Celebrating George Adamson

10/31/2018

George Adamson was born on the 3rd of February 1906 in India. After his education in England he moved to Kenya in 1925, where he joined Kenya's Game Department and became Senior Wildlife Warden of the Northern Frontier District. It was his work with lions that earned him the affectionate title of Baba ya Simba ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), and would propel him into his career as a respected British wildlife conservationist and author.

Adamson retired as a wildlife warden in 1961 and devoted himself to raising lions that could not survive in the wild. In 1970, he moved to the Kora National Reserve in northern Kenya to continue the rehabilitation of captive or orphaned big cats for eventual reintroduction into the wild.

George and his wife Joy Adamson were two of the most celebrated champions of wildlife ever, and Elsa the lioness, star of Joy's best-selling book Born Free, arguably the most famous lion. Filming Elsa's life story began in Kenya, and the resulting Academy award-winning film captured the imagination of the world and redefined the course and meaning of wildlife conservation.

George and Joy inspired actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, who portrayed them in the film, into a life dedicated to wildlife conservation. Virginia and Bill went on to establish the Born Free Foundation, which is still protecting wildlife today and is now managed by their son Will Travers.

On 20 August 1989, George Adamson was murdered near his camp in Kora National Park, by Somali bandits. He was 83 years old. He is buried in the Kora National Park near his brother Terrance and two special lions -  Super Cub and Mugi. Subsequently, Kora was designated a National Park with Kenyan Government protection.

The Adamson's legacy lives on with the work of the Born Free foundation at Elsa's Kopje, where the Elewana Collection maintains a number of artifacts linked to George and Joy's life on site.