Christian was separated from his parents at an early age and put up for sale in a London department store. Christian's parents were zoo lions, the father came from the Rotterdam zoo and the mother from Jerusalem, and they lived at the Ilfracombe zoo. When they had cubs, the zoo sold them, and two cubs went to the department store.
Two men, Anthony Bourke and John Rendall, found him there and immediately fell in love with him and (were) determined to buy him. They scraped together the money and brought the little lion home when he was only a few weeks old. They named him Christian.
Tony and John dedicated themselves to giving Christian the best life they could, and the bond that developed between them is a joy to behold. Christian was a remarkable lion, obviously very intelligent and loving, and gentle to everyone, both human and animal.
As he grew, Christian began to need bigger facilities than Tony and John could provide. Thanks to a chance meeting with Bill Travers (who had starred in the movie Born Free), they hit upon the idea of sending Christian to Africa to live as a wild lion.
Source: http://www.kimbawlion.com/christian.htm
Here is a video capturing the reunion between Christian and Tony & John:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNTdWbVBgc
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