Mara the Lioness are quite convinced that we did the right thing in opposing her release and that for many years to come in Whipsnade Park she will be well-fed, contented and ... safe."" (Irene Grindlay, 1966) It is not known how long Mara resided at Whipsnade Park. The life span of a lion in the wild is approximately 12 years, while those in captivity have been known to live for more than 20. If Mara was fortunate she would have died in the mid to late seventies. Mara the Lioness Mara the Lioness is an animal actor who appeared as Elsa in
George Worsley Adamson "Meet My Folks!" (1961); this was followed by the drawings he did for Ted Hughes's first book of children's stories, "How the Whale Became" (1963), and those for the first edition of " The Iron Man" (1968). In 1970, Adamson illustrated the book based on Richard Carpenter's television series "Catweazle"; this was followed in 1971 by the drawings he did for the book based on the second series, "Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac". In the 1980s, he illustrated the first five of the Richard Ingrams and John Wells "Dear Bill" books for "Private Eye". Besides work for books, Adamson undertook