In the swinging ’60s, two Australian men bought a lion cub from a luxury department store in London.<\/p>\n
Anthony ‘Ace’ Bourke and John Rendall named the cub Christian, and lived with him as a pet in their Chelsea flat, above a furniture shop.<\/p>\n
Eventually, Ace and John met the renowned conservationist George Adamson, who agreed to introduce Christian to his natural habitat in Africa as he was quickly outgrowing their inner city pad..<\/p>\n
Several years later John and Ace went to visit Christian in the wilds of Kenya.<\/p>\n
The fully grown lion remarkably remembered the men, and was filmed leaping up to embrace them.<\/p>\n
Some 40 years after that event, footage of their reunion was uploaded to YouTube, and brought the story to a whole new audience.<\/p>\n
Further information<\/p>\n
First broadcast April, 2009.<\/p>\n
John Rendall continued to actively support the\u00a0The George Adamson & Tony Fitzjohn Wildlife Trust<\/a> until his death in 2022. Ace Bourke has been a committee member of Australian-based charity, Working for Animals<\/a> for many years and is writing a memoir.\u00a0<\/p>\n You can hear Richard’s full conversation with Ken Wyatt on the ABC Listen App<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts.\u00a0<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/listen\/programs\/conversations\/ken-wyatt-life-roelands-mission-teacher-family-making-history\/103957732<\/a><\/p>\n You can also read all about the Conversations origin story on the ABC News website.<\/a><\/p>\n