It may have done for the cause of wildlife what "Uncle Tom's Cabin" did for the antislavery crusade. Within a simple narrative, "Born Free," subtly introduced primary lessons in ethology together with a new view of "savage" predators that transformed the attitude of millions of readers. It was Elisa's trasition from one ot the other that was so enormously revealing. Wild lions had been described, and tame lions had been described. In doing it the adamsons broke new ground, recording lion behaviour as it had never been recorded before. The education of Elsa, the lioness, transforming her from an oversized tame cat to a fully capable wild animal, was a complex task. When the cubs neared maturity two were sent to zoos, but the Adamsons decided to release the third. He then returned home with three orphaned cubs for his wife, Joy, to rear. In 1956, a game warden in Kenya named George Adamson undertook a routine mision-to shoot a lion that had killed a local tribesman.
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