Review: A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond between Two Friends and a Lion by Anthony Bourke, John Rendall

Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: March 3, 2009
Format: E-book
Pages: 224
Source: Library

From Goodreads: In 2008 an extraordinary two-minute film clip appeared on YouTube and immediately became an international phenomenon. It captures the moving reunion of two young men and their pet lion Christian, after they had left him in Africa with Born Free’s George Adamson to introduce him into his rightful home in the wild.

A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity, cruising the streets in the back of a Bentley, popping in for lunch at a local restaurant, even posing for a fashion advertisement. But the lion cub was growing up—fast—and soon even the walled church garden where he went for exercise wasn’t large enough for him. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the hit film Born Free, led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of “the father of lions” George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions.

Originally published in 1971, and now fully revised and updated with more than 50 photographs of Christian from cuddly cub in London to magnificent lion in Africa, A Lion Called Christian is a touching and uplifting true story of an indelible human-animal bond. It is is destined to become one of the great classics of animal literature.

My review: I am not really sure where I saw this book recommended at but I added it to my list many moons ago. My hold finally came up via FLIP but I was surprised to see how short this book was. It was less of a book and more of a long report really.

I did enjoy the story though – it was full of heart and love for Christian. I never really forgot that he was a lion and how scary they could be, but for some of the story I could understand how they could snuggle and connect with Christian. I understood they were trying to keep Christian out of a zoo and captivity but it seemed almost as equally wrong for them to “own” him and keep him captivity within a city. Yes, they tried to make sure he had enough food, attention and space to roam but he was still living in captivity. To move past this line of thought, I had to keep in mind that this was many years ago. Things have changed since then and I can’t imagine someone buying a lion from a department store now. I think zoos have come a long way in that time period too.

I did enjoy the last portion of the book that walked through his release into the wild. It was a fascinating look into wild animal culture and behaviors. This is a quick read (I read it in one sitting) but was interesting – worth a read especially if you are an animal lover.