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Elsa the lioness (c. January 1956 to January 24, 1961) was raised by game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy Adamson in Kenya. Elsa and her two sisters, 'Big One' and 'Lustica', first came under the care of the Adamsons when only a few weeks old. They had become orphaned when George was reluctantly forced to kill their mother during one of his safaris. (He was hunting for a male manhunter, but when a female charged him, he fired in self defence. After the lioness was dead, it was apparent that she was defending her cubs.) Her two sisters were eventually sent to the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands, while Elsa herself remained with the Adamsons until she was released into the wild, following the Adamsons' efforts to train her to survive on her own.

Life

While Elsa lived in many ways like a domesticated pet when she was small, Joy Adamson, whom Elsa trusted the most, considered her relationship with Elsa to be that of equals. Indeed, Joy was fiercely determined to give Elsa the education she needed to hunt and live in the wild. Her efforts paid off, earning Elsa worldwide fame at the time, when her life's story, up to this point, was published in the book Born Free. When Elsa was three years old, she brought three cubs of her own to show to the Adamsons, whom the Adamsons named "Jespah" (male), "Gopa" (male), and "Little Elsa" (female). The life of Elsa and her cubs is covered in the book, Living Free, published not long afterwards.

Elsa's life was cut short, however, when she succumbed to Babesia felis, a form of babesiosis, a blood disease somewhat similar in character to malaria, which often infects members of the cat family. Elsa's grave is located in the Meru National Park. Her death occurred as local sentiment began to turn against Elsa and her cubs, forcing the Adamsons to consider relocation for the cubs. Elsa's death made her cubs much more averse to human contact, even with the Adamsons themselves, complicating what would be their capture and ultimate release in the Serengeti. The fate of the cubs upon their release was uncertain, though George Adamson was able to find Little Elsa alive, healthy, and in the company of two other unrelated lions during 19 months of subsequent searching.^[1] Though this was the last that the Adamsons would ever see one of Elsa's cubs, they hoped that Elsa's descendants would continue to live on in the Serengeti.

Books

Born Free 1960 - Written by Joy Adamson; Library of Congress Catalog Card # 60-6792
Living Free 1961 - Written by Joy Adamson; Library of Congress Catalog Card # 61-15810
Forever Free 1962 - Written by Joy Adamson; Library of Congress Catalog Card # 63-8081
Bwana Game (UK Title) 1968, A Lifetime With Lions (USA Title) 1970 - Written By George Adamson
My Pride and Joy - 1986 - Written By George Adamson - ISNS 0 00 272518 5.

Films

Born Free - 1966 – 95 minutes; Starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna - George Adamson was the technical advisor. Directed by James Hill. Academy Awards winner and Golden Globe Awards winner.^[2]
Living Free 1972, starring Susan Hampshire and Nigel Davenport, based not on the book by the same name, but on the third book of the series, Forever Free.
Elsa and Her Cubs - 25 minutes; Extremely rare film footage of Elsa and her cubs Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa and includes Joy and George Adamson. Although the film begins by saying the narrator is George Adamson, it is not George Adamson speaking.^[3]

References

^ Adamson, George. A Lifetime With Lions. New York: Avon Books, 1968.
^ http://www.fatheroflions.org/Bibliography.html
^ http://www.fatheroflions.org/Bibliography.html

External links

A tribute to Elsa This site contains a huge amount of information and listings of the books, films, many photos and even letters written by both Joy and George Adamson.
Born Free Foundation
Wildlife Artist Gary Hodges - drawing of Elsa by Gary Hodges in memory of Bill Travers.

[1] Adamson, George. A Lifetime With Lions. New York: Avon Books, 1968.

[2] ttp://www.fatheroflions.org/Bibliography.html

[3] ttp://www.fatheroflions.org/Bibliography.html

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 [[File:Elsa the Lioness.jpg|thumb|right|Elsa the Lioness]]
-'''Elsa the [[lion]]ess''' (c. January 1956 to January 24, 1961) was raised by game warden [[George Adamson]] and his wife [[Joy Adamson]] in [[Kenya]]. Elsa and her two sisters, 'Big One' and 'Lustica', first came under the care of the Adamsons when only a few weeks old. They had become orphaned when George was reluctantly forced to kill their mother during one of his safaris. Her two sisters were eventually sent to the [[Diergaarde Blijdorp|Rotterdam Zoo]] in the [[Netherlands]], while Elsa herself remained with the Adamsons until she was released into the wild, following the Adamsons' efforts to train her to survive on her own.
+'''Elsa the [[lion]]ess''' (c. January 1956 to January 24, 1961) was raised by game warden [[George Adamson]] and his wife [[Joy Adamson]] in [[Kenya]]. Elsa and her two sisters, 'Big One' and 'Lustica', first came under the care of the Adamsons when only a few weeks old. They had become orphaned when George was reluctantly forced to kill their mother during one of his safaris. (He was hunting for a male manhunter, but when a female charged him, he fired in self defence. After the lioness was dead, it was apparent that she was defending her cubs.) Her two sisters were eventually sent to the [[Diergaarde Blijdorp|Rotterdam Zoo]] in the [[Netherlands]], while Elsa herself remained with the Adamsons until she was released into the wild, following the Adamsons' efforts to train her to survive on her own.
 ==Life==