The Charity Supplement

Born Free

IN 1966, 43 years ago, a rare experience sparkeda life-changing project that was to save, protectand improve the lives of an uncountable number of animals in the years which followed.This rare experience was Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna’s, who starred in thefilm

Born Free.

The film, shot in Kenya, told the true tale of George and JoyAdamson’s own experiences as they tackled the task of returning Elsa the lioness tothe wild. A massive success,

Born Free

went global, telling a tale that seemedimpossible – that of a friendship between lioness and humans – and yet was, in everyway, true. It was, quite simply, the starting point of freedom, not, this time, tohumans, but to animals. The story inspired people. It opened their eyes and brought totheir attention the plight of animals around us. But it didn’t just change lives in the public sphere: the lives of the actors, Bill and Virginia were changed too.(

Left) Elsa the lioness; (right) Clip from the movie Born Free

“From that moment, our lives took a different direction,”

says Bill, speaking in avideo shown in the charity’s 25

anniversary movie (see link below).

“We began tounderstand how every animal is individual and that wild animals belong in the wild,”

says Virginia (quoted in the charity’s 25

anniversary booklet).Following the film, yet another incredible experience lifted Bill and Virginia’s viewsabout wildlife and made them even stronger. Some years later (1982 – 27 years ago)the two visited the London Zoo with the intention to see Pole Pole, an Elephant whohad featured in the 1969 film

An Elephant Called Slowly

, produced by Bill. Pole Polewas given to the zoo by the Kenyan Government – as their gift. In foresight, any onewould’ve thought that this was a wonderful gesture and something worth applauding, but not Bill and Virginia – and they were right. Pole Pole’s behaviour, observed atthis visit, was striking. She paced. She swayed to and fro. She was “unpredictable”and “confused.” She displayed just about every aspect of behaviour which we nowrecognise to be signs of distress by those held captive. This was no ordinary behaviour for any animal, let alone one just plucked from the wild. What happenednext, though, was quite amazing. Bill and Virginia called the Elephant’s name andPole Pole responded, she walked towards them and outstretched her trunk. It was a

heartfelt moment and one that seconded the humane understanding of animals that

Born Free

had provided.

Bill, Virginia &Pole Pole at London Zoo, 1982

Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Bill and Virginia to secure her freedom, PolePole remained in London Zoo, but only for a year, at which point an attempt to moveher to Whipsnade Zoo failed and resulted in her untimely death, at only 17 years. Thiswas another stone on the ground for Bill and Virginia, and in 1984 they joined their son Will Travers in creating

Zoo Check,

the charity that evolved into

The Born Free Foundation

, and a project which remains the centre of the Foundation even today.Zoo Check started with a simple aim: to end the suffering of captive animals and phase out zoos. They investigated the keeping of polar bears at British zoos in 1986and found that

80%

behaved abnormally. They conducted a survey of European zoosin 1988 and found an astounding 667

zoos in existence than they had believed.And, quite crucially in terms of the Pole Pole story, in 2001 they brought the holdingof elephants in London Zoo to an end. This meant the closure of an era which hadlasted over a century and a half, during which so many elephants like Pole Polesuffered in captivity. As proof of this, the only birth in 172 years was a still-born andnot one elephant was returned to the wild. The work of Zoo Check, even in its earlyyears, to bring about changes like this has had a massive impact on the care of wildlife and has marked a change in our own ethics.Tragically, Bill Travers, the charity’s founder, passed away in March 1994, but, partin his name, the work of Zoo Check continues today as a central part of

The Born Free Foundation.

It has so far targeted the inhumane keeping of animals inunregistered zoos; has stopped the broadcasting of TV-shows in which animals wereexploited; and has prevented the exportation of 300 wild animals from Kenya to aSafari Park in Thailand. They continue to campaign to end the use of wild animals incircuses and various other acts– traditions now, with reason, seen as exploitation. Allin all, there have been many successes and many life-saving initiatives, but the work of Zoo Check still continues with the vision of “a world without zoos, or captiveanimal exploitation.”Having been renamed

The Born Free Foundation

in 1991, the charity was able toexpand and further its work to care for more animals in captivity. Perhaps what thecharity is most well-known for is their support for lions and other big cats. Indeed, thestory of Elsa the lioness captured the heart of thousands and lives on through thegenerations, 43 years later. In the years since, big cats have been rescued from varioussituations – some from a life of living in a cage; some from being kept as pets or as a

part of various trades, and some from zoos – and all have been brought to a safer, freelife in sanctuaries elsewhere. Some recent projects undertaken by the charity includethe 2004 campaigns which led to Disneyland Paris ending the use of live lion cubs in

Lion King

parades. In addition, Sinbad, a lion kept in a Romania zoo, and one whofeatures in the

Which Charity

promo video, was rescued with his family and given anew life at

Born Free’s

rescue centre in Shamwari, South Africa. The clip in the promo video shows Sinbad’s arrival at his new home and his reaction to the outdoorsis clearly one of pleasurable surprise – in comparison to his previous home, whichwas merely a tiny cage, this is luxury. It is a clip that mimes Will Traver’s words:

“animals locked up deserve better,”

and this is certainly a wonderful offer to ananimal kept in captivity for so long.Perhaps what those who know less of

Born Free

(the charity) are aware of is thecharity’s fantastic help with other animals – not just lions and elephants, but also fromdolphins to orangutans, to wolves and, of course, the great polar bear. In recent yearsthe threats to sea life from overfishing and pollution have been brought into the verycentre of public attention on several occasions – there has been talk of amateur fishermen having to declare their catches due to the vast amount of fish being caught; just last month an oil spillage off an Indian cost brought harm to sea turtles, and onlytoday (23

Oct ‘09) the results of a survey conducted by the wildlife charity,

WWF

, of an oil spill off the coast of Australia has concluded that the spill has caused “massivecontamination” and is feared to harm the whale population. Where such disasters haveoccurred, for example, in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami,

Born Free

worksto support conservation and clear up projects to protect the wildlife in the area.Whilst many of

Born Free’s

projects are focused around ending captivity, the charityalso works to better human-animal relations. For example, they have receivedongoing support for a study of orangutans in northern Sumatra aimed to understandthe relations causing conflict between the gentle apes and humans, and their effortswill hopefully lessen these problems. In addition, where humans and elephants cross paths there are often unfortunate results and help is needed to prevent these fromhappening:

“A small herd of elephants can consume an entire village’s maize crop in just oneafternoon…each year, 35 people in Kenya and 50 people in Sri Lanka are killed by Elephants.”

(Quoted from the charity’s 25

anniversary booklet)

Born Free

develops “humane solutions” to these problems.Furthermore, the charity supports several education projects, most of which fall under their ‘

Global Friends’

initiative, operating in African communities, where they raiseawareness of the need to protect endangered species. In 2008,

Born Free

opened

The Ethiopian Wolf Sports Centre

which encourages community support for this speciesof wolf which has become endangered. Various charities have found the use of teaching local people about conservation and sustainability,

Born Free

no less thanany other. By teaching these local communities, charities like

Born Free

are able tosupport both the survival of the community and the survival of wildlife in the area.Unfortunately, whilst

Born Free

has been able to save many thousands of lives andcreate better lives for future wild animals, many wild populations are still struggling – the wild tiger population is

endangered

; the African lion population

vulnerable

; theEthiopian Wolf

endangered,

and many of us will know of at least one or two more