George adamson christian the lion

Story of an adopted African lion

Christian the lion (12 August 1969 – c1974) was a lion born in captivity and purchased by Australian John Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke from Harrods department store in London in 1969.

He was later reintroduced to the African wild by conservationist George Adamson. Two years after Adamson released Christian to the wild, his former owners decided to go looking for him to see whether Christian would remember them.

Christian the lion story

He did, and with him were two lionesses who accepted the men as well.^[1]

Early years

Christian was born on 12 August 1969.

Christian was originally acquired by Harrods from the now-defunct zoo park in Ilfracombe.

Rendall and Bourke purchased Christian for 250 guineas (£262.10s.^[a] in pre-decimal currency).^{[citation needed]}

Rendall and Bourke,^[b] along with their friends Jennifer Mary Taylor and Unity Jones, cared for the lion where they lived in London until