George Adamson
George Adamson, the “Lion Man” of Africa, is one of the founding fathers of wildlife conservation.
“Who will now care for the animals, for they cannot look after themselves? Are there young men and women who are willing to take on this charge? Who will raise their voices, when mine is carried away on the wind, to plead their case?” – George Adamson
Once a lawless and forgotten part of Kenya, Kora, the 1700km wilderness, now a national park, owes a large part of existence to George Adamson.
He is best known from the book and film Born Free, the story of Elsa, an orphaned lioness raised and released into the wild by Adamson and his wife, Joy. Adamson was born in India in 1906 and first visited Kenya in 1924. After a string of adventures–not least of which was as a gold prospector—he joined Kenya’s game department in 1938 and married Joy six years later.
In 1956 he shot the lioness whose cub was to become world-famous as Elsa. George Adamson retired as a game warden in 1963 and devoted his life to his many lions. In 1970, he moved to the Kora National Reserve in northern Kenya, working with Tony Fitzjohn as his right-hand man, to continue the rehabilitation of captive or orphaned big cats for eventual reintroduction into the wild. In 1989 at the age of 83, Adamson was murdered at Kora by Somali bandits.
A Brief History
George Adamson was born in Etawah, India. In his youth, George attended boarding school in England, thereafter when he turned 18, he moved to Kenya to help out on his Dad’s coffee plantation. As a young adult George was not too keen on being stuck there for the rest of his life. He decided to live a little and try out different jobs like being a gold prospector, even a goat trader, and a professional safari hunter. By the age of 32, he became a Senior Wildlife Warden of the Northern Frontier District of Kenya and he then later married “Friederike Viktoria Gessner” who came to be known as Joy Adamson. The nickname, Joy, was obtained from her 2nd of 3 marriages. The 3rd marriage being to George.
Joy (born Friederike Victoria Gessner) and George Adamson met in Kenya on safari and was later married in 1944. At the time they met, Joy, who was given this name by her second husband (a botanist), had a deep interest in the natural world and had used her artistic abilities to illustrate East African flora, while George was a game warden for the Northern District of Kenya.
Their story really began when George brought home 3 Lion cubs in 1956 – sadly, while he was on a mission into the wilderness, a Lioness had charged him out of the deep bush, in defense he shot and killed her only to find out that she was protecting her young. Raising 3 cubs was a difficult task and after 6 months, 2 of them were sent to a European zoo. The smallest cub, Elsa, remained with Joy and George. At this point, a decision was made to train and then release Elsa back into the wild.
This momentous decision would change the lives of the Adamson’s and set a benchmark for wildlife conservation in Africa. Elsa was eventually successfully released into the wild, after months of training in which she would learn how to survive on her own in the bush. Elsa became the first Lioness to do this and still make contact after her release. She also went on to have cubs – another remarkable event that the Adamson’s followed closely and documented.
Later Years
Joy combined her knowledge and notes with George’s diaries to write a book about Elsa – the book Born Free was published in 1960 and became a bestseller which leads to an Academy award-winning movie. Joy went on to write 2 other books (about Elsa as a mother and her cubs), that promote conservation and raised money for wildlife.
At this point Joy and George started to pursue different interests and grow apart, although they agreed to meet up each Christmas. George had already retired as a senior game warden and wanted to continue to work with Lions. Joy moved to a different area in order to rehabilitate a Cheetah cub and a Leopard cub (her experiences later led to the writing of 3 more books). Both Joy and George were involved in a number of films and documentaries.
Joy traveled widely, published artworks and more books, and lectured all over the world in the last years of her life. George also ran a Lion reintroduction program in northern Kenya at Kora National Park. He wrote a book and worked with a number of orphaned and captive Lions including Christian the Lion. In 1980, Joy was found murdered near her camp in Shaba National Reserve, and in 1989, George was murdered by Somali bandits in Kora whilst going to the rescue of a tourist.
Joy and George set up or were the inspiration for a number of trusts and foundations. Royalties from books and films were also channelled into a charity set up by Joy called the Elsa Wild Animal Appeal. Later, this charity became the Elsa Conservation Trust. Both Joy and George upon their deaths bequeathed their estates to this trust. This included a lovely home they shared during their marriage called Elsamere, in Naivasha, Kenya
To find out more about George Adamson’s life read:
- A Lifetime with Lions (in the UK; Bwana Game), by George Adamson
- My Pride and Joy, by George Adamson
- The Great Safari, by Adrian House
- Or watch, To Walk With Lions (1999), a feature film, starring Richard Harris as George Adamson