Christian the lion’s owners recall final farewell

[Warpy]

Those two guys with the lion — the ones in the YouTube video with the Whitney Houston soundtrack — are back. Now, they are showing another film clip, unseen for years, of their second and final reunion in Africa with their pet and friend, Christian.

Ace Bourke and John Rendall talked about that final reunion with TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Wednesday in New York. It shows the same two shaggy Aussies seen in the clip that was viewed by some 45 million people on YouTube last year. But Christian the lion is twice the size he was in that film, an enormous and regal king of the Kenyan jungle.

In the first video, Christian leaps on them in joy. In the second, he’s nearly 500 pounds and totally in charge. Although he tried to climb on their laps, film from the encounter shows him lying placidly on the ground while his friends hunker down with him to exchange kisses and licks.

Link to second video at the bottom: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29751849?GT1=43001

[Lyric]

1. I don't know how anyone can watch this and not cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkglYMYbyeo

[RebelOne]

5. Just thinking about that video makes me choke up. n/t

[Shell Beau]

2. This story always gets me.

[Blue Diadem]

3. Thank you. I missed the final farewell.

He was such a beautiful majestic animal.

[arcadian]

4. They named a lion, "Christian"?

That is brilliant! :rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Arugula Latte]

6. Wow. What I wouldn't give to get a hug from a lion like that just one time.

:loveya:

Kitties big or small are the most wonderful animals on earth.

[sammythecat]

7. That is wonderful, in the truest sense of the word

It's not anthropomorphizing to say that animals are capable of "friendship" that goes way beyond simple familiarity. It's truly touching when they express it. I hope that someday in the future the lions of the world will be able to lie down with the lamb.