Men come Face to Face with Lion in the wild 2 years after buying him at department store

In 1969, John Rendall and his roommate, Anthony “Ace” Bourke, strolled into the famed Harrods department store in London after learning that wild animals were being sold. They walked out with a lion cub, whom they named Christian.

Christian quickly became known around town, as the men would often take the cub on walks, drive the cat around in their Mercedes Cabriolet, and accompany them to restaurants and parties. So prominent was the cat in London’s social scene that Rendall became known as the Lion Man of Chelsea, Newsweek reported.

However, within a year, Christian grew too large for the men’s apartment, and it became impossible to keep him, so they decided to release him into the wild in Kenya.

Having developed a bond, the duo continued to wonder what became of their feline friend in the year that followed. They ultimately decided to travel to Kenya, hoping for a reunion. A cameraman joined to film a video of the excursion.

Though the men were reportedly told that Christian, who now headed his own pride, likely wouldn’t remember them anymore, they wanted to see for themselves.

With the help of noted wildlife conservationist George Adamson, the duo headed to the area where it was believed Christian lived. While waiting, they noticed their former cub slowly coming down a mountain. Suddenly, the lion, now full-grown, recognized his former caretakers.

Christian galloped toward the men, jumped and embraced them in delight. Christian is seen kissing and nuzzling Rendall and Bourke, earning his nickname as the “hugging lion.”

The reunion, though filmed in 1971, resurfaced in 2008 when, according to reports, a young American girl saw it on an obscure Japanese blog and posted it to YouTube, incorporating Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and film footage of the African jungle.

“Adults seem to find it very difficult to watch without crying. It summons up all the pain of separation and loss, and the joy of being reunited,” Rendall wrote in the Daily Mail in 2013. “It’s interesting that children don’t cry at the clip because, hopefully, they’ve never had to experience separation like that. When they see the film, they just say, ‘Oh, fantastic!’ “

“When I go to schools to talk about conservation and show the clip, the children are cheering and saying, ‘Oh, isn’t he great, isn’t he fabulous?’ Then I look up and see that the headteacher is in tears,” he continued.

The video later showed Rendall, Bourke and Adamson relaxing with Christian’s pride.

“One of the extraordinary things about the reunion is that Christian introduces us to his two lionesses. They were never tame and George was amazed that they also accepted us,” Rendall, who died in 2022, wrote.

Rendall and Bourke reunited with Christian again in 1972. The big cat was last seen in 1973. As wild African lions only live 10 to 15 years, he’s most certainly dead.

Various YouTube videos of the initial reunion have racked up more than 30 million views combined.

NEED TO KNOW

• Roommates John Rendall and Anthony Bourke purchased a lion cub, Christian, from Harrods in 1969 and raised the cat in their apartment
• The men, who took Christian to parties and restaurants all over London, were forced to release the cat into the wild after he outgrew their apartment
• Rendall and Bourke reunited with Christian the Lion in Africa in 1971 in a viral YouTube video