The lion's father, George Adamson, was one of the greatest conservationists of all time. He was a man ahead of his time - a hero whose devotion to Africa's lions is unparalleled. He sacrificed his entire life for the conservation and welfare of Africa's endangered lions – battling كورة لايف poachers, bandits, bureaucracy and his own old age, just to preserve their habitat - the fauna and flora of Kenya's untamed wilderness.

George Alexander Graham Adamson was born on February 3, 1906 in Etawah , British India. His mother, Katherine, was English and his father, Harry, was Irish. After training in the UK, George and his brother Terrance moved to Kenya to work on a coffee plantation. However, this lifestyle did not suit George's adventurous nature and after trying various ventures such as goat trading and prospecting for gold, he finally accepted the position of warden in Kenya's game department in 1938. In 1942 he married the Austrian artist Joy Bally. Together, the nature-loving couple lived happily in their exquisite surroundings.

It wasn't until 1956 that fate took an unexpected turn that would change the Adamsons' lives forever . Earlier this year, George learned that a maning lion was terrorizing some villages. George and his party pursued the male lion and killed the man -eater . Just then, the lioness burst out of nowhere and unexpectedly attacked her - leaving the men with no choice but to shoot her. Only later did George learn the reason for the aggression of the lionesses - their three newborn cubs.

Knowing full well that the cubs would not survive on their own in the wild, George brought the three baby lionesses to their home, where he and Joy tried several recipes until they finally came up with a lion's milk formula that the cubs accepted and fed up. Over time the young cubs grew into adorable and playful little lions and brought good luck to George and Joy who would never have a child of their own as Joy had three miscarriages over the course of their marriage.

As the boys grew it became apparent that they could no longer be kept as cuddly toys and so the older two were sent to Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands - an excellent facility where George visited them years later. The youngest sibling, named Elsa, was kept after Joy insisted that, despite all conventional wisdom and advice, she set about the nearly impossible task of driving a nearly domesticated lion wild. This had never been done before. George supported Joy in her decision and together the two set about teaching Elsa how to hunt and fend for herself in the African bush.

After many months of hard work and dedication, Elsa finally got her first kill. Over time she also learned to interact with other lions and was eventually able to be truly independent in the wild - being able to "live free" after being "born free". This remarkable story was soon made into a film and brought George and Joy much fame and limelight. Humbled as ever, George avoided most of the attention and began his long and somewhat lonely journey to conserving the region's wild lion population. Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, who played George and Joy respectively in the Oscar-winning film Born Free, became great animal lovers and lifelong friends of George.

George continued his work with lions in Meru National Park in Kenya's Northern Frontier Province. Sadly, Elsa died aged just five, believed to be tick-borne, and breathed her last in George's lap - causing grief to a man who was to have many more heartbreaking moments in his life. Just five years after the film's release, George was forced to retire from his position as head game warden after one of his lions, "Boy," mauled another warden's son.

Removed from the park, George was only allowed to take his lions to the remote, scorching lands of a previously unknown location called Kora . Soon after, in 1970, George and Joy separated as a couple, although they continued to spend Christmas together, with George still retaining much love and affection for his wife.

In 1980, Joy Adamson was murdered. The brutal killer was a servant she suspended after he was found stealing. In the same year, Terrance was mauled by a lion and the Kenyan government halted George's program of releasing tame and orphaned lions.

In 1981, after some deliberation, the government allowed George and his assistant Tony Fitzjohn to initiate a leopard training program. Little they could do, however, as poachers and bandits ravaged Kenya's wildlife, killing elephants for their tusks, rhinos for their horns, leopards for their fur - terrorizing conservationists and poor animals alike. George continued to fight and speak out for animal rights and faced constant threats from poachers and Somali bandits, as well as ranchers, who destroyed the lands of the lions' natural prey, forced the herds to migrate and the lions starved.

On August 20, 1989, some European tourists were scheduled to visit Kora . On the way to George's camp, they were attacked by Somali bandits and brutally beaten and robbed. George rushed to her rescue in his Land Rover. He was shot twice by the bandits - once in his thigh and then in his back - and died instantly. Two other workers were also murdered. The killers stole George's watch كورة لايف before leaving. In the days following George's murder, hundreds of police officers were dispatched to the scene and some were arrested.

Today Kora is protected by rangers as a national park. George is buried next to his favorite lions in his abandoned compound of thatched huts. Locals and former servants in neighboring villages still fondly remember him. Lion paw prints are often seen near George's final resting place...