Most actors regard each role they play as nothing more than that, simply a part of their job. But after Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna starred in the 1964 film, Born Free, their lives were changed for ever. The film, telling the true story of George and Joy Adamson as they returned Elsa the lioness to the wild, did far more than turn the two actors into household names. Making Born Free had a profound effect on husband and wife Bill and Virginia as the close contact they enjoyed with their lion co-stars sparked a lifelong commitment to wildlife through the realisation that wild animals belong - and should be protected - in the wild rather than kept in captivity.
In the years after the impact of the film the couple starred in several more films about animals and they also produced wildlife documentaries and television programmes that promoted natural, rather than zoo-bound, lives for animals. This led to the formation in 1984 of Zoo Check, a pressure group campaigning against the abuse of animals in the name of entertainment and highlighting their plight and deprived lives in captivity. Further species-specific campaigns were launched in the late 1980s. Elefriends was formed to prevent the slaughter of elephants for the ivory trade. Operation Wolf helped save the endangered Iberian wolf. And Into The Blue returned three captive dolphins to the wild. As the scope of concern expanded, 1991 saw the official launch of the Born Free Foundation (BFF) as the embodiment of Bill and Virginia's commitment to looking after the interests of such animals. The organisation has grown to become one of the world's leading animal welfare organisations.
Today, BFF incorporates seven major campaigns: Zoo Check, Elefriends and the Wolf project continue, and the Into The Blue programme has evolved to become the Orca project acting on behalf of marine life. These have been joined by the Primate project, the Big Cat project and the UK Wildlife project.
Two lions, Aslan and Gilda, had been rescued from horrendous conditions inside a barren cage in a European city. And Rikki, a leopard, spent his life in a three-metre by three-metre cage on the roof of the restaurant as a so-called attraction. All three animals eventually found themselves at the BFF big cat sanctuary in Kent, where they had to adapt to being in a considerably larger enclosure and being in the open air. Even these improved circumstances were less than ideal so the foundation accepted the invitation for the animals to go and live at South Africa's Shamwari Game Reserve.
Unlike humans, lions and leopards cannot simply hop on a plane for a long flight. Preparations for their 30-hour journey began three weeks before the flight. Today, all three cats are settling into their new lives, enjoying their new-found freedom. They are still able to be monitored by reserve staff who send regular reports on their progress back to Born Free.
Although Bill Travers died in 1994, just three years after seeing the birth of the Born Free Foundation, co-founder and trustee Virginia McKenna continues her active involvement in the organisation, as does the couple's son, Will Travers. Of course, many people question the wisdom or necessity of expending considerable efforts and resources on improving the lot of animals when there is still so much human suffering in the world. But as former Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn - a man who knows more about human suffering than most - wrote: ´´If we stop loving animals, aren't we bound to stop loving humans, too?'' (http://www.bornfree.org.uk)
Freitag, 05. Mai 2000