You may have seen another version of this inspiring story, but I thought that you would enjoy seeing this one, too. It contains additional footage. Christian was a lion purchased from Harrods department store. in 1969 by two Australians living in London, John Rendall and Anthony 'Bourke.

You’ve seen another version of this inspiring story, but I thought that you would enjoy seeing this one, too. It contains additional footage. Christian was a lion purchased from Harrods department store. in 1969 by two Australians living in London, John Rendall and Anthony 'Bourke.

Rendall, his girlfriend Jennifer Mary, Bourke and Unity Jones cared for the lion as it grew too large to remain their pet. After meeting Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, who starred in the film Born Free, Rendall and Bourke agreed to have Christian sent to Kenya with the assistance of conservationist George Adamson — in order that Christian be rehabilitated into the wild at Kora National Reserve.

After Christian had been in Kenya a year, Rendall and Bourke returned and visited their former pet. The animal recognized them, reared up, grasped and nuzzled both Randell and Bourke. The following video of the event has some pictures that were not in the original one:  

Christian was living in the wild but as with George's other Lion friends, retained his trust and friendship with his respected human friend, George. George's wife Joy Adamson wrote (using George's notes) the best selling book Born Free. Later the book was made into the movie Born Free.

The movie Born Free won 2 Academy Awards and was nominated for a third.   It  also was nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards. No man who has ever lived has known more about Lions on a personal level than George Adamson. He lived in a remote area of Kenya, East Africa called the Kora Reserve (Now a National Park).