Joy Adamson a rocky crevice. Taking them home, Joy and George found it difficult to care for all the cubs' needs. The two largest cubs, named "Big One" and "Lustica", were passed on to be cared for by a zoo in Rotterdam, and the smallest, "Elsa", was raised by the couple. After some time living together, the Adamsons decided to set Elsa free rather than send her to a zoo, and spent many months training her to hunt and survive on her own. They were in the end successful, and Elsa became the first lioness successfully released back into the wild, the
Mara the Lioness earlier when they had attempted to release her back into the wild. Eventually only Ugas was released into the Meru Game Reserve. It was decided that Mara was too tame and she and the other lionesses should be relocated to Whipsnade Park. Just prior to her departure Mara gave birth to male and female twin cubs, sired by Ugas during the filming of "Born Free". In 1966, Irene Grindlay wrote a book titled "Velvet Paws" which detailed the life of Mara up to and including her appearance in the movie "Born Free". ""We have no reason to reproach ourselves. We