This video is AWESOME. You have to read the backstory behind it first though. Dont worry, its definitely worth it :
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.
Video after the break. You just have to check this out.
