by Joy Adamson
During all these weeks the rains never ceased and our submarine gradually fell to pieces; the centre bolt went, the U-bolts, the brake pipe, the starter, finally the exhaust pipe broke off, yet, in spite of this, the car continued to carry us until the day when we were again marooned in our camp by the floods. Then I used the car as a bedroom, for my tent was leaking like a sieve and anyway perhaps it was prudent to sleep there, as a pride of lions with five cubs had settled very close to the camp.
40. The Price of Freedom
We had now struggled for months against the worst possible weather, wrecking our car, putting important work aside and doing no good to our health and all this under conditions which greatly reduced our chances of finding the cubs. So, when on 2 February the director came to Seronera, I wrote to him repeating my plea to be allowed to sleep out since this was our best hope of seeing the cubs. He replied that it was not within his competence to give us such permission but that he would place my request before the trustees at their March meeting if I wished him to do so. By then Jespah, if he were still alive, would have carried the arrowhead for a year, unless it had sloughed out. Since, for the time being, we could do nothing more than obtain the permission we needed we continued our search, trying desperately to find a route by which we could reach the escarpment and its hinterland. But only when the rains had decreased did we eventually succeed in reaching the top of the escarpment and driving along it. The early morning and late afternoon were the most probable times for seeing the cubs but it was difficult for us to reach the area where they might be early enough, or to leave late enough because of the need to obey the park regulation, to be at Seronera during the hours of darkness.
One evening the director visited us and I suggested that as a possible way of breaking the deadlock between the park authorities and ourselves I would be ready to attend the March meeting of the trustees if it were thought that by doing so I could clarify the position. The director promised to let me know if this could be arranged. The camp manager, who had come with him, told us that two days earlier when he had approached the shed in which he kept his Land Rover a lioness had jumped out of the open back of his car and that today she had repeated her performance. Evidently she was seeking shelter from the rain; but in future the camp manager proposed to keep the canvas drawn over the back of his car.
After some days I learned that the trustees had agreed that I should appear at the meeting, so, when the time came, I started off for Arusha, leaving George to search for the cubs. As I drove across the plain I saw that great herds of wildebeest and zebra were returning to it from the high ground. While it had been devoid of game we had not searched the area, but I thought that when I returned we must see whether our cubs might not be among these herds.
The executive committee of the Board of Trustees consisted of the chairman, three trustees and the director; a veterinary surgeon was there as a guest. I asked to be permitted to sleep out and if we did find the cubs to be allowed to decide afterwards what it would be best to do about Jespah. My request was turned down on the advice of the veterinary surgeon who had never seen Jespah, and on the evidence of the telegram George had sent in July, saying that we had found the cubs in excellent condition. I pointed out that as soon as we had time to observe the cubs more closely we had retracted this statement as far as Jespah was concerned, and I stressed that many people who were well qualified to judge the case of a lion carrying an arrowhead had supported our view that an intervention might be essential. I added that these were people who would not risk their reputation unless they were sure of their facts. It was all of no avail so we found ourselves back where we had been for the last nine months. Before I left, my attention was drawn to the fact that the Serengeti would be closed during the next rainy period – April and May – but that should we wish to come back in June as ordinary visitors, there would be no objection.
When I told George the outcome of the meeting he decided to appeal to the Minister of Lands, Forests and Wild Life of Tanganyika, and wrote to Minister Tewa asking for permission to sleep out and also to continue our search in the Serengeti during the rainy period. The reply was negative.
During the time that was left we determined to concentrate our searches in the areas which were free of tsetse and should it prove necessary, we would return in June and continue to look for Jespah. When the park warden returned from a safari he told us that he had seen the lame young lion which a white hunter had also recently seen. He was still in company with another lion who was plainly providing him with food, since he could not hunt for himself. The park warden had shot two Tommies to help him out, but doubted if he would recover and said he meant to keep an eye on him and put him out of his misery if it seemed necessary. On hearing this, even though the warden had assured us that the lion could not be Jespah as he had no wound or scar, we set off at once to find the injured animal. On our way we met a safari party who told us that they had seen two very thin young lions one of which limped. We did not think this could be the warden’s pair for they were ten miles away from where he had observed them and the lame animal could hardly have covered such a distance.
Within a few hundred yards of Naabi Hill were some rocks and a few trees which provided shade and made the spot an ideal lie-up for lions; from here they could watch the surrounding plain which was now teeming with game.
We found the rocks occupied by two young lions. George had seen them before; then one of them had been ill, but now both were in fine condition. They rubbed their heads affectionately against each other just as our cubs always did. Nearby was a fully grown lioness; when we stopped the car to take a photograph of her she rolled on her back with her four paws in the air and yawned lazily.
One morning we saw a young blond lion and three lionesses on a kopje; they let us come close to them, and the lion, though he seemed older than Jespah, looked tantalizingly like him and I could only hope that one day he too would have his harem and be equally happy. When we saw the pride again late in the afternoon they were in the plain and evidently selecting a prey for their evening meal from among a group of three zebra and a foal which were grazing unsuspectingly about four hundred yards away.
One of the lionesses advanced, her belly close to the ground; after thirty yards she stopped to let the rest of the pride catch up with her; the lion brought up the rear. Then a different lioness took the lead and led the party forward another thirty yards. They were within seventy yards of their prey before one of the zebra noticed them. The lions, seeing that they had been spotted, froze; the zebra looked calmly at them and continued feeding. Meanwhile the foal moved towards the pride as it grazed. Everything around was quiet and peaceful and it was distressing to see the little zebra so innocently approaching the lions; they seemed to be in no hurry and just sat in a line, watching. Well, the lions had to live and who was I to criticize them for killing in order to survive; indeed, I could remember a time when I thought it great sport to shoot a defenceless deer. That was long ago and after I had lived for some time close to animals in their natural environment I could no longer imagine how I had once been capable of taking the lives of harmless creatures simply to provide a trophy for my vanity.
When the light faded we had to drive home so were spared seeing the end of the stalk, but perhaps the foal escaped, for next day when we came to the place expecting to find the pride on a kill, there was no carcase nor were there any lions to be seen. A few miles farther away, we found three lionesses devouring a freshly killed wildebeest. One of them was carefully removing the hairs of the beard and spitting them out. She reminded me of Elsa, who always detested tickling hairs and feathers and although she loved guinea fowl refused to eat one unless we had first plucked it for her. In the afternoon we had a chance of seeing the ceremony observed by wild dogs on rejoining their pack. We came upon eight at their burrow and noticed a ninth rushing towards them. He arrived panting, greeting each member of the pack in turn by rubbing himself against it; when he had finished his round
he moved away and defecated. Then he came back to rest with the other dogs. Later four more arrivals took place; each dog behaved exactly in the same manner. We were therefore convinced that this greeting to all members of the pack by a returning dog and the marking of the burrow with excrement, must be customary with wild dogs.
Circling round Naabi Hill on our way back, we saw a pride of eight lions and stopped the car; immediately a young male rushed up and sat close looking at us. He was so strikingly like Jespah that we even wondered whether he might be our cub, but he showed no scar and his expression was different. All the same we wanted to test him, but could not wait to do so because of the need to be back at Seronera by nightfall.
Very early next morning we set out to look for him again. The pride had only moved a short distance into the plain; they were dozing and too replete to bother about us, except for the young lion who came up, circled the car and behaved in such a friendly manner that doubts again assailed us. Could he be Jespah? The pie dish would be the conclusive test. We held it out: the cub looked at it with complete indifference. Then his brothers and sisters plucked up courage and came to play around the car and we had to resign ourselves to the fact that these were not Elsa’s children, though the largest male cub had many characteristics in common with him, including the habit of keeping watch over the pride whilst the adults rested and recovered their energy for the night’s hunting. Once this young lion had satisfied himself that we were harmless he went over to his father and snuggled up to him but, head on paws, continued to watch us through half-closed eyes, long after the rest of the pride had gone to sleep.
By now we had almost given up hope of finding the injured lion, though we were anxious to do so, to make quite certain that he was not Jespah; one day, we found him by a rain pool. His companion was with him, and not far away were two young lions with short ruffs. The four seemed to have formed a bachelor party; we hoped it was for the purpose of helping the sick lion. At our approach he pulled himself up into a standing position, but carefully sat down again for obviously it hurt him to put weight on the injured leg. His rump was withered, he was very thin, and the expression of his eyes showed that he was in pain. A first glance had told us that he was not Jespah, but I was tormented by the idea that our cub might be in a similar state.
We had not much time left before we should be forced to leave the Serengeti for two months, so as we knew that by now we had investigated the lion population round Naabi Hill pretty thoroughly, we decided to spend our last days examining the cub valley.
On our way home, one day we noticed some circling vultures and driving in their direction, came upon a couple of lion on a buffalo kill. They were mature lions and if it had not been for this difference in age we should have been convinced that they were Jespah and Gopa, for the blond lion had the same narrow, long muzzle, golden eyes and an equally good-natured and dignified expression as Jespah, while the darker of the two had a squint like Gopa. But they were at least four years old, with fully developed manes, so it was impossible that they should be our cubs.
During our final days in the park we drove non-stop from sunrise to dark hoping that we might still get a sight of the cubs before we had to leave. We had spent five months in the Serengeti, much of it under appalling weather conditions, we had driven ceaselessly, making demands on our bodies and on our vehicles that they were scarcely able to endure, we had searched every accessible place in which we thought the cubs might be. It had all been fruitless. The only positive results were that we had got to know the wild animals in the area and been able to study their behaviour during the rains and we left a network of car tracks that would be useful to the wardens in reaching hitherto inaccessible parts of the Serengeti.
On our last day we were again guided by vultures to a buffalo kill near to the place where five days previously we had seen the two lions that looked so like an older Jespah and Gopa.
The dark lion who resembled Gopa, replete to bursting point, was guarding a new buffalo kill against three cheeky jackals, who seized every opportunity to sneak a bite, till a growl sent them running off to avoid a cuffing. The blond lion took no part in the defence, but lay in the shade of a tree, his mane ruffled by the morning wind.
How splendid these lions were – aloof, but friendly, dignified and self-possessed. Looking at them it was easy for me to see why the lion has always fascinated man and become a symbol of something he admires. The king of animals, as they have called him, is a tolerant monarch; true, he is a predator, but predators are essential to keep the balance of wild life and the lion has no wish to harm, he does not attack man unless he is persecuted for his skin or when he is too infirm to find other more active prey. He never kills except to satisfy his hunger as is proved by the unconcern with which herds graze around a pride when they know that the lions’ bellies are full.
How I loved watching this scene in front of us. I thought of Elsa’s children. Where would they be at this moment? My heart was with them wherever they were. But it was also with these two lions here in front of us; and as I watched this beautiful pair, I realized how all the characteristics of our cubs were inherent in them. Indeed, in every lion I saw during our searches I recognized the intrinsic nature of Elsa, Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa, the spirit of all the magnificent lions in Africa. May God protect them from any arrow and bless them all and their kingdom.
Serengeti, June 1962
THE END
List of Illustrations
1. Joy Adamson showing off the three rescued cubs (Elsa, Lustica and ‘Big One’) who soon became a key part of the family menagerie.
2. Elsa and her two sisters were tiny cubs when they were rescued. Joy hand fed the cubs, first using a flexible rubber tube taken from their radio until feeding bottles could be fetched from fifty miles away.
3. The cubs soon made the Adamsons’ home their own.
4. As the cubs grew, it would become impossible to house all of them. Lustica and ‘Big One’ were found homes in Rotterdam Zoo . . .
5. . . . but Elsa would remain living with the Adamsons.
6. Although Elsa was domesticated, George and Joy always intended to return her to the wild and encouraged her natural hunting instincts, even from an early age.
7. George and the rangers took Elsa on trips to the land where she would be eventually released to practise hunting.
8. At first she needed help, but soon she was felling prey such as this buffalo on her own.
9. Despite her new found resourcefulness, she was still firmly part of the family and reliant on her human companions.
10. Joy had an extraordinary bond with Elsa and the affection shown towards one another continued as Elsa became increasingly independent.
11. Though George was focused on Elsa’s rehabilitation, there was still much affection between them.
12. Joy’s relationship with Elsa proved important to her work as a naturalist. Being able to get so close to Elsa allowed Joy unparalleled insight into the lion.
13. Joy, already an acclaimed botanical artist, turned her eye to the animal kingdom, sketching and painting Elsa in remarkably relaxed poses.
14. By now fully grown and an accomplished hunter, it was time for Elsa to be released back into the wild. Although the release was heartbreaking for the Adamsons, they were mindful that she had been born free.
15. The Adamsons kept a watchful eye on Elsa as she adapted to life in the wild and made new friends.
16. The Adamsons knew Elsa had been pregnant but were concerned that they hadn’t seen her cubs. Joy was overwhelmed when Elsa brought her three healthy cubs across the river to meet them .
17. Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa were born in the wild just like their mother, but unlike her, they would grow up there.
18. Any fears Joy and George might have had about Elsa’s maternal instincts were dispelled when they saw the family together.
19. Elsa was as friendly as ever towards the humans who had raised her, and allowed them to get close en
ough to the cubs to observe them, although the Adamsons were careful not to interfere too much.
20. The family’s time together was to be tragically short lived owing to Elsa’s untimely death at the age of five from an infected tick bite.
21. The Adamsons were worried about the fate of the three adolescent cubs. They were not yet independent enough to properly fend for themselves, and their experience with humans meant they began to encroach on local farmers’ lands, threatening their livestock.
22. For the cubs’ own protection, it was decided to relocate them to a game reserve in the Serengeti. Though the cubs had become increasingly wary of humans, the Adamsons eventually caught them and released them into their new home.
23. In 1960, Joy wrote of her experiences raising Elsa in the bestselling book Born Free which was adapted into an Academy award-winning film. In 1980 Joy was tragically murdered on her reserve, but her conservation work continues through the Elsemere Trust.
MAPS
Political map of Africa at the time
Endnotes
* A ‘pride’ is a loose term used to describe the association of more than two lions. It may consist of one or more families living together with some adults, or of a number of adults living together for the purpose of hunting in combination, in contradistinction to a pair of lions or a solitary lion.