Mara the Lioness domesticated dog. Along with animal lovers, naturalists and experienced game wardens, they held the belief that integration back into the wild would harm Mara, rather than benefit. Mara did not fear man and indeed went out of her way to approach and play. This posed an enormous risk to her safety. In addition, release into the wild would place Mara and the other lionesses at risk of contracting "Babesia". Domesticated animals have no resistance to the fatal disease, a fact which George and Joy Adamson knew. Their lion Elsa had died of the same disease not less than two years
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