Lion bought from a department store remembers its owner after being released into the wild 🦁

In 1969, two young Australians spotted a lion cub in the pet department of Harrods in London. It sounds absurd now, but Harrods actually used to sell exotic animals back then. And so they… bought the lion🤣 The cub was named Christian and lived with them in the furniture store where they worked, even playing and chasing balls in the courtyard of a nearby church graveyard. But a cub eventually grows into a big lion. As Christian got bigger, the two men realized: 'This really isn't a suitable roommate for London.' Through the connection of an actor from 'Born Free' (a movie based on the true story of a lion named Elsa), Christian was sent to Kenya. With the help of conservationist George Adamson, he gradually adapted to life in the wild. About a year later, the two men traveled to Kenya to visit him. They weren't sure if Christian would remember them, but as soon as he recognized them, he ran over, stood up, hugged them with his front paws, and kept rubbing and licking their faces🥹 There's even documentary footage from the time of this reunion! What's even more interesting is that when they met again the following year, Christian still recognized them, even though he was now a 200+ kg giant lion🤣 The lion cub bought from a department store eventually returned to Africa to become a wild lion. This story isn't about 'humans successfully domesticating a lion,' but rather about 'successfully helping a lion become a lion again' 🦁