Born Free Read online

  For two days Elsa and the cubs kept away from the camp, and during this time I repeatedly heard their father roaring. When Elsa returned it was late in the evening. Only her sons were with her, but she did not seem perturbed at Little Elsa’s absence, and after a large meal they all went back to the rock.

  Early next morning I followed up their spoor until I saw Gopa and Little Elsa on the rock; then, assuming that their father might be nearby, I went home.

  Later in the afternoon the whole family appeared along the road. Gopa and Little Elsa were panting; they had been chasing a jackal which I had heard calling some way off. While Elsa greeted me, I signalled to Nuru to return to camp and prepare a carcase, but Jespah decided that Nuru was to play hide-and-seek with him and, until his mother intervened, Nuru had to use all his wits to dodge the cubs. Elsa then took her offspring in hand, played with them and kept them busy until Nuru’s task was accomplished; she so often acted in this way that it was impossible not to conclude that she did so deliberately. When we arrived in camp, the cubs pounced on their dinner, but their mother seemed to be very nervous and after several short reconnaissances disappeared into the bush, leaving them behind.

  On 1 January I felt very apprehensive. What would the New Year bring? As if to cheer me up, Jespah came close and, taking up his ‘safety position’ (i.e. the one that ensured my safety from his claws), invited me to play with him. I stroked him affectionately, but suddenly he rolled over and instinctively I jerked back. He looked bewildered, then again rolled into his safety position and tilted his head. Plainly he could not understand my fear of his unretracted claws; repeatedly he invited me to play with him, and I wished I could explain to him that when his mother was a tiny cub I had been able to teach her to control her claws, and that was why I could play with her fearlessly, but not with him.

  The following day the same thing happened: Jespah wanted a game and I wanted to play with him, but when I came within reach of his claws I was obliged to break off. Elsa watched the scene from the top of the Land Rover. She seemed to be aware of Jespah’s disappointment at my cautious behaviour, for she came down and licked and hugged her son until he was happy again. Meanwhile Little Elsa sneaked around nervously, hiding in the grass and obviously too frightened by my presence to come out into the open. Elsa went over to her and rolled about with her until she too was quite at her ease. When Jespah and Gopa joined in the fun Elsa retired to her sanctuary on top of the Land Rover; I went up to her, intending to stroke her to make up for the apparent unfriendliness I had shown towards her son; but when I approached she spanked me, and during the whole of that evening she remained aloof.

  On 2 January, Ken Smith and Peter Saw, both Game Wardens from adjoining districts, arrived in a lorry. They had come with the consent of the Game Department to offer their help in moving Elsa and the cubs. Ken took some measurements for fitting the ramp to a four-wheel-drive Bedford lorry belonging to the Government, which he proposed to lend us for the move. He also offered to order a lion-proof wire enclosure to fit it, and to send us our old Thames lorry until the adjustments to the Bedford were completed. This would make it possible for us to accustom the cubs to feeding in a lorry with the minimum loss of time.

  Ken had been on the lion hunt which brought Elsa into our life and had visited her twice since then, but he had never seen the cubs, so, after we had dealt with the measurements, we all went off to look for the family. We found them in the studio lugga (‘lugga’ is Somali for dry riverbed), but at the sight of two strangers the cubs bolted. Elsa greeted Ken as an old friend, but paid no attention to Peter. She put up with being photographed, but when our guests came close to her, Jespah peeped anxiously through the foliage, obviously prepared to defend his mother if the need arose. Eventually he came into the open, though he kept at a safe distance from Ken and Peter.

  As we did not want to upset the cubs, we returned to camp and sent the lorry a few hundred yards down the track. A little later Elsa arrived alone. She watched us for some time and then, still ignoring Peter, she gripped Ken firmly around the knee with her paw; we guessed she wanted to show him that she thought it was time for him to go. Ken took the hint and they left, and immediately the cubs came bouncing along and began to play. This showed us that they were becoming increasingly shy of strangers. Jespah had overcome his suspicion of George and myself, but he didn’t trust anyone else.

  He showed his confidence in me on the following day, when he allowed me to remove a tick from his eyelid and rid him also of a couple of maggots. These maggots, which are found in great numbers in most game animals, though themselves harmless, weaken the condition of their host and render it susceptible to other illnesses.

  Jespah kept absolutely still while I attended to his maggots, then he licked his wounds and placed himself in his safety position, inviting me to pat him. For the first time, he even allowed me to touch his silky nostrils; perhaps he wanted to show me that he was grateful for my help.

  That evening he came alone into the tent, squatted in his safety position, and kept quite still until I stroked him. His demands for affection posed a serious problem: I hated to disappoint him but, on the other hand, apart from my fear of his claws, we wanted the cubs to develop into wild lions, and Jespah’s friendliness was already jeopardizing his future. Gopa and Little Elsa were different; their reactions were always those of wild animals.

  Jespah was the leader of the cubs. One afternoon I found him in great distress; he was alone on the far bank of the river, which the rest of the family had just crossed; he was pacing up and down looking anxiously at the water, obviously scared by the presence of a crocodile. I tried to help him by throwing sticks and stones into the deep pool across which he had to swim, but he only pulled faces at the invisible reptile. After a time, however, he made up his mind, plunged in and swam as fast as he could, deliberately churning up the water. Elsa, standing quite still a few yards off, had watched my attempts to frighten the crocodile away. When Jespah had landed safely, she came over and licked me affectionately; he too was particularly friendly all that afternoon.

  Later, as we were walking up the narrow path to the tents, Gopa ambushed me, growling savagely; I was quite frightened, and could not think what had caused him to be so cross, until I saw that he had taken his dinner to this spot, and realized that when I passed within a few feet of the kill he had felt obliged to defend it.

  The next day the Thames lorry arrived. We gave it a thorough wash and then parked it at the ramp, but it smelt of petrol, oil and Africans, and nothing would persuade the cubs to go near it. Even Elsa would not follow me into it, although I tried every trick I could think of to persuade her, in the belief that her example would encourage the cubs. There was nothing to be done except to wait until the lions had overcome their suspicion of the lorry, and remind myself that since the cubs so far had never been inside a vehicle I was asking a lot of them.

  *

  On 8 January, about lunchtime, I heard the excited chatter of baboons coming from the bank opposite the studio. This usually meant that the family were around, so later on I went to the studio lugga with my sketchbook. I found Elsa and her sons there and, as they were very sleepy, I had a splendid opportunity of drawing them. Poor Elsa was infested with maggots, but when I had tried to squeeze them out she flattened her ears and growled at me, so I was obliged to leave her alone.

  When it got dark and there was still no sign of Little Elsa, I was anxious, but as her mother did not seem in the least apprehensive I decided not to worry, for I had discovered that Elsa’s instinct was more reliable than mine. I am convinced that when there was a source of danger in the neighbourhood she had some means of sensing its presence, and also that she had a way, a quite imperceptible way, of transmitting her wishes to her cubs. We often watched attentively for any indication of a visible or audible sign of communication between her and her children, but were never able to observe one. Yet she was able to make her cubs stay put in the most varied circumstances. She co
uld sense the presence of crocodiles under water, or of hidden beasts which might be a source of danger to her family. She knew when we arrived in camp, even if she were far away at the time, and even if we had been absent for a very long time. She also knew with unerring instinct whether the people she met genuinely liked her or not, and this quite irrespective of their behaviour towards her.

  What faculty did she and other highly developed wild animals possess which could account for this? I think perhaps it is the power of telepathy, which we human beings too may have possessed before we developed the capacity to speak.

  When I had finished sketching, we all returned to camp, and gave the lions their dinner. After the meal was over, Elsa suddenly got up, listened intently in the direction of the river, and began to walk towards it. I followed at a short distance. We went along the bank for a while, then she turned sharply, crossed the studio lugga, and crept on through the bush till she reached the water’s edge. I caught up with her, and in the failing light was just able to see Little Elsa pacing up and down on the far bank, evidently frightened to enter the water, which was fairly deep at this point and where more than once I had seen a large crocodile. Elsa gave her low affectionate moan, moving quickly upstream and keeping her eyes fixed on Little Elsa as she did so. Along the opposite bank, the cub followed her. When they came to a shallow part of the river, Elsa stopped and her call changed, and finally her daughter plucked up enough courage to swim across.

  By then it was nearly dark and so as not to add to Little Elsa’s fears, I started to go home. To my surprise, when I emerged from the thick bush, I found Jespah and Gopa apparently waiting for the return of their mother and sister. I took a short cut home so that the family could join up without being disturbed by my presence. Later, Elsa came to my tent and rubbed herself affectionately against me as if to show me how happy she was to have all her family together again and how pleased she was that the anxiety we had shared was over.

  But Elsa was to have another alarm before the day was over. While she was still rubbing herself against me, she suddenly stiffened and, her head level with her shoulders, trotted off into the dark. She soon came back, but only to rush off again. She did this several times until she finally settled down to her evening meal with the cubs. Soon afterwards I was startled by the roaring of the cubs’ father who can only have been about twenty yards away. I counted the whuffs which followed his roar. There were twelve of them. While this went on, his family stopped eating and stood motionless between him and their dinner; they waited till he had left before they started to eat again. During the night they remained close to the camp, but went off early in the morning and did not return for twenty-four hours. When they came back we gave them some meat, but though the cubs dragged it into the bush they did not eat it; instead, they joined Elsa and myself at the salt lick.

  It was six days since we had placed the lorry by the ramp at the salt lick and, so far as I could judge from the spoor, no lion had been near it. I went into the open truck and called to Elsa; after some hesitation she followed me, but placed herself broadside on to the entrance, thus preventing me from getting out or Jespah, who was following her, from coming in. After a time she went back to the tents and hopped on to the roof of the Land Rover. The cubs began to eat and I went over to their mother and started to play with her; as I did so, I noticed that two of the maggot swellings had gone septic. I wanted to deal with them, but each time I touched her she withdrew, and when on the following day I again tried to help her she seemed to be even more sensitive.

  I always carry a little sulphanilamide powder with me to disinfect insect bites or scratches but George believes that, while they are very effective for human beings, in the case of animals one should not give such drugs unless there is proof that their own antibodies are not strong enough to effect a natural cure. Because of this, I did not give Elsa sulphanilamide, relying on her natural resistance and thinking that she would lick her wounds clean, as she had often done before when she had been plagued by the maggots.

  The lions spent the next day in the kitchen lugga where Nuru and I found them in the afternoon. I sent him off to prepare a carcase at the camp – Elsa managed to keep the cubs away from the goats, even though they were developing an increasing interest in them. Had she not always shown such a co-operative attitude our peaceful truce could never have been maintained. On this day, too, she showed her usual tact and sense of fair play when the cubs started to ambush me. All they wanted was a friendly game, but their claws were very sharp. Elsa came to my rescue, cuffed her children, gave me too a mild spanking, and generally saw to it that the cubs’ surprise at my reluctance to play with them did not develop into animosity.

  There could be no doubt about her wish to maintain good relations between all of us. I had another proof of it on the following afternoon. Nuru and I spotted the lions on the Whuffing Rock. As soon as I called to her, Elsa came and joined us and was most affectionate to me – indeed, she seemed to be making the most of the few moments in which we were alone; as soon as Jespah appeared she became aloof. She was plainly determined not to arouse her cubs’ jealousy, was always careful in Jespah’s presence, and when Gopa and Little Elsa were about it was an understood thing that no demonstrations of affection were ever to take place between us, for they, more than Jespah, had a tendency to be very jealous of me.

  We crossed the thick bush towards the river, and Nuru had a difficult time with Jespah, who took advantage of every piece of cover to pounce out at him and try to get his rifle. It was only because Elsa often stood between her son and him that any progress was possible.

  When we reached the river, I told Nuru to take a short cut home and get the lions’ dinner ready. He sneaked away as quickly as he could, but Jespah was not going to be deprived of his fun, and stealthily followed him. My ‘No’s’ were without effect; luckily I knew I could rely on Nuru’s tactics to get him out of his difficulties. He has a unique way with animals and can always be relied on to be kind to them. How often I have watched him using all sorts of tricks to divert their interest when they were being naughty, rather than resort to force or punishment. In all the years he has been in daily contact with them, he has never once suffered so much as a scratch, and there is no doubt he is genuinely fond of his charges. I would rather have him than anyone else to deal with lions.

  While Nuru was making his way home, I took the rest of the family back by the river. When we reached the studio lugga Jespah joined us, and by his spirited prancings I could just imagine what fun he had been having with poor Nuru. When we got to camp the cubs pounced on their dinner and Elsa stepped carefully up on to the roof of the Land Rover. Her maggot wounds seemed to be hurting her a great deal, but she would not allow me to touch the swellings, much less press the maggots out.

  24. Elsa Is Ill

  George had now been away for two weeks on the recce to Lake Rudolf. He had been joined by Ken Smith as well as by the Game Warden for the area. I expected them back any day but almost dreaded to hear the noise of the car, for I feared it might mean the end of Elsa’s happy life. What would await her in her new home? How many lionesses might she have to conquer before her territory was safe for the cubs? She loved her home and here she had at least established her rights. She and her children would need to forget this ideal environment and all that was familiar to them before they could begin to be happy in another place. If man with all his capacity to reason often gives tragic proof of his inability to adjust himself to exile, how could one expect wild animals, who are more conservative and more dependent on their territory, to adjust themselves to something completely strange?

  Now the lions were in the studio lugga which, flanked by thick bush and overshadowed by large trees, was one of their favourite lie-ups; it provided a cool shelter from the hot sun, soft sand to doze on and usually a slight breeze swept up to it from the river. The family had been there since morning: at teatime I joined them with my sketchbook. As I drew I listened to the chirping of many b
irds and the soothing bubbling sound of the river. How peaceful it all was, and how contented we were.

  When it got cooler, Elsa woke up, stretched herself, walked over to Jespah and licked him; he rolled on his back and hugged her with his paws. Then she came over to me, rubbed her face against mine and licked me too; afterwards she went over to Gopa and repeated her demonstrations of affection, and then went on to Little Elsa. She had greeted each of us in turn, beginning with the one closest to her and ending with the one farthest away. This was her signal that she thought it time to go home. She started off for camp, looking back every few yards to make sure that we were following. We were not very quick off the mark, for first Jespah wished to investigate all my paraphernalia, and I had only just time to rescue my sketching materials and cameras, put them into bags and hang them on a branch out of his reach. Gopa and Little Elsa had gone ahead, and when I followed they blocked my way so cunningly that there was nothing for me to do but sit down and pretend that I wasn’t interested in their antics. It was dusk and the mosquitoes had become very active and rendered my involuntary rest rather disagreeable. Luckily for me, Elsa noticed what was happening and came to my rescue. She cuffed her children playfully, after which they forgot about me and followed her, prodding and chasing each other, which enabled me to make my way home.

  That evening, for the first time, I saw Gopa show a sexual impulse, first when playing with Elsa and later with Jespah. It was only play and no doubt he was simply moved by a strange instinct, the significance of which he did not understand. I was surprised that this should happen at such an early age; the cubs were only twelve and a half months old and still had their milk teeth.

  During the night I heard the family around the camp, and it was not until after breakfast that they scampered towards the doum-palm logs beyond the salt lick, where Elsa stood contemplating the lorry. Very soon she stepped cautiously on to the roof of the cabin and sat down. For ten days I had been waiting for her to do just this, but now I felt sad to see her sitting so trustingly on the lorry which was to take her away from her home.