Nature as a Commodity to the Extreme…

During my flight home about a week ago, the flight attendants played part of a documentary titled “A Lion Named Christian” for our entertainment. It basically tells the story of two men who bought a lion from Harrods (a posh department store) in London, England in the 1960’s. Yes, you read that correctly. Two men bought a lion cub from a department store. I was pretty skeptical about this and actually did a little bit of research through Google to try to find a bit more on Harrods and its history of selling animals… This was one of the links that came up: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-452820/Christian-lion-lived-London-living-room.html It’s pretty much a summary of the documentary and contains some remarkable photos of lion cub living among humans. I also found http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4833450.stm which backs up this story about Harrods (scroll down to the section called “Fashion Accessory”).

For those of you who have not heard of this story or have not seen the youtube clip, here is a link to a few clips of Christian: http://animal.discovery.com/videos/a-lion-called-christian-cutest-moments/ I think it goes without saying that this documentary sparked my interest and offered a unique and rich site for analysis (lucky for me, our class has equipped us with some tools to begin examining this unfathomable phenomenon). First off, I thought sarcastically, “Wow. This is definitely taking the idea of Zoo Parade to another level. What better way to learn about an animal than to ADOPT it?!” And, of course, I felt quite disturbed by the fact that Harrods was simply “selling” this lion cub (though I think the documentary mentioned something about an application/interview process for potential owners) to regular people. I guess back then, having an exotic pet was a fashion statement/status symbol. According to the first link I posted, Ace and John (then men who raised Christian) were shocked by Harrods’ exotic animals department as well and went to check it out for themselves.

While watching these clips about Christian and his life with Ace and John, and, eventually, his “naturalization” in Kenya, a few questions kept bothering me:

1. Is it NATURAL for a lion to behave the way Christian was behaving (i.e. cuddling with and hugging humans and sleeping on a cot with pillows and blankets)? If not, then why did I feel sad when I saw Ace and John leaving Christian, as he looked towards them longingly? (Definitely an appeal to pathos!)

2. If the bond between man and animal is so “natural” then why is the video clip of the reunion so surprising and moving for many viewers? Is the bond actually unnatural? What about the relationship George, the man who was helping the lions develop “the pride,” shared with the lions?

3. What does this video and nature reveal about our interaction and relationship with our household “pets”? Do we possibly need animals more than they need us, or is it a mutual need developed once a relationship is established? (This just reminded me of The Little Prince and a quote about taming…)

4. At a more down-to-earth level, Ace and John talk about wanting to raise awareness of a need to protect endangered species, but what about the fact that they purchased it from Harrods, a place that sold furs a plenty? How can we reconcile this want to conserve wildlife and the trends of society and fashion?

I don’t have a complete answer to these questions, but I still think that there is something valuable in the relationship formed between Christian and Ace and John. In the documentary, two quotes that struck me were “Whether we were human or he was animal was sort of irrelevant” and “Everyone, lions, humans, felt we shared something special…” The love and emotion that this story evokes is a powerful sentiment that can be harnessed to inspire a more respectful approach to “nature” (as the other, the something greater than ourselves) and humankind…

P.S. Does anyone have any ideas as to how they got that footage of the reunion between Christian and Ace and John? I’m just puzzled since I think there would be some issue if a stranger-human were present…