in it,” he said. “If they want to support the George Adamson Trust, we’re delighted.”
To learn more about the George Adamson Trust and how you can support the preservation of wildlife, visit wildlifenow.com.
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