Christian, The Friendly Lion

6 comments

in Hoaxes And Conspiracies

Here’s another story that sounds so different that it must be a hoax.

Right?

WRONG!

This touching video shows ‘Christian’, a potentially fearsome pride-leading lion playing and licking his former owners one year after they’d released him back into the wild.

John Rendall and Ace Berg had spotted Christian as a cub.

The two best friends had seen him on sale in Harrods and just had to have him.

They lived in a flat above their antiques shop and let Christian exercise in church yard, thanks to a kindly vicar.

When Christian was 18 months old, in 1968, he had grown to the point where he needed to be re-homed in George Adamson’s famous Kenyan wildlife sanctuary, which many of you may remember was featured in the hit film ‘Born Free’.

One year later the two friends wished to see Christian but had to be warned that he was wild and there was a chance that he would tear them to pieces.

By 1973 Christian had grown to twice the size and had formed a pride with many females and cubs.

When Rendall and Berg went back again in 1974 they couldn’t find their lion and it was believed that Christian had taken his pride back into the wild for good.

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Viv July 14, 2011 at 8:49 am

It is real! They even have a book about it! Go search Google for Christian the Lion.

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Christopher Kelk December 11, 2008 at 6:38 pm

But how did they remove Christian and his ‘wife’ from the pride?

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Claire Gouge August 14, 2008 at 11:27 am

That story was so touching, it made me cry. I’m glad to hear that Christian got back to the wild but wonder why he was for sale in a shop in the first place.

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Lee August 14, 2008 at 12:53 pm

I think selling such animals was, perhaps, more acceptable 30-40 years ago. I’m not so sure it could happen, at least in a UK store, in this day and age.

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Kim Woodbridge August 14, 2008 at 3:19 am

I think it’s real. No one would select those 70′s clothes and haircuts and a Whitney Houston song for a fake video :-)

Seriously though – that is SO sweet. It brought tears to my eyes.

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Lee August 14, 2008 at 9:49 am

It is real, I said that at the beginning ;)

It truly is a moving story though, isn’t it?

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