Elsa the lioness Elsa the lioness Elsa the lioness ( 28 January 195624 January 1961) was a female lion raised along with her sisters "Big One" and "Lustica" by game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy Adamson after they were orphaned at only a few weeks old. Though her two sisters eventually went to the Netherlands' Rotterdam Zoo, Elsa was trained by the Adamsons to survive on her own, and was eventually released into the wild. Her story is told in several books by the Adamsons, as well as the 1966 motion picture "Born Free". Elsa and her sisters were orphaned on
Born Free The film was one of the most popular movies at the box-office in Britain during 1966. Won Nomination The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: The book "Born Free" (1960) was followed by two other books, "Living Free" (1961) and "Forever Free" (1963). In 1972, a film sequel entitled "Living Free" was released. While deriving its name from the second book, the film was based on the third book in the series. It starred Susan Hampshire and Nigel Davenport as Joy and George Adamson. A documentary follow-up to "Born Free", entitled "The Lions Are Free", was