20th Anniversary Collection: A lion named Christian, and the men who loved him

In the swinging '60s, Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and John Rendall bought a lion cub from a luxury department store. They eventually released him to his natural habitat in Africa. Footage of their emotional reunion in the wilds of Africa nearly broke the internet, decades later.

In 1969, Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and John Rendall bought a lion cub for just under £300 from Harrods Department Store.

They named the cub Christian, and lived with him as a pet in their Chelsea flat, above a furniture shop.

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.

Several years later John and Ace went to visit Christian in the wilds of Kenya.

The fully grown lion remarkably remembered the men, and was filmed leaping up to embrace them.

Some 40 years after that event, footage of their reunion was uploaded to YouTube, and brought the story to a whole new audience.

Further information

First broadcast April, 2009.

John Rendall continued to actively support the The George Adamson & Tony Fitzjohn Wildlife Trust until his death in 2022. Ace Bourke has been a committee member of Australian-based charity, Working for Animals for many years and is writing a memoir. 

You can hear Richard's full conversation with Ken Wyatt on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also read all about the Conversations origin story on the ABC News website.

This episode of Conversations explores viral videos, conservation, charismatic animals, safari, wildlife trade, 1960s, Kora National Park, Kenya, East Africa, travel, animal welfare, epic story, unbelievable story, memoir, books, writing.