Countryside Management Association News

More than half a century after George Adamson released Elsa, the orphaned lion cub, into the wild, his former assistant is to create a new haven for young lions at the Kenyan reserve in which the 'Born Free' conservationist worked. Tony Fitzjohn plans to introduce a new litter of cubs, including orphans, into Kora National Park, where the number of lions has dwindled due to poaching and poisoning by farmers. He has rebuilt Adamson's former camp, ravaged by fire in the years after his murder by bandits in 1989 and is in talks with zoos and other wildlife sanctuaries to obtain the cubs. The story of how Adamson and his wife, Joy, raised Elsa and decided to reintroduce her into the wild was told in the book 'Born Free'. It was later turned into a hugely successful film with the same name. Fitzjohn hopes the restored camp will primarily have an educational impact, as well as attracting tourists. His memoirs, 'Born Wild', will be published soon.