Mar 19, 2009 4:19 pm US/Eastern
CBS 2 HD Remembers: The Lion They Loved
Nearly 40 Years After Remarkable Reunion Between Men And Beast, Former Owners Take Stroll Down Memory Lane
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A year after releasing Christian into the wild, John Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke found him again. The reunion, captured on video, is an Internet sensation.
CBS
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Christian lived in the wild for more than a year before reuniting briefly with Rendell and Bourke in 1971.
CBS
Tens of millions of people have seen the amazing YouTube video of "Christian" the lion, and the emotional reunion with the men who raised him as a cub.
Nearly 40 years later, his former owners remembered their extraordinary experience, and shared their memories with CBS 2 HD.
The video quite simply is astounding. After a year of living in the wild, a young lion named Christian was to be reunited with the only family he knew as a cub. Their reunion was cautious at first, but in only seconds, any apprehension gave way to pure joy.
"It's just wonderful to remember the love we all had for each other, that he loved us and we loved him," John Rendell said.
"It exceeded our expectations without a doubt. We knew he'd remember us. We knew we weren't in any danger. We knew he'd still love us."
It's been nearly four decades since that emotional encounter, but for Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke that moment, and their time raising Christian, is one they will certainly never forget.
"He was such a beautiful lion that everyone we met fell in love with him," Rendall said. "We fell in love with him the moment we saw him."
That moment was in 1969 at Harrods department store in London, where Rendall and Bourke bought Christian for today's U.S. equivalent of about $3,000, and raised him in their flat.
"His routine became so normal that we all just blended in with our lives and it became normality," Bourke said. "It was the spirit of the times, somehow."
But it was inevitable that in a matter of months Christian would outgrow his surroundings.
"Ace and I thought, we've got to give him a chance. It would be a betrayal to send him to a zoo," Rendall said.
Instead, they made arrangements to have him rehabilitated in the wild. It was a dangerous undertaking, because of Christian's domestic upbringing, but, happily, he demonstrated an innate understanding of life in the wild.
"He immediately knew how to fan around in the right direction under cover with his scent downwind," Bourke said. "It was extraordinary. His instincts were not impaired in any way."
And so they left him to his new home, returning a year later to this now-infamous reunion.
And in a newly released video, a year later, the pair met Christian again, as a larger, even more self-assured king of the jungle.
"We were very lucky. We had a wonderful time to live with an animal as wonderful as Christian. It was unique," Rendall said.
"We feel very blessed and very blessed to have this chance to talk about him and make people aware of conservation issues," Bourke added.
Conservation has become a focal point for the pair, as they work to educate, and help preserve natural habitats for animals in the wild.
They have a new book out about their experience with Christian, and will be answering questions at the American Museum of Natural History on Thursday night.
To watch their new video,
click here.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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