FAQ

An English couple, George (Bill Travers) and Joy (Virginia McKenna) Adamson, living in Kenya raise three orphaned lion cubs, eventually giving away two of them to the Rotterdam Zoo, while keeping Elsa, the runt of the litter. As Elsa grows to maturity, the Adamsons are forced to make a decision as to whether to also send Elsa to a zoo or to attempt to rehabilitate her back into the wild.

The film is based on a non-fiction book, also called Born Free (1960), written by Joy Adamson. The story of Elsa the Lioness was adapted for the screen by Gerald L.C. Copley (pen name of American screenwriter Lester Cole). The movie was followed by Living Free (1972) (1972), the short-lived TV series 'Born Free (1974)' (1974), and a TV movie Born Free: A New Adventure (1996) (1996).

No. Twenty-one (21) lions and lionesses of varying ages were used in the film. The real Elsa died five years earlier. The adult Elsa was played by Mara, a lioness raised from a cub by British couple Irene and Douglas Grindlay. However, the real Elsa can be seen in several black-and-white photographs interspersed throughout the movie.

That is a rock hyrax, a small terrestrial mammal somewhat resembling a guinea pig.

After several unsuccessful attempts at reintroducing her back into the wild, Elsa begins to get the idea of killing to feed herself. When she goes into season, the Adamsons make one more attempt to release her into an existing pride. They find a lion who seems to be receptive to her and set her loose. Unfortunately, the lion already has a lioness in his pride, and she attacks Elsa. This time, however, Elsa fights back and, after Joy fires off a shot, the three of them run off together. A year later, after being away in Britain, the Adamsons return to Kenya. They set up camp at the spot where they last saw Elsa and spend the next week looking for her, but she never shows. Forced to give up the search, they return to base camp to prepare to fly back to Britain. Suddenly, Joy hears lion sounds and is overjoyed to see Elsa come walking out the bushes accompanied by three cubs. After a fond reunion in which Elsa makes it clear that she hasn't forgotten them, her mate calls to her, and Elsa and the cubs join him. In a voiceover, Joy says, 'We saw her many times again...born free and living free. But to us, she was always the same...our friend Elsa.'

Elsa died in 1961 of Feline Babesiosis, a tick-borne protozoan disease caused by Babesia felis. Her grave is located in the Meru National Park, a Kenyan Game park located east of Meru, 350 km from Nairobi.