Mara the Lioness Mara the Lioness Mara the Lioness is an animal actor who appeared as Elsa in the 1966 movie "Born Free", based on the true story of Elsa the Lioness raised by George and Joy Adamson. Mara was born in the wild in 1965, a premature cub abandoned by her mother during a violent rain storm. She was found lying on sodden ground, caked in mud on the plains of Masailand by Samwel, an African game scout and Larry Wateridge. Sick with hunger and in a semi coma, she was taken to a nearby coffee plantation in Kenya owned by British
Born Free (Matt Monro song) a corporate sponsor of the Born Free Foundation. and their vehicles having been mentioned prominently in the original Joy Adamson book. In November 2012 Queen guitarist Brian May and West End and Broadway singer Kerry Ellis released their version of "Born Free" in aid of the Born Free Foundation. The 2012 video game features the song which can be heard throughout on gramophones. The significance of "Born Free" is in relation to the game's theme of prison and captivity. In 2018 Born Free was used in a UK television commercial for Cow & Gate’s Follow on Milk. Born Free (Matt