Last of the Free: An Inspirational Story of Three Young Lions Restored to the Wild, and the Man Who Risked His Life to Protect Them Book

A visitor on safari in the Tuli bushlands in summer 1991 would have witnessed an extraordinary sight: With luck, they'd have seen a pride of lions moving through the scrub. Batian, the pride male, rangy and beautiful; Rafiki and Furaha, his sisters, sleek and powerful; and Gareth, the other pride male, older, two-legged... and human. Gareth Patterson, a young Englishman who had worked with George Adamson before his death at the hands of poachers, adopted Adamson's orphaned cubs in Kenya and moved the lions to the safety of the Tuli in southern Botswana. Here, he and his girlfriend Julie made camp in an isolated spot and set about returning the lions to the wild state, separating them from the only family they knew - mankind. An evocative picture of one of the last great predators, Last of the Free is not only a vivid and intimate depiction of their daily life, but also a heartfelt plea, drawing attention to the crisis threatening the lion population throughout Africa. Through the stories of Batian, Furaha, Rafiki, and their offspring, Gareth Patterson raises our feelings of outrage at the wanton and savage destruction of one of the world's most beautiful creatures.

The last chapter of Born Free. Gareth Patterson worked with George Adamson before Adamson's death at the hands of poachers, adopted his orphaned cubs and moved them to the safety of the Tuli in Botswana. Here he made camp in an isolated spot and set about returning the lions to the wild, divorcing them from the only family they knew--mankind.