The story of Christian the Lion that has been linked all over makes me incredibly angry.

There is no such thing as a pet lion. Life is not a Disney movie. Animals have a RIGHT to be animals and not pets that, and I'm quoting from an article here, spent [their] days lounging in furniture shops.

Good for those two guys to rescue the lion cub, but keeping him with them, making him a PET just for a little wile, is cruel beyond believe. So they helped reintegrate him into the wild when they couldn't handle him anymore (and we'll get to that later), but they should have been the very first thing to do. Teach that lion cub to be a LION. A lion is not a fucking pet, for God's sake, and I need to repeat this , because it makes me MAD.

About the reintroducing into the wild - I don't believe one word of it. I do think it's possible that a lion who was reintroduced would recognize them, but I don't believe that the female lion would let herself be touched by them as well, unless she, too, was a deeply traumatized animal, as traumatized as this poor lion Christian was after growing up with humans. What makes me doubt the truth of this story is that the other man is with them, Adamson, I suppose, who supposedly helped them reintegrate. Yes, maybe they are living in the wild, but let's not kid ourselves - that lion is only able to survive their because it's a lion - any physically weaker animal wouldn't have survived the abuse it had suffered from the humans before.

Oh, and the fact that it's "on tv" isn't such a good argument for it being true either. Just saying.

But what really makes me mad is this: the story, the decisions of these boys to raise the cub, took place in the 70. The world was a different place back then. Our understanding for wild animals was different then. And that's why it makes me so incredibly angry that it is presented today as a sob story, oh, look at the cute lion, he hasn't forgotten his "owners", his "friends". IT'S A FUCKING WILD ANIMAL! GIVE IT THE RESPECT AND DIGNITY IT DESERVES!!!!

Today, this story should at least be told from a different perspective. I mean, after the Harry Potter books and movies, parents in the UK suddenly bought their kids owls, because the kids wanted the as a pet (owl=wild animal=no pet), and that was only a few years ago. I doubt they are going to buy their kids lions now, but the owl story shows that out countries still have a lot to learn when it comes to protecting the wild. And I say "our countries" because I don't want to point at any country in particular. Just saying that you wouldn't even be allowed to buy an owl, let alone a lion over here. Anyway, the story about Christian the lion teaches exactly the wrong thing in that regard. it teaches us that life is a Disney movie and that animals are worth our time and money if they are cute and give us a kiss in return. Oh, and that it's totally okay to keep a lion as a pet if your appartment were big enough, I guess.

It could have been a good story. It could have been a moving story. If they had at least made the effort to make people think a little, instead of just showing the Disney version.

Lots of love for poor Christian, no love for the humans,
Oceana