The Heartwarming Story Of The Lion Christian

The story of the lion Christian is a surprising story about the lovable love that can arise between humans and animals. It is a true story that has happened in reality and has also been documented on video. And it is a story that raises some questions that are still unanswered.

It all started in London in 1969. A couple of young Australians named John Rendall and Anthony “Ace” Bourke were shopping at the Harrods department store. To their great surprise, they found a lion cub for sale. It was just a kid,  and the owner wanted to get rid of it because it had ruined his goods the night before.

The boys bought the lion and took it home to their house. Together with a couple of friends, they started raising him, and they discovered that he was very sociable and nice as a pet. When the little kid was one year old, it was no longer possible for them to have it in the house. They decided to take it to a furniture store where they worked. Appropriately, the store was called “Sophistocat”.

Neither Rendall nor Bourke had ever imagined that their little friend would grow at such a rapid pace. In a very short time, it was virtually impossible to have him in the furniture store. He did not get a place anywhere and inadvertently he caused a lot of destruction. So they turned to a friend who was a priest and asked him to let the lion Christian be in the parish cemetery. The priest agreed.

The Christian lion continued to grow. He was already an adult and ate ruthlessly. Buying his food cost his human friends a fortune. They began to understand that it would soon be impossible to let him live in London. After all, he was a lion. What would happen if he became dangerous? He was always very friendly, but you never know…

Two actors visited the lion Christian and suggested that they hand him over to George Adamson – a famous Kenyan nature reserve keeper. He could take care of bringing the lion Christian to his natural habitat and let him live like a real lion. The guys agreed, but not without feeling very sad. But they realized that it was best for everyone.

The boys agreed to take the lion Christian to Kora National Park in Kenya . It was the perfect place for him to start a new life. His conservationist introduced him to another older male lion, who everyone called “Boy”. He also introduced them to a female to form a new flock. Little by little, the animals moved away from humans, until one day they did not return.

One year later, Rendall and Bourke took the initiative to visit their friend, the lion Christian, again. It was a pretty crazy idea. He had already returned to his natural habitat and now functioned as an ordinary lion. At least they wanted to see him, knowing he was okay. The nature reserve warden warned them and said that they must be very careful, because Christian could attack them.

The young men went to the outskirts of Kora and waited for a while. Then they started calling Christian, but he did not show up immediately. Finally they saw a lion peeking vigilantly among the rocks. The guys kept calling him. Then the lion reacted quickly and set out to meet his old friends. Against all odds, he remembered them perfectly. He threw himself on them, hugged them and licked their faces. All this was recorded on video.

A year later, something even more extraordinary happened. After the last meeting, the lion Christian returned to the jungle. They could see that he had become the leader of a pack of lions. From one moment to the next he disappeared. Nothing was heard from him for more than nine months. In any case, his human friends wanted to visit him again.

Not knowing how or why , the lion Christian returned to move around in Kora, just one day before the boys’ arrival. The same scenario as at the first meeting was repeated this time as well. The lion looked at them vigilantly first and then rushed towards them, as if they were the same cub they had raised. The only difference was that he had doubled in size since the last time they had seen him. 

The story of the lion Christian and his human friends became a documentary that contains real pictures. They also wrote a novel based on their story and countless articles in various newspapers around the world have been written about this heartwarming story.

There are still no definitive explanations that can explain this lovable and unique relationship between this “predator” and these guys, who decided to offer a little lion cub their love, but also understood the lion’s future needs.