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Mara the Lioness (1965-1974) was an animal actor who appeared as Elsa in the 1966 movie ''
Born Free ''Born Free'' is a 1966 British drama film starring the real-life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, another real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her in ...
'', based on the true story of
Elsa the Lioness Elsa the lioness ( 28 January 195624 January 1961) was a female lion raised along with her sisters "Big One" and "Lustica" by game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy Adamson after they were orphaned at only a few days old. Though her two siste ...
raised by George and
Joy Adamson Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson ( Gessner; 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, ''Born Free'', describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. ''Born Free'' was printed in several langua ...
. Mara was born in the wild in 1965, a premature cub abandoned by her mother during a violent rain storm. She was found lying on sodden ground, caked in mud on the plains of Masailand by Samwel, an African game scout and Larry Wateridge. Sick with hunger and in a semi coma, she was taken to a nearby coffee plantation in Kenya owned by British couple Irene and Douglas Grindlay. Irene Grindlay took it upon herself to nurse the ailing cub back to health. Initially Mara was to stay only a few days but she soon became a permanent fixture, hand reared and fully domesticated. As she grew larger however it became increasingly clear that she would need to be relocated.Grindlay, Irene. Velvet paws: the story of Mara, the young lioness. London: Robert Hale (1966) p. 173 The most obvious choice was the local animal
orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
at the entrance to the
Nairobi National Park Nairobi National Park is a national park in Kenya that was established in 1946 about south of Nairobi. It is fenced on three sides, whereas the open southern boundary allows migrating wildlife to move between the park and the adjacent Kitengel ...
. Opened in September 1963 as a refuge for orphaned or sick wild animals, the park initially held less than thirty animals, with Ugas (who also starred in the movie ''Born Free'') the only lion. By 1965 the park held 117 orphans of 36
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
including lion,
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
,
cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
s, african buffalo,
camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
s, hyena,
jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...
and
wild dogs Wild Dogs is an American heavy metal band from Portland, Oregon, formed loosely in 1981 by original members Jeff Mark, Danny Kurth, Matt McCourt, and Pete Holmes. The band has since released six albums, three live albums and one DVD. Wild Dogs ...
. It took many months for Mara to settle into her new home where she was affectionately known as the "friendly lioness". The Grindlays, as self-appointed guardians, remained in frequent contact.


Fame

Mara had only been in the Animal Orphanage for about six months when the ''Born Free'' film crew arrived. They were looking for lionesses to play the part of Elsa and decided that Mara would make an ideal adult Elsa. Seventeen lionesses were selected from across Africa and used to portray this famous
big cat The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus '' Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. Despite enormous differences in size, various cat species are quite similar ...
; their ages ranging from a few weeks to several years old. In total there were twenty-one lions and lionesses used during filming, with Mara the primary animal actor. Although Mara's size and weight required delicate handling on set, she was placid and easily directed. The Grindlays were regulars on set but were careful never to attend when Mara was filming because Mara had a tendency to stray towards them. Her affection for the Grindlays and theirs for her never waned.


Life after ''Born Free''

Once filming had completed, Mara returned to the Animal Orphanage, however the Board of Trustees of the Kenya National Parks became concerned regarding in the increase in the number of adoptees. They requested that Mara, Ugas and three younger lionesses be relocated to
Whipsnade Park ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, formerly known as Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, is a zoo and safari park located at Whipsnade, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of two zoos (the other being ZSL London Zoo in Regent's Park, London) that are o ...
. The Grindlays, who maintained responsibility for Mara, eventually agreed to release Mara into the care of Whipsnade. While waiting to go to Whipsnade, reports surfaced that Ugas, Mara and three other lionesses were to be rehabilitated by
George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
and
Joy Adamson Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson ( Gessner; 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, ''Born Free'', describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. ''Born Free'' was printed in several langua ...
. The proposed experiment was heavily protested. The Grindlays were opposed to the idea because Mara's behaviour was that of a domesticated dog. Along with animal lovers, naturalists and experienced game wardens, they held the belief that integration back into the wild would harm Mara, rather than benefit. Mara did not fear man and indeed went out of her way to approach and play. This posed an enormous risk to her safety. In addition, release into the wild would place Mara and the other lionesses at risk of contracting ''
Babesia ''Babesia'', also called ''Nuttallia'', is an apicomplexan parasite that infects red blood cells and is transmitted by ticks. Originally discovered by the Romanian bacteriologist Victor Babeș in 1888, over 100 species of ''Babesia'' have since ...
''. Domesticated animals have no resistance to the fatal disease, a fact which George and Joy Adamson knew. Their lion Elsa had died of the same disease not less than two years earlier when they had attempted to release her back into the wild.Grindlay, Irene. Velvet paws: the story of Mara, the young lioness. London: Robert Hale (1966) p. 189 Eventually only Ugas was released into the Meru Game Reserve. It was decided that Mara was too tame and she and the other lionesses should be relocated to Whipsnade Park. Just prior to her departure Mara gave birth to male and female twin cubs, sired by Ugas during the filming of ''Born Free''. In 1966, Irene Grindlay wrote a book titled ''Velvet Paws'' which detailed the life of Mara up to and including her appearance in the movie ''Born Free''.
''"We have no reason to reproach ourselves. We are quite convinced that we did the right thing in opposing her release and that for many years to come in Whipsnade Park she will be well-fed, contented and ... safe."'' (Irene Grindlay, 1966)
It is not known how long Mara resided at Whipsnade Park. The life span of a lion in the wild is approximately 12 years, while those in captivity have been known to live for more than 20. If Mara was fortunate she would have died in the early to mid eighties. Mara lived the rest of her life at Whipsnade Park, she died in 1974.


Films

* ''The Lions Are Free'' is the real life continuation of the award-winning movie classic
Born Free ''Born Free'' is a 1966 British drama film starring the real-life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, another real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her in ...
. This film tells in a most personal and touching way about what happened to the lions that were in ''Born Free''.
Bill Travers William Inglis Lindon Travers (3 January 1922 – 29 March 1994) was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Prior to his show business career, he served in the British army with Gurkha and special forces units. E ...
who starred in ''Born Free'', travels to a remote area in Kenya East Africa to visit conservationist
George Adamson George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the ''Baba ya Simba'' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and author. He and his wife, Joy, were depicted in the film '' ...
and several of his lion friends. There are some scenes of George Adamson and Bill Travers interacting with lions who are living free. James Hill who directed ''Born Free'' produced this film along with Bill Travers. In November 2006, this film and the film ''Christian The Lion at World's End'' were both released on DVD. * Mara is also a lion cub's name in the
Disneynature Disneynature is an independent film studio that specializes in the production of nature documentary films for The Walt Disney Studios. The production company was founded on April 21, 2008, and is headquartered in Paris, France. The company's n ...
2011 documentary film ''
African Cats ''African Cats'' (known as ''Felines'' in France) is a 2011 nature documentary film about a pride of lions and a family of cheetahs trying to survive in the African savannah directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey. The film was released ...
''.


References

{{Reflist


External links


George Adamson website with photos including Mara, letters and information.

Born Free website
for the
Born Free Foundation The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in ...
Individual lions Environment of Kenya 1965 animal births